Heya, im looking for a European alternative to Amazon. Im based in Ireland I know there are a few options but alot don’t deliver to Ireland. Thanks
What are you looking for exactly? I don’t like the idea of a second amazon, I’d rather have 100 different stores than a giant one monopolising everything.
Hmm. I guess I want a search engine that searches all the European online shops for the products I’m looking for, lets me browse and compare. I also want the companies to start selling their products through European online shops, instead of just Amazon.
This is basically what Zalando and Otto are.
I’d never even heard of Otto before this, so thank you!
Just hoped the site would be available in other languages than just German.
I guess I want a search engine that searches all the European online shops for the products I’m looking for, lets me browse and compare
Yes. This so much. I don’t want to search 100 different shops. I don’t want 100 different accounts, different accepted payment methods, different delivery methods. Something like Amazon, but not controlled by one huge corporation, would be so great.
The closest we have are price comparison sites, but once they are big enough they don’t list merchants that don’t pay them for that listing, so you often don’t find the lowest price there either.
I also want the companies to start selling their products through European online shops, instead of just Amazon.
Well in most cases, manufacturers don’t choose the vendors but the other way around. I’m sure most companies would love to be available at every single merchant existing, including European ones.
If you don’t need an item within a limited time frame, you should ask European sellers if they can get the item and sell it to you. Might not always be successful, but at the very least it helps them to know the customers’ demands better. European merchants aren’t Amazon-sized and can just store and offer every existing product so they need to know what we want.
Luckily some shops (hopefully an increasing number) let you buy without having an account, just fill the cart, pay and bye. Probably also easier for them than managing 100M+ one-time accounts.
Exactly. There are literally thousands of alternatives to Amazon, including physical shops by the way. This is not rocket science, do some research (Ecosia is your friend) and you’ll see you can always find better prices elsewhere also… And sometimes paying a bit more is worth it, for example for the convenience of having living commerce in your street with immediate delivery directly to your hands over the counter.
It’s not only about the better pricing, I very much enjoy not buying cheap knockoffs from Amazon.
You want to buy product X? How about you get this genuine “some name that is clearly made up on the spot to look like a brands name”? It might give you cancer, but that’s a low price for a very low price, isn’t it?
What are you all buying there? I’m genuinely puzzled… I’m more and more convinced that the people asking for Amazon alternatives should just shop less. Often the best alternative is nothing at all. Do we really need a European Instagram or X? A European Temu? I don’t think so… just be more present in real life folks.
You should shop your opinions in a higher quality shop.
Try getting a flashlight on Amazon. Try getting some boots or a new swimsuit. Yes, none of them is hard to get outside Amazon. But if you try to shop it there, you will be overwhelmed by bullshit.
What maybe we want it a .org that lots of seller sell through. Or some federated shop protocol we can search. It definitely can be better than single massive global monopoly or chaos.
I’m sorry, I don’t have an answer to your question directly. All I can tell you is how I’m managing as a resident of a Scottish isle who also struggles with businesses refusing delivery to my locale.
Unfortunately I’ve not been able to cut Amazon out entirely but I have managed to relegate them to a retailer of last resort. I’ve not found another find-everything store and instead go to different retailers for different needs.
Usually I start local, on my high street beginning with charity shops that support local causes before buying new (there’s one that supports my local food bank so I try there first). If I can’t find it there I widen my search to retailers on the mainland. Failing that, I broaden my search to retailers in the UK, then the EU, and only will I consider Amazon once I’ve exhausted all other options. Even then, sometimes its possible to buy the product I find on Amazon off Amazon (think OEMs who use Amazon as retail channel) by going to their website and buying from them directly.
Sometimes I still have to rely on Amazon but I have managed to cut my shopping with them down from sometimes multiple times a month to a couple times a year. Of course it largely depends on what I’m shopping for, but it was definitely an adjustment to break myself from the one-stop shopping experience Amazon provides.
I hope this is helpful.
Same. Plus of course do i really need this thing. I am proudly over 1 year free of amazon. I mostly try local, and sometimes if i have to get delivered I will use ebay, but its hard to not be getting imported crap, or others just drop shipping from amazon.
I agree with the pain of sellers who use it as the main retail channel, TBH it now puts me off their products. I was sick of being a slave to what i thought I needed and where I can find it. I am enjoying being free of consumerism and make doing.
OP You can do this. It starts with us.
Does Otto deliver to Ireland? I think they deliver to most of Europe.
E: this reddit thread has more suggestions https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyFromEU/comments/1rf5y7d/european_alternative_to_amazon/
Look at: https://lmaa.space/
