Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and what we can do about it
Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and what we can do about it
I haven’t bought anything from Amazon since last November and I live in a small city. I’m also not shopping at Target or Walmart which also severely reduces options.
For that weird one-off stuff I’ve been using eBay. I hadn’t used eBay for probably 2 decades and in my mind it was still an online auction house, but a friend convinced me to give it a chance. He sells on eBay and assured me when there is a dispute they always side with the buyer and most things can just be bought outright. And a lot of the stuff in brand new.
I’ve also bought a couple things direct from the manufacturer that I normally would have previously gone to Amazon for. It’s more expensive but not so much so that it bugs me more than giving the money to Bezos would.
Actually eBay is quiet shitty as auction house nowadays. It is a lot if effort setting all the filters and they reset every time you do a new search. Fixed price and global shipment is standard, you really need to watch closely to not buy a product from China. I find eBay very inconvenient for what I used it in 2010 for.
I haven’t used it for any auctions since coming back to it after 20 years, just “buy now”. And yes, you have to be carful you’re not buying from China. I found the same issue with Amazon, particularly when buying less mainstream things.
I’m open to suggestions but in my particular situation, it’s the best option I’ve found.
It is the best alternative, no doubt.