Shallots/Too Hot & Bitter

I thought shallots are supposed to be the mild, sweet version of onions but the ones that I've gotten are just as strong, or worse, than onions