Price Comparison Cosmas Hardware and Amazon Basics

There is the common misconception that Amazon.com always has the cheapest prices on everything. Amazon certainly does nothing to dispel that idea, as it as it continues it's assault on small businesses in an effort to dominate the world.

Recently Amazon.com has unveiled some "in-house" brands, such as AmazonBasics and Amazon Essentials. We are not quite sure how a company goes from selling books, to selling almost everything, to.....manufacturing hardware?

Nevertheless, we thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at some AmazonBasics cabinet hardware, and see if it really is the best value available online.

The best way to do that is to directly compare specific AmazonBasics items with similar or identical items offered by Cosmas.

Comparison #1: Cosmas 9009SN versus AmazonBasics AB2300-SN

*This designates the fact that you can not purchase only (1) AmazonBasics AB2300-SN through Amazon.com because it is only offered in multi-packs. A price of (10)AB2300-SN-10 on Amazon is currently $20.99. Therefore, if you need a total of (23) or (35), we guess you'll be paying for pulls that you don't need!

As you can see, these two pulls are nearly identical, though we can not attest to the manufacturing quality of the Amazon cabinet pull. The Cosmas 9009SN cabinet pull, on the other hand, is backed by a lifetime guarantee.

Comparison #2: Cosmas 161-128ORB versus AmazonBasics AB2700-OR

*This designates the fact that you can not purchase only (1) AmazonBasics AB2700-OR through Amazon.com because it is only offered in multi-packs. A price of (10)AB2700-OR-10 on Amazon is currently $41.99.

Again, these two pulls are very similar, though we think that the oil rubbed bronze finish is much more appealing on the Cosmas 161-128ORB European bar pull.

Comparison #3: Cosmas 783FB versus AmazonBasics AB1800-FB

*This designates the fact that you can not purchase only (1) AmazonBasics AB1800-FB through Amazon.com because it is only offered in multi-packs. A price of (10)AB1800-FB-10 on Amazon is currently $24.95.

Though the AmazonBasics AB1800-FB is slightly longer in overall length, it is plagued by the fact that you can only purchase them in increments of (10). The Cosmas 783FB, by contrast, can be purchased in any increments with no minimum order quantity. 

In summary, it is important not to assume that everything is cheaper on Amazon.com. It is also critical to keep in mind that Amazon.com has never been in the business of manufacturing cabinet hardware until recently. Only time will tell if a company that started off selling books will commit to the durability of their products, despite having no history of manufacturing cabinet hardware.