I believe John Oliver had an episode on basically this exact topic that was funnier, more informative, and way less condescending.
Funnier, more informative and less condescending --- than ---US? Oh, I get it - you mean than Bill Maher? Yes - possibly. Couldn't find that episode on YouTube.
John Oliver? Less condescending? I’m a huge fan of his show and I watch every week it’s on. But that’s not how I would term him.
People used to buy all kinds of stuff through magazines such as computers. That's how Dell got started. There's a lot of fraud on Amazon. For example, people sell stuff they claim is new when it's an open box. Also, their inventory system mixes everything that matches an exact UPC. So even when you order from Amazon as the seller, you could get a fake even though the packaging matches the same UPC number. I would never buy things such as Ray Bans on Amazon.
Unless (or even if) you know quite a bit about protecting yourself from fraud, there's still a risk in stores. Here in Canada I find risk from two sources: (1) One-person outfits that knowingly get stuff from shifty suppliers, mostly in Asia. (2) American-owned chains that figure Canadians will buy anything (and most will) and on purpose, send their sometimes-hinky "rejects" from their US operation, to Canada. I've had internet access for well over 25 years. In that time: (1) I've bought a bunch of books from Amazon Canada. All at WAY better prices than Canadian booksellers' sites. Ours are crazy and inept. (2) Only other Amazon purchase I recall was a $500+ neck for a guitar I was having built. It had come from Fender US and was in a Canadian warehouse when I ordered it. Arrived in 2 days with all the righteous Fender paperwork & pedigree etc. The genuine article, also pronounced as such by Brian, the brilliant tech, who put everything together and set up what's now my custom Telecaster. Works for me. I waited 55 years for that guitar - and Amazon did NOT disappoint me. Right in the middle of the Pandemic, too. There are good and bad sides to Amazon. They certainly made the Pandemic easier for me. And many, many others, I'm sure.
I love using Amazon and eBay to buy stuff. The one-day shipping on Amazon is awesome. I bought my first ukulele on Amazon. It was a cheap $20 ukulele that the paint on the neck would rub off on my fingertips as I played it. The sharp metal frets would grind down my fingernails to the flesh. I have since learned that quality really matters on musical instruments. Though I now have better ukuleles, that cheap $20 uke still holds a soft spot in my heart since that's what I learned to play on. Now I can play about 50 songs from memory. One of my favorite YouTubers to learn songs is Munson Covers. He plays guitar and ukulele.
Looks like he knows how to pick songs a lot of beginners will actually LIKE playing. That's very important. Gonna get myself a ukulele. A baritone - they're tuned exactly like the top four strings of a guitar, so I can get going right away. Heard Jake Shimabukuro? Awesome baritone uke player - he's on YouTube as well. Everybody worth listening to, is. I keep trying to remember - how did people learn to play ANYTHING - before YouTube? So much good instruction out there - any genre.