Overstock is a real company as far as I know not a bunch of individual sellers. Like actually buying from Amazon, not from an Amazon seller.

I've had great luck with Overstock. Bought the wrong size rug, they took it back no probs and only charged me $15 for the shipping. I was afraid it would be big $$.. Then bought the right size rug but they shipped the wrong rug. Immediately sent me the right rug and an RMA to return the mistake rug, shipping at their cost this time and UPS picked it up. Clearly a bad karma situation ;-) but all went smooth as silk and did all that via instant chat. Never even had to pick up the phone!

Had great luck buying directly from Amazon too but don't know about buying through individual like that.

any difference in shipping?

The only time I bought from an Amazon seller I wasn't happy and have never attempted to buy from them again. I ordered a camera and an external charger and battery. None of them worked with the other.
I've been ordering from Overstock for several years with great results. And yes, they are one company. Anything you order from them will be taken care of by them. Though some items are sent directly from the manufacturer that's not uncommon with other retailers, even JCP does that.
Once a small package was lost and they resent a new one right away. Another time a CD came with the package damaged. Again they shipped the new one right away along with a return label. Just recently I ordered a stacking thing for my hubby's desk. We weren't happy with it. They emailed me a return label and I dropped it off at UPS and a refund was in my account.
Those were all very small things so I hesitated to mention them, but it does show how well they handle things when they do go wrong.
I've order four chairs for the ladies parlor and numerous area rugs, baby clothing, accessories for our phones and other electronics among other items. All came within the time frame, often early, and I've been happy with everything. They have excellent customer service and I know for fact they have a group of consumers they work with to make their site better.

I have ordered quite a few times from overstock and each time has been a positve experience. One time a rug I ordered had not arrived within the speedy time frame that I was used to. I inqiured about it on line and they immediately shipped another. Then original order and the replacement both showed up at my house with in a few days of each other. I was only charged for 1 rug, so I called to return it. The customer service rep. praised me for my honesty and gave me a $25 credit on my account for a future purchase. They called UPS and the extra rug was picked up the next day.
I would not hesitate to order from Overstock. I do read the reviews and use them to help me decide about some items that I am considering.

Overstock is a company seller, not a marketplace. Buying from either them or Amazon itself should be good. Compare shipping and return issues for the particular item. As for Amazon Marketplace sellers, most are good, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of very positive reviews, but I'm always careful to check them out. Also, I use Amazon Prime nad get 2 day shipping where Marketplace sellers will usually take a day or two longer even if they are close and quick -- maybe a week longer (or more if from China, etc.) if not, so pay attention to where an item ships from.

My older sons have ordered many things through amazon marketplace, nothing really expensive, they always check the sellers feedback first. They have never not received something. Sometimes shipping does take a little longer though. I had to replace my almost new phone after I washed it, the best price was through a marketplace seller, I had no trouble with that purchase.

About 10 years ago I bought a 10x12 rug from Overstock. When it arrived, the colors were not at all what they looked like online and it cost ME almost $100 to ship it back (will never order big color specific items online again). DH ordered a laptop computer from Overstock that quit after just a few years. I am very leery about the quality of some of their products but would probably use them for a not very expensive item). Amazon, on the other hand, has been great and we order from them a lot. If it is from one of their sellers, they still stand behind it (I had ordered a hair product that arrived with the lid off and product all over the box and they overnighted me a new one - and this was from one of their sellers).

I live in a smallish, fairly rural town in Canada, about 90 min. from the US border. There is a facility just across the border that I can have stuff shipped to, and then we'll drive over and pick it up. I love to mail order shop from the US because of the better selection and usually better pricing. I've ordered from Amazon literally dozens and dozens of times over the past few years and have never had a problem. Once recently I was sent the wrong item (different bra than I had ordered), and when I contacted the vendor he said to just keep it, and they'd issue a refund to my CC - which they did within two days.

I've ordered from both Overstock and Amazon many, many times both with good results. I had a similar rug order issue as poster "justsaying" where the colors were off and it cost me a lot to return ship but overall I've been happy with them. I look carefully at ratings and reviews prior to ordering from either site.

Overstock generally has fast shipping. I have a prime membership through Amazon so I try to order items that fall into that category if available. I like the 2 day shipping time of prime membership so an item is less likely to get lost in transport. Most places have tracking info now so it's not as much of an issue. I live in a rural area and purchase enough through Amazon to warrant the cost of a prime membership. Saves me driving 40+ miles to the nearest bigger town to try and find items.

Thanks everyone. I've ordered a lot through Amazon and try to buy from Amazon rather than a seller, but I've done that too with good results. I have an Amazon credit card and with points usually have enough to pay for whatever I buy. But this is an item I was going to put on my Christmas list for my mom and wanted to make it as foolproof for her as possible. Shipping was the same with both.

I've bought a few things from Overstock and been happy with them. I buy a lot of things from Amazon, many of which are individual sellers, and have always had good results. I think on the rare occasion I've had to return anything, it's been through Amazon directly. No problems.

I'm selling my old iPhone to Gazelle dot com (and getting more than 75% of what I originally paid for it two years ago!) and am taking my payment in the form of an Amazon gift card. That won't be hard to spend. :)