Years ago, I purchased Staub from one of their factory outlet stores and it was a good experience. I believe I got my 7qt basil cocotte from there for $159 but that one close. Mainly, I purchase the VI cookware or damaged boxes from zwilling.com - many pieces from there and have had a good experience. Staub does run a sale at their main factory shop in the east coast, but I've never made it out there. As far as appearance, their visual imperfections(VI) are either minimal or negligible. The main VI sign was my first purchase where the lid had an over spray - I kept the pot because it does not affect cooking at all. I have so many more that look 100% ok. I have one where I pin-sized drop of the outer enamel color was on the inside. Again, not an issue because it was sealed over and nothing will happen so I kept it. In the 10+ years of me purchasing Staubs, I had to return one on arrival because the pan was very wobbly. I sent a video to them, they accepted and paid shipping. Many of the visual imperfections(they are new pots, not refurbished used pots) are so minor you either don't see them, it won't affect cookware, and most times something you only notice because you know you are buying a VI item. More on reddit.com

Seems fishy. The "about us" section is literally copied, word by word from zoro dot com. More on reddit.com

Holiday sales the past few years have been pretty hit or miss. Before covid I feel like the sales were better. Interestingly, I noticed Williams Sonoma dropping prices on Staub around Christmas (I mean like, right before Dec 25th and the week between Christmas and New Years) so you have to keep your eyes peeled. Not sure what it will be like this year though. Zwilling used to do the 4 qt cocottes with the iron lids for $99 on black Friday. But I think last year it was glass lids 😑 and they were like $129 or something. As far as 7 quarts go, I'd say if you see a decent deal somewhere, jump on it because they're a popular workhorse size. Like the Amazon deal you saw for $220 would have been what I'd consider a good price for that pot. I paid full price for mine but have no regrets. More on reddit.com

Not to be rude, but this review kind of sucks. The Staub is a thicker pot and has a dark-colored interior. This thickness will take longer to heat up but retain heat better. The color will also contribute to additional heat retention. The review attributes Le Creuset's liquid retention to its lid, when in reality, it was actually just cooking at a lower temperature. When comparing these two products, you need to let the reader know what each product does best. However, this is probably impossible for this reviewer because they don't know how to test them properly. More on reddit.com