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What are your preferred alternatives to Amazon? (slrpnk.net)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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Personally, when I order something these days, it's been on eBay. It kind of sucks though, and half of the packages still arrive in Amazon boxes anyway...?

Where do you liked to order stuff from, that's not Amazon?

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

*expensive art supplies. It's always worth looking to see if you have a creative reuse center nearby.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I’ve not heard of a “creative reuse center”, but if it’s a metro thing, Amazon and Walmart market are used more often by more rural people. As such, the option needs to be browsable and orderable from home. Estate sales, the bid wars on art supplies get crazy to the point of surpassing retail.

    Blick prices are decent imo, and I’ve been buying since the 90s. Art supplies themselves, like everything DIY and “maker” zone, have skyrocketed in price, unless you’re going for trash art sets from Ross or similar. The top grade paints and brushes are always ridiculous, wherever you go. Brand matters.

    Blick sells canvas by the yard for a good price, it’s my go to for it. Clearance deals are sometimes remarkable.

    Other than that, what’s left? Michaels? Hobby Lobby?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Creative reuse are where people can donate their old art supplies and you can also go and buy old art supplies for cheap. Everything is used or old. The concept of this kind of store seems to be a pretty new-ish thing that has been popping up and I have seen some in rural locations. I tend to buy canvases that have already been painted on and just paint over what’s already on it. Theres also a ton of cheap fiber arts supplies you can buy for cents. I got a Canon AE-1 and like 8 rolls of expired film there for $30 too.

    But it will be difficult to find high end stuff there unless you go every day and wait around for someone to donate it (with no guarantee of that actually happening). Paintbrushes and oil paints, I’d choose blick.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Found an aggregate site with a comprehensive list by state. The ones I tapped into are metro and have no online order options which makes them inaccessible to many.

    To be fair, oil paint keeps for a really long time, I’ve used decades old inherited items, so I can’t imagine a lot of it gets donated. And I wouldn’t trust used acrylics for the opposite reason, as it tends to solidify in the tube over time.

    It’s a neat idea, but access online is something most people rely on, so, after Blick, what is there, online?

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