Head-to-head: Amazon vs everyone else

These two are not really competing for the same order. Amazon sells you one item and delivers it this week. Alibaba connects you to the factory and sells you two hundred at a negotiated unit price. Choose by quantity first, everything else second.

This comparison comes down to one trade: how much waiting is a lower price worth to you. Temu prices small household goods well below retail. Amazon gets a comparable item to your door in days and handles problems faster.

Amazon is a retailer with a marketplace attached. eBay is a marketplace of individual sellers, and that is exactly why it holds items no retailer stocks any more. The right answer depends on whether the thing you want is still in production.

AliExpress sells single units at prices close to wholesale, with a catalogue of components and niche parts that mainstream retail simply does not carry. Amazon costs more and arrives in days. Both answers are correct in different situations.