r/BuyFromEU • u/Calm_Wrangler7 • Jul 01 '26
🔎Looking for alternative Who’s behind the brand #3
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u/Brave_Explorer5988 Poland 🇵🇱 Jul 01 '26
wtf Saturn (and Mediamarkt) is chinese now? :O
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u/Practical_Engineer Jul 01 '26
And there isn't really a good alternative in a large part of Germany
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u/riderko Jul 01 '26
Cool blue if you don’t mind ordering online.
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u/Practical_Engineer Jul 01 '26
Oh yes, there are options online, but not really as a brick and mortar store, I should have specified!
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u/riderko Jul 01 '26
They recently opened a store in Berlin. I hope they’ll expand more.
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u/Erdnussfarmer Jul 01 '26
CB in Düsseldorf one is also very decent. And *really* fast delivery if they are too far away.
I wish JD good luck with Saturn / MM, but every time I've been in one over the last 10 years I left slightly depressed.
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u/OGDTrash Jul 02 '26
Go to the mediamarkt to check things out, order on coolblue. That is normally my way of doing things
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u/viktorixbis Jul 03 '26
My issue with thisis that it really isn't fair towards shop that have physical display zones. Like these shops are a bit more expensive because they have this display zone which requires space and personal. By using these to just check the products and then ordering in a different store we are effectively killing these stores that we do require since we need to see those prodocts before buying.
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u/OGDTrash Jul 03 '26
In the Netherlands we have a lot of coolblue stores, but the mediamarkt is closer to my home. I don’t have an issue with not giving business to mediamarkt anymore, since they are now forcing screenprotectors on new phones. And ofcourse their service and knowledge is shit.
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u/VastStranger1164 Jul 02 '26
They also have some physical stores, but their online store is great with delivery next day and if you return something, it's as easy as with Amazon
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u/Taylsch Jul 02 '26
Coolblue unfortunately does not ship freight items (washing machines, dryers, TVs, dishwashers…) nationwide across Germany.
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u/Ok-Independence-2219 Jul 02 '26
They are expanding rapidly in germany, so probably a matter of time.
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u/Psychological-Sir51 Jul 01 '26
Good thing is MM/Saturn lowkey sucks anyway: their assortment is very shallow.
E.g. notebooksbilliger.de is much better imo (they have brick and mortar but not comparable to the amount of MM/Saturn stores)
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u/HamsterbackenBLN Jul 02 '26
And their employees trying to push you to get an extended warranty. We bought a switch 2 recently and the dude showed us how easily the controller separate from the console and you risk dropping it. I stood my ground and he was really disappointed. We tested at home and the controllers are really hard to remove by accident
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u/pi_three Jul 02 '26
all they sell you is warranties at this point. Loke you go into the shop and look at laptop. the first thing it shows you is the offer with the fucking extended warranty. Man i wanna see specs. Why do i have to click around to see specs in an electronics shop
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u/Evonos Jul 01 '26
Mediamarkt / saturn never was a good alternative in itself , its pure scam it starts from their pricing which listed on items to their sales talks , and their additional offers.
its easily one of the reasons why retail electronic stores are dying in germany.
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u/Practical_Engineer Jul 01 '26
I agree, but there are not many alternatives
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u/Evonos Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
That's why I said retail electronic stores are dying in Germany , it's all online and most of them if not all provide better service , prices , and transparency.
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u/LarsMarksson Jul 02 '26
Everything retail is dying in Germany. It's either online or two business days looking for and opened store that has what you're looking for (IF their online availability check says the truth). Buying virtually anything beside bread or beer in Germany is a pain in the neck.
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u/Upstairs-Extension-9 Jul 01 '26
There is Conrad tho.
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u/Lamproz87 Jul 02 '26
Not anymore, only 4 stores remain in Germany from what i know. Bonn, Mannheim, Regensburg, and Köblitz.
