Remember that time like 10 years ago, when some local news station was doing a story about Amazon having all the best tech deals, and then the one co-host butts in and says "You know why they have a monopoly, right? RIGHT??? SHE KNOWS WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT!!!"

And everybody was giving blank looks, like "Uh....no? What ARE you talking about?"

And he's like "Because they sell all the sex toys, and deliver it right to your house! Ladies? Right???? IT'S CONVIENENT!!!"

And everybody just had their mouth open in shock like "WTF ARE YOU DOING???"

and then he goes on and on about dildos, as his cohost continually tries to move on, but he keeps talking about dildos. And she's looking like she wants to strangle him.

Here in Canada, I find the prices pretty neck and neck. Small items tend to be a bit cheaper at the stores, since there is very little overhead for them to carry small items compared to Amazon's picking and delivery logistics. Big items tend to be a bit cheaper on Amazon. For tech specifically, Best Buy price matches items, so it's not that bad... Memory express and CC sometimes have lower prices than Amazon too (see PCPartPicker).

The main reason to use Amazon is you can easily find some really obscure stuff. Then again, you can buy direct from manufacturer, like Vevor, for often cheaper.

Amazon's pricing I not deterministic. You were likely tracked and information collected to know this was a key item for you. Amazon will market loss leaders to you in an attempt to get you to default to buying on Amazon.

As a former Buyer for a chain of retail stores, the loss leader is effective marketing. I sell you a popular item at or below my typical cost because statistically, a large percentage of customers are making a special trip to my store to buy that product and will make additional purchases at margin. On the wholesale Buying side, these are tools to get past bulk buying tier discounts for seasonal ordering with smaller scale retail.

Amazon is using a convoluted front end system of overlapping product categories and a supposed multi seller listings (despite collectivized logistics and warehousing) on the website you see. This is how they perform price fixing where you do not see honest or straight forward determinism. When you repurchase that same item later without making comparisons, the seller will shuffle so that a higher price is presented.

If you have a well isolated network where device history for social media and internet browsing is totally partitioned from e-commerce you'll likely see even more of the scam. If you see anyone online show the search results and pricing on Amazon, then try to replicate those search results and product price on a device that is totally partitioned from your viewing of the item/price elsewhere, you're likely to find it is not possible. If you then go back to the original device and do the same, you'll magically find the same product and lower price. It is a scam market. This is why they are collecting and paying for all that data about you. We are in an age when automated individual targeting and manipulation is possible and happening. This is why data mining stalkerware is insidious. Scam markets are only the tip of the iceberg and what can be uncovered if you go looking for it. Anyone that has done database or logistics management should have major red flags flying when looking at how Amazon's website is setup. The front end is absolutely untenable garbage for effective logistics. The only reason it is convoluted and search results are terrible is because it is a price fixing scam. The logistical efficiency proves that there is no connection between the front and back end of the site.

Do you mean you went to walmart and target physically, and then directly to amazons website, and no other online shop? There are a ton of competing online stores with similar or better prices than Amazon, often stores specializing in the product you're buying. Instead of looking up amazon specifically, look up the item youre looking for

I put some of the blame on retailers as well. Retail stores just don't want to carry inventory anymore, especially tech-focused ones with many of those just turning into glorified showrooms. I don't know how many times I've heard some version of: "Sorry, we don't have that in stock but we can bring it in for you."

We needed a short length of garden hose here for the house so I went to two hardware stores and one garden centre looking for one. Nothing. Not even in their dedicated gardening sections. I had to order it off Amazon. A goddamn garden hose.

Amazon has done a lot of damage for sure but retail is suffering from several self-inflicted wounds too. Home Depot, for example, is a multi-billion dollar corporation and even they have a weaker retail presence now. That's not Amazon's fault.

Here in Germany there are still plenty of independent online retailers and they're competitive with Amazon. I always try to avoid buying from Amazon and for tech products that's usually no problem.

Amazon has a healthcare company now too...

...and they own twitch.

There are plenty of things to complain about with Amazon but, in my opinion, this ain't it.

I went back to Amazon, which I was trying to avoid, and saw the price 25 to 40% lower than anywhere

Amazon typically has prices the same as any other retail store. Your experience is an exception. You can't make a huge accusation like that based on a single product.

Not even Best buy has even close to the amount of inventory or variety, even when you're shopping online....

You can't compare a local brick and mortar store to Amazon. A vast array of hundreds of giant warehouses is never going to have the same variety of products as a handful of retail stores.

In addition, they leverage their warehouses to decrease shipping costs and local emissions. Which do you think costs more and causes more carbon emissions, a hundred people in old giant SUV beaters driving to and from a B&M location to shop for a single product or a single (often electric) delivery vehicle delivering a vast array of products to a hundred locations and are probably going to drive right by your house whether you order something or not?

Also Walgreens carries lots of different printing services and supplies and are pretty ubiquitous in large cities, so maybe give them a try.