I order most stuff on Amazon, purely based on my understanding of the Amazon model and the large power/coverage they have in moving products around. Amazon had multiple models, and it pays to be aware of them. Monoprice (like most manufacturers) do not come close to the warehouse presence of Amazon across the US. Depending on which exact product listing you purchase (of the same product, say a Monoprice cable), it could be sold “by Amazon” or various 3rd party merchants selling on Amazon, with Monoprice itself being a possible merchant. Then the product could be fulfilled by Amazon or directly by the merchant (again, Monoprice being a possibility). Being fulfilled by Amazon generally implies that the item is somewhere in an Amazon warehouse, which my experience showed it makes for getting the item sooner or just with more transparency towards me. Mostly because of the power of the software driving most of what Amazon does.
Is there anything wrong with Monoprice or others? I don’t believe there is, maybe only the fact that Amazon and others changed our expectations to “click here, move towards the front door to take the goods inside.” I too ordered from SVS, and while it was a happy experience, it took a bit of time and did not have all the details of the progress, the way Amazon (and maybe others) conditioned me lately.
Here is another side of this. Number of employees. Amazon: over 1.2 million. Monoprice: about 400. How many should there be dedicated to answering emails, phone calls, preparing orders etc? Amazon has 110 fulfillment centers in the US alone, I counted almost 30 in California. How many do we expect from Monoprice with their 400 employees? Maybe my numbers are off, but still …
This is not about comparing companies, just about managing expectations and maybe choices when we purchase. Different needs or preferences need to be mixed with our expectations, too.
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