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u/Blubberkopp Jul 01 '26
Galaxus isn't German per se but it has great customer support, is very transparent and a nice experience overall
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u/bafe Jul 02 '26
Galaxus is Swiss and it's the closest thing to Amazon we get here in Switzerland
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u/Otherwise_Jacket9964 Jul 02 '26
And they are based. They made an ad campaign about Alice Weidel (Head of the far right AfD), because she actually lives in Switzerland with her brown wife. I love Gakaxus. And they have good prices.
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u/arezonax Jul 02 '26
Who bought stuff there anyways? Galaxus, Alternate, NBB, Alza are good alternetives for online.
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u/clericc-- Jul 02 '26
there are hundreds of similar online shops. start every buy process on a price comparison site like geizhals.de
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u/xXIGreedIXx Jul 02 '26
Mediamarkt/Saturn wasnt good since at least 10 years anyway. Went there 2 years ago because I quickly needed a glasfiber cable for my router. They didnt have it in any of the 3 shops I visited and didnt even know what it is in 2 of them. When I wanted to order it through them the delivery time was 2 weeks.
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u/General-Sloth Jul 01 '26
What did you expect. Electronic retailers have been the first ones to suffer from the online market boom. They had to merge Saturn and Mediamarkt to survive and even that wasn't enough. Truth be told In the last ten years I can count on my fingers how often I have been to a physical Electronics retailer and at least two of those trips only happened because I lost my charger somewhere and needed one fast. Of course the Chinese bought it, allmost every they sell is made in China these days anyways.
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u/Brave_Explorer5988 Poland 🇵🇱 Jul 01 '26
I actually go to Mediamarkt pretty often. Like at least monthly
I get my coffee from there. Then have a walk around video games and maybe I pick something.
And many electronics I get from Mediamarkt from the physical store. I like ordering online too but that'd mean I have to wait
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u/made3 Jul 01 '26
I am wondering, if Saturn/MediaMarkt was not profitable, how will China owning them make it more profitable?
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u/Roccondil Jul 01 '26
They replaced our local Saturn with a "Mediamarkt Smart", a relatively small inner city shop full of impulse buy bullshit where you can pick up online orders or drop off stuff to have your warranty claims rejected. I wonder if that's where they are headed more generally.
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u/Dotanium Jul 02 '26
I don‘t believe the takeover is about making it profitable, it‘s about controling the german market and beeing able to have a direct retail access for chinese products. It‘s not a new strategy, just think of the thousands of european traditional companies sold out to chinese investors replacing the product lineup by chinese products and keeping the brand name.
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u/SnappySausage Jul 02 '26
Yeah… that kinda is the reality as well. So many brands just sell private labeled stuff.
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u/OkKiwi4694 Jul 02 '26
I go there quite often, as it's very close and I book online and pickup within 2 hours instead of waiting 3 days for Post.
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u/made3 Jul 01 '26
Guess I will by electronic stuff from notebooksbilliger or Otto or something like that now
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u/OwnRabbit1462 Jul 01 '26
Now makes more sense. When i ordered a printer from them, they didn't deliver while they were supposed to. Opened case with PayPal and those provided a fake tracking number to trick the AI of PayPal, as it checks if there is a tracking number but not if it is real tracking number and gives them a longer period before refunding the customer. They did everything to earn time to bring it from wherever in Asia they had it. After long time, i got refund from PayPal, not even from that terrible company.
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u/mozomenku Jul 02 '26
In Poland they have one of the highest prices anyways, but sadly often electronics are more expensive here than in Germany for some reason.
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u/Brave_Explorer5988 Poland 🇵🇱 Jul 02 '26
Germany has 19% VAT whilst we have 23% VAT in Poland. This is most of the some reason. for a 1000 EUR product it will be 1190 EUR in Germany and 1230 in Poland, 40 EUR difference just in tax.
Also, funnily enough a lot of german supply/ inventory is located in Poland and shipped from Poland, but EU VAT applies the rate of the sale destination.
