IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT HERE IT MIGHT NOT EXIST

BIG BOX, NATURAL, AND GENERAL STORES

• Costco, since the membership is very worth it for some. However I would not recommend getting their peanuts as I know two completely separate individuals who developed a peanut allergy from just those for some weird reason. Personally I couldn't find stuff I wanted to buy from here though, so know thyself.
• Can't afford to shop anywhere else for most stuff? Walmart is the best option. Reasoning: added above, 9/17/22. I highly suggest actually using the website instead of hoofing it around the store to try to find anything because the website probably has what you're looking for... the in-person store is less likely to.
• Target Has the stuff Walmart sometimes doesn't. Sucks otherwise.
• Amazon Mostly scams and garbage. In particular I've noticed the snake oil salesmen have really taken over lately. Let the buyer beware. What small portions of it are not garbage are worth searching out.
• Sam's Club Apparently $50 a year for better bulk deals, better quality items, and more options at what is essentially still Walmart.
• If you need to get something from a big-box store, oddly enough the most ethical seems to be Amazon. It beats out Target and Walmart by the one metric I know best: how my friends and acquaintances are treated by working for these. And although Costco treats its workers well, probably better than it treats Amazon workers, it actually doesn't have the best selection of goods. So if you need some random thing quickly, it's more ethical to get it from Amazon than to get it from the others. However, since it's full of cheap crap, know exactly what you are looking for and be very specific and cautious, or you might wind up getting something you didn't expect. And not in a pleasant way.
• Renfest Artisans Directory Hooray!
• Etsy See ethical issues listed in the "I need a gift for someone" section. Regardless, still the best place to find "buy it only once" type items. Some surprising things I've found on there: solid wood furniture, recycled sterling silver jewelry, customized pet collars, commissioned artisan work such as custom costumes or jewelry, heirloom organic seeds, recirculating indoor or outdoor fountains, fermentation crocks, wine barrel rain barrels, wine barrel planters, tree saplings, candy, jerky, other food, potted plants for planting outside, pysanky, potted plants for indoors. Be extremely careful as I've been both pleasantly surprised and totally ripped off on this website. I'll gladly buy directly from the artisan but this is usually what I have to settle for. Do remember to rate the items after you get them so you vote for merit.
• Less surprising stuff found on Etsy: natural baskets, quilts, basically all clothes and accessories, candles, natural dyed fabrics, natural fabric dye, natural craft supplies in general, soap, fancy lotion and bath products (salts, bath bombs, etc.), knit wool socks, knit wool anything, all the fiber arts (knit, crochet, weaving etc.), leather anything, wildflower honey, beeswax anything, selling religion (sigh).
• Craigslist A fantastic place to buy things, with absolutely zero oversight. On the plus side, neither seller nor buyer has to pay anything as far as I'm aware to Craigslist itself. On the minus side, the site is known for shady shit. Be careful. I've found that buying and selling products on Craigslist usually goes better than trying to get a job or a gig. As for the "services" part of "goods and services," honestly I'd stay away. Horror stories abound.
• Ebay Not great for sellers, rather like Etsy, but still so much better than your average big box stores because way more cash goes to the seller and not the middleman. It's also got a far higher quality of items. Do your best to remember to rate the items after you get them so you vote for merit. Surprising stuff you can find on Ebay include electric instruments, CDs, long-lost no-longer-produced items such as old school perfume, VHS tapes, live trees, and live plants. I have generally had only good experiences buying things from Ebay despite the enormous amount of sellers, and prefer it over Amazon for this reason.

NATURAL STUFF STORES

• Coop Market Incidentally, probably the best place to get essential oils too. Aura Cacia brand used to be the bottom of the barrel but they recently became good out of nowhere.

OLD FASHIONED GENERAL STORES

• Pearl River Mart A NYC institution that sells stuff from China and assorted Asian countries, but it's huge. Fairly priced too and has a lot of stuff you just can't get anywhere else. I like browsing it just for the happiness it brings me.
• Vermont Country Store

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