Aug 21, 2019

Amazon hits and misses

Most of my purchases on Amazon have been household goods and groceries. Kitchen equipment, rugs, laundry and bath stuff. For food, mostly whole bean coffee, condiments, and dried or canned foods. So my question is, for kitchen, bath, and laundry, what purchases have you made that were good value for money? What grocery items do you get?

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TonetoEdo

Living between the Tone and Edo Rivers in Higashi Katsushika area of Chiba Prefecture.

8 Answers

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genkidesu

on Aug 22

We actually bought our fridge and washer/dryer off Amazon! Brand new, and they even installed the washer in our house for us! Most surprising part was that they were actually cheaper on Amazon than in electrical stores like K's Denki out here. I don't use Amazon Pantry as much as I used to when I moved to Japan. They increased the delivery fee per box only about a year(ish?) ago, from 290 to 390 yen, and it used to be easier to add enough items to negate the delivery fee. We do still often buy the basics (laundry liquid, dishwashing detergent, baby wipes, toilet paper) on there when the deals are good. My most random splurges are crunchy peanut butter and gnocchi on pantry. Things that I love but are hard to find locally.

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TonetoEdo

on Aug 24

@genkidesu Thanks for your answer! Wow, I hadn't thought of purchasing appliances through Amazon. Good tip, as my fridge needs replacing. How do you prefer to stay on top of the deals Amazon offers? Browsing the website or email notifications?

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genkidesu

on Aug 24

@TonetoEdo Usually I just browse! I find that it's easier to get a better picture of offers that way (the emails are a little limited at times) but I also find browsing for good deals oddly therapeutic! It's my relaxation time when I'm scrolling on Amazon!

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TonetoEdo

on Aug 25

@genkidesu Haha! I also just browse. I know there are Costco fan magazines and fan sites that describe products and rate them. I wondered if anybody here does Amazon "zakka" lists or something.

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genkidesu

on Aug 26

@TonetoEdo I imagine there probably are resources like that out there - just probably not in English! If you do find any good Amazon-related ones let me know...the parts I don't understand I could always Google Translate!

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TonetoEdo

on Aug 27

@genkidesu If I find any websites or magazines for Amazon shopping, I'll post them here. Thanks for your responses!

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ReishiiTravels

on Sep 11

I bought my blender and my weight scale from Amazon! It was a good deal and they both work really well! I tend to stay away from food because I can purchase everything cheaper at my local super market!

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JapanRamen

on Sep 26

For kitchen appliances, going with big names like Zojirushi and Tiger would never be wrong. You can almost always look at them in store then find them online lol. Other than that, it is all about the reviews and how short term I plan to use the item. Cheap is best, unless I plan to use it for over a couple of years.

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Amazon hits and misses

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