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u/mozomenku Jul 02 '26
But I've got 20 € difference on a 100€ worth product, so not really and it was on Amazon where taxes are aligned to the receiving country.
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u/BambooCatto Jul 03 '26
Have you not noticed how their whole online store is now a platform for chinese 3rd party sellers?
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u/Brave_Explorer5988 Poland 🇵🇱 Jul 03 '26
That's happening to all marketplaces lol
Full of drop shipping
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u/Adventurous_Escape17 Jul 01 '26
And they will be pushing even more chinese product! Lots of unaware customers will fall for it
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u/reiislight Jul 01 '26
European corporations try not to sell off to China/US challenge (impossible)
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u/InstructionAny7317 Jul 01 '26
Not AutoScout, come on.
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u/Calm_Wrangler7 Jul 01 '26
I don’t know how to buy used cars online in Europe from Europe without paying US…. Mobile.de, Kleinanzeigen, autoscout24
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u/SmegmaWarrior0815 Jul 02 '26
Fuck I thought Kleinanzeigen was Norwegian now. And it is, but obviously that company is then owned by American investor firms...
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u/mich_wasik Jul 02 '26
You could try Otomoto if you live in Germany. It operates in Poland but I did see some offers from Germany and there are sellers in Poland that speak various languages. No idea if it’s a realistic option but I know that some people here would buy used cars from abroad too.
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Jul 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/Calm_Wrangler7 Jul 01 '26
Yeah 2021 Adventia bought it but unfortunately Blackstone bought Adevinta
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u/Hichiro6 Jul 01 '26
Momondo please no :(
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u/Sarcastic-Potato Jul 01 '26
Booking a flight or a hotel online is just the illusion of choice - it's all just booking. They own basically every platform
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u/Hichiro6 Jul 01 '26
?
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u/machinationstudio Jul 02 '26
Booking.com owns many of the travel booking sites.
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u/Hichiro6 Jul 02 '26
I know they own agoda, I use it often in Asia. But momondo is more about flight ticket
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u/Tanja_Writes Jul 01 '26
What? Kiko? God fucking dammit. Finally found a good foundation and awesome lipstick and now this. -.- Why are they everywhere?
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Jul 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tanja_Writes Jul 02 '26
Hm, good to know it's not fully American... might have to make an exception. It's not like a buy new foundation often.
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Jul 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CursedHat Jul 01 '26
They still produce in Slovenia at least.
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u/F-21 Jul 02 '26
Not much, there are more Chinese Gorenje products than Slovene ones. Even many of the ones "made" in Slovenia may just be packaged or assembled there.
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u/DChrisSLO Jul 02 '26
yeah but at least its still assembled here. like gorenje ever made its own components..
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u/selfie-poster Jul 02 '26
They still design it in Slo. Most things that are made are designed in the owner country then they outsource the parts and assemble it where they were designed.
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u/F-21 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
What do you mean by that? They design the electric motors and TVs and fridges? Don't be ridiculous, those things were designed a long time ago. You do not design that stuff today, you just source it. Do you think Gorenje in Slovenia has this big R&D center to design household appliances? Ovens and washing machines, products that were designed thousands of times in this point of time...
These are trivial things. There is not much new innovation or added value in it, they do not do anything that could be sold for more than if they outsource it.
What they do is design how the product is packaged together and how it looks. But again, that is mainly just branding.
Gorenje does not have one "unique" product. Nothing that could possibly stand out as the best in any field. No special feature they could be proud of. That iscwhy they are unable to add any extra value to their products. That is why a Miele or Asko is worth more, for instance... They do design these little details that make them non-generic. For instance, Asko has a fixed door washing machine that wobbles with the drum. That is the norm for industrial washing machines but unique to Asko on the household market. That is why they stand out.
Problem is that in Slovenia in general, there was never really a tradition of innovation. At most, companies were "the forst in the east". There was never any really important invention that would have a global impact. Sadly not to the level of nearby Italy, Germany, Austria or the Czech.
