by alekese » Sat May 15, 2021 1:00 am
I don't have much firsthand experience with most sites because I primarily use pulse, having to rely on anecdotes from others for comparison, but it depends on what metric you're using to define "best".
If You're asking 'who gets first production runs in first', Retail like target and walmart get their stock first, but it doesn't necessarily go towards preorder fulfilment, then the big e-tailers like amazon, bbts, and entertainment earth soon after, then hobby sites and pulse. Restocks like the scorponok and PoJ you're waiting on don't necessarily follow these rough guidelines, however. Those are up in the air.
If you're asking who has the best prices, Amazon and retailers sometimes have sales or price match that lets you get things for less than msrp, pulse and EE are msrp and rarely have sales, bbts has a small markup, and hobby sites have a larger markup because they get theirs from one of the bigger stores. If supplies start running low, though, amazon, hobby shops and to a lesser extent bbts will raise prices on in demand items, whereas pulse will always stay at msrp.
If you're asking about reliability/customer service, I have been using pulse since it launched, and have NEVER had an order cancelled. Delayed, sure. But never cancelled, and the handful of customer service issues I've had were slow to resolve but resolved satisfactorily. BBTS has good service, but i've had things cancelled once or twice, I've seen many reports of order cancellation from amazon, with underwhelming customer service, hobby sites can vary from reliable to horror story depending on site. Target and walmart have no scalperbot protections, so resellers clear out the preorder allotment frequently, fulfilment of the remaining orders is spotty with frequent cancellations from what I've heard, idk about target's customer service but walmart does not give a **** about it's customers before or after money changes hands.
All in all, if you're impatient for first releases, bbts and EE have the best release date to cancellation ratio, followed by amazon, restocks will get there when they get there and not a moment sooner no matter who you order from, but if you're patient enough to wait 1-2 months after they hit brick and mortar shelves so long as it's guaranteed to get there in the end, Pulse is #1.