Right now I need a small wastebasket, a couple of new shower curtains, a toaster oven, some food storage containers, etc. Basic utilitarian household items.<p>My local hardware store has a fair/poor selection at high prices, but buying online is a maddening exercise. Larger items don’t ship well and often arrive damaged. Amazon is a funhouse maze of counterfeit ‘BXOYX’ garbage, with Wal-Mart.com a close second.<p>What’s a person to do?
Depending on your area - wealth and pop density - thrift stores might be worth a shot, believe it or not. Of course it's hit or miss, you can't simply walk in and expect to buy what you're looking for, obviously it doesn't work that way.<p>This isn't going to work for electronics, but nearly everything else is possible. You'd be surprised, again depending on your area.<p>Along the same lines...free cycle .org is worth watching.
Lowe’s is more for home remodeling/furnishing. I’ve seen those things there. Granted you may two options for what you want to buy.<p>Also Target has a good selection of items.
What the hell is a "quality" wastebasket?<p>I mean sure, I once had a teak Danish modern design that looked sculptural with it's ovaloid cone shape and tiny handles, but was space inefficient and didn't handle wet items very well.<p>Now I have plastic waste baskets from Walmart that are much more functional because they are smaller, lighter, more compact and won't leak in an "emergency" involving liquids.<p>Anyway, the advantage of Walmart is you can go and look at stuff in person and drive home with it today.<p>Good luck.