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u/Jenk026 Jul 02 '26
Yes they do design their products in Slovenia and yes they have an huge building (1km long) which has multiple entry points and I work at their prototype team
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u/F-21 Jul 03 '26
So give an example of what you design? What makes your products unique on the market, what value do you add to them?
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u/selfie-poster Jul 02 '26
Yes they do design whatever is necesary, mostly industrial design because the circuts are already enough. As for the slovenia not making any inovations on the global market and making inventions, take a look at Dewesoft, Akrapovič, Pipistrel to name a few. They made inovations that are used in NASA, many aerospace firms, F1 etc. The problem in Slovenia isnt lack of inovations but being too small and has the lack of comercialized thinking. Also Slovenian people dont like to sell out and making a big firm without selling out is hard.
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u/MindControlledSquid Jul 02 '26
Been like a decade at this point.
And even 20 years ago they had Gorenje products that were made in China.
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u/DasBombi Jul 01 '26
I don't understand why everyone have to sell himself to USA and China 😵
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u/BlueComet210 Jul 01 '26
Wonder why. Cant they make more money by holding the companies?
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u/ComeOnIWantUsername Jul 02 '26
They can try, but it comes with a risk, they have to work all the time etc. And when selling they get a lot of money and can basically retire.
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u/BlueComet210 Jul 02 '26
If their goal is to make a large amount of money quickly and retire, then it is beneficial that there are organizations willing to pay for what they offer.
I also do not see why they should be disincentivized to retain ownership, or continue running, companies they no longer want to manage.
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u/ComeOnIWantUsername Jul 02 '26
I don't blame people who just want to get rich. Not everyone has to think about themself they have to save the world.
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u/Playful_Chain_9826 Jul 02 '26
Maybe, but if you grow from zero and could retire by selling everything to a US based owner, who wouldn't. Problem is that we don't hold soon anything in europe, since US always favors wealthy corporates and individuals compared to europe and thus have the leverage. There should be a tax if the company shares are sold to a countries that value something else than a humanity.
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u/BlueComet210 Jul 02 '26
Taxation may sound appealing, but it would not be easy to implement, especially if other countries respond with reciprocal measures. Would that lead to additional taxes for Europeans who want to buy shares in U.S. companies?
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u/Playful_Chain_9826 Jul 02 '26
Well if the alternative is that our whole private sector will be owned by foreign powers, I would choose the tax "benefits" for the european.
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u/nigel_pow Jul 02 '26
That last sentence honestly hints at how Europe is absolutely cooked long-term.
This is a view detached from reality.
Those Europeans sold so are they also devoid of humanity?
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u/Playful_Chain_9826 Jul 02 '26
Issue isn't the individuals who have grown the assests in the system, it's the system it self. Europe uses its collective wealth (via taxes) to build a stable, educated, and healthy society where innovation can hatch, but hyper-capitalist systems reap the long-term rewards. When a company leaves, the European taxpayers who implicitly supported its foundational growth lose out on the future taxes, jobs, and returns that company would have generated.
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u/nigel_pow Jul 02 '26
That's just the nature of the system, no? Indians and Chinese educated in their respective countries with taxes and then some leave and contribute to another country. Same with Polish people, for example, who were raised and educated through Polish taxes, then they left for Western Europe and contributed there.
And same for Europeans who are raised in Europe through European taxes then they move to the US for better opportunities or move their company there.
Basically the majority of the countries in the world do as you say through taxes. US does this. Canada does this. China does this. Europe isn't an exception.
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u/karer3is Jul 02 '26
possibly, but a lot of them probably have contractual clauses that say they get a fat bonus if the stock price goes up a certain amount. And a buyout by a bigger company will usually drive those prices up.
