I know there are similar communities like !buyitforlife@slrpnk.net about finding products that you don’t break after a year, and any number of buy<insert_country_here> communities. I’m looking for a community specifically for finding reputable products that aren’t sold on Amazon, regardless of where the seller or buyer is, and regardless of the ethos of the seller beyond making quality products.
Edit:
There’s also !deamazon@piefed.social, but that’s more about general anti-Amazon sentiment than specifically helping steer people away from Amazon’s online retail monopoly.
Some businesses won’t sell direct, like 3M or most tool brands. But yes, you can often find things on the brand sites.
Amazon and Walmart are for things you can’t find anywhere else, but neither need the membership to make it happen. Strangely, Walmart is better quality lately.
In the case of tools I’ll shop at a hardware store, usually Ace, either in person or on their online store.
Would Grainger or McMaster Carr fill in the 3M/tool gap?
The sticker shock on shipping from McMaster put me right off the first time I tried to order. Small things. Triple digit shipping even so.
You can have a good laugh at Grainger’s prices on just about everything. They exist purely to rip off other businesses with large expense accounts, in the “don’t care, it ain’t my money” tradition.