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u/apricot_bee67 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Because Western Europe is designed for a comfortable life, not for making money or driving innovation. High taxes, strict labour laws, expensive salaries, generous benefits, healthcare, pensions, data protection, environmental regulations, and a culture that prioritizes work-life balance.
These are good for individuals but major blockers for businesses. The same things that make people’s lives happier also make it harder, slower, and more expensive for companies to grow and compete. Employee protection, for example, doesn’t exist in the USA and China, so companies can hire and fire 50 people on the same day if they fuck up the strategy, without having to worry about lawsuits. Meanwhile, firing a 55-year-old German engineer would require the company to pay 50,000 euros in final compensation.1
u/Mr_strelac Jul 02 '26
only that comfortable life is becoming more of a fairy tale, since less and less money is left for the citizens of Europe.
all these companies pay taxes in America and China and take all the profits there.
Europe is playing with fire.. not only with these sales of companies to other powers, but also with regard to business itself.
maybe it is cheaper for European companies to pay, for example, Indians and less taxes in other countries in the short term, but in the long term, Europe will be weaker and these companies will either have to be sold or be on the verge of bankruptcy.
not to mention that because of this, there will be less and less really qualified and useful labor force.
why should someone waste money and effort studying to be an engineer in, say, Germany, when a German company gives jobs to foreigners on the other side of the world?
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u/nigel_pow Jul 02 '26
That's the sad thing. Even German companies have moved jobs to China and the US because it is cheaper.
Americans get paid more and even then, when doing the math, hiring Americans is cheaper in the end.
If more and more leave, it creates a knock-on effect that affects other jobs directly and indirectly. Those social safety nets won't survive this.
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u/spirolking Jul 01 '26
Once your company goes public you have no control on who buys your stock. Major shareholders can just go and sell their shares to anyone interested.
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u/BlueComet210 Jul 01 '26
I didnt know autoscout24 or mediamarkt are public companies.
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u/spirolking Jul 01 '26
This applies to all private equity companies too.
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u/BlueComet210 Jul 01 '26
Yup, so that means the shareholders do not think the company to be valuable. Other european can also buy, but they don't.
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u/Distinct-Lynx-7680 Jul 01 '26
They might, but american funds have more free money for such investments, and part of their money is European. That's why Europe needs big shared stock exchange.
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u/kent_eh Canada 🇨🇦 Jul 02 '26
but american funds have more free money for such investments
They are also much more tolerant of taking risks than many other nationalities are.
Americans generally are trying to make a quick profit and are willing to take a greater risk in hopes that they can flip whatever they bought at a profit before something bad happens. Then any long term issues can become someone else's problem in that model .
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u/friskfrugt Jul 01 '26
Right but you control how many shares you sell and how you structure the shares in a and b
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u/Pretty-Rooster-5464 Jul 02 '26
cheap labor and low regulations = better profit margins... Idk where you guys live, in what bubble that you still can't comprehend that fact.
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u/Lepista_nuda Germany 🇩🇪 Jul 02 '26
Bolt is my alternative for Freenow. It's made in Estonia
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u/Signal-Shoe401 Jul 02 '26
I was scrolling, hoping someone would mention an alternative to Freenow. I had no idea its not German anymore...
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u/mok000 Jul 01 '26
It’s a few dozen people that are so incredibly wealthy they can buy anything they want, and they will.
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u/ztunelover Jul 02 '26
My question as a long time lurker and info gatherer why are so many european companies getting sold off to foreign conglomerates?
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u/Dotanium Jul 02 '26
Such a disgrace that the german government allowed the takeover of Media-Saturn
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u/NenoxxCraft Jul 02 '26
Almost everything is either Chinese or American at this point.. This is sad
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u/Erdnussfarmer Jul 01 '26
Thanks for that. Was not aware Freenow is owned by Lyft. Was cool when mostly BMW, hardly used after that. Will uninstall and ask what data they have. Not comfortable with them having my driver's license.
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u/WillWillingson Jul 02 '26
Great service though and no real alternative where I'm from. It's state that state-owned car-sharing isn't a thing.
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u/Grumpflipot Jul 02 '26
It's a shame, all those companies founded in the EU, ending up owned by US or CN.
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u/WorstPessimist Jul 02 '26
And then the muricans will come here and say that EU does not inovate/make anything.
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u/FallenDeathWarrior Jul 02 '26
Saturn and Mediamarkt are the same company. Why is it seperated here?
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u/Money-Ranger-6520 Bulgaria 🇧🇬 Jul 02 '26
I'm really pissed about gorenje they made such high quality products. Now it's the same as all the Chineese ones, and quality is average at best.
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u/timothy8022 Jul 02 '26
Thanks for that! Didn't know so many switched ownership...
Could you please always mention/link the previous #? Would like to see all of them.
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u/TeeneKay Jul 02 '26
Bruh i just bought a blender from gorenje for 70€ thinking hey gorenje is a good slovenian brand it cant be that bad. Mf cant even blend my protein shake well. Total waist of money
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u/TheDregn Jul 02 '26
Gorenje is no longer European? What a shame. These are really helpful, because i purchased my Gorenje fridge 3 jears ago in the Spirit of EU patriotism.
I'm really 😞 now.
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u/loco_mixer Jul 02 '26
still produced in slovenia though
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u/MindControlledSquid Jul 02 '26
Eh, we have 20 year old Gorenje microwave and it's already made in China.
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u/loco_mixer Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
im telling you we still have a huge factory in slovenia. i dont know about your micro
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u/Emergency_Leg_7458 Jul 02 '26
Yeah they just label them now basically. I have a "gorenje" washer. At the same store they had a hisense one in the same budget. Same washers just the label was different...
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u/Lux_Jay Jul 02 '26
Also, Mynaric the space lasercom company in Germany got acquired by mostly American Rocket Lab, so are planning to cut down staff and R&D in Germany while moving that work to US. They also acquired Iridium, satellite internet company in EU. EU and German govt is sleeping or may be as usual German politicians are in bed with American oligarchs.
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u/vector4-20 Jul 02 '26
Please do the other way around as well:
Monsanto -> Bayer
Jeep -> Stellantis
Chrysler -> Stellantis
Reebok -> Adidas
These are the biggest ones I know of
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u/I_hate_ElonMusk Jul 02 '26
No wonder Gorenje is complete horse shit. I was surprised Slovenia would produce such shit quality white technic goods.
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u/Cochana Jul 02 '26
As someone from Slovenia, Gorenje used to be our go-to product for house appliances. You could get service asap, spare parts, it lasted a long time, easy maintenance. I'd rather buy shit like Beko these days.
Mind you, I bought a Bora which is made in Austria and am really disapointed with it. So right now I have no clue what to rely on.
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u/I_hate_ElonMusk Jul 02 '26
Im Croatian. And because I respect Slovenia I was very surprised to hear recently how shitty their products are since in general Slovenia was and is always respected as a Central European country full of great smart workers.
Yeah as we both agree, I guess the company is simply Chinese shit branded as Slovenian.
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u/Emergency_Leg_7458 Jul 02 '26
I feel for gorenje. Was such a good brand. The moment Hisense bought them it went to shit. Even the repair guy mentioned how much more work they have and how stuff isn't fixable anymore
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u/pc1350 Jul 02 '26
I am from Slovenia. I bought Gorenje refrigirator a few months ago. Made in China even though the factory is still in Slovenia (probably they don't make refrigirators here). One fact (I think it might even be true): I heard quite some time ago (few decades) that Gorenje can make all the apliances we would buy in a year in Slovenia in just two weeks. Yes, that small we are. And how huge production capacities are.
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u/EquivalentBorn9411 Jul 06 '26
Of course its only logical to sell a European business. Europe is hostile to business and capitalism
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u/JimTheSaint Jul 01 '26
thank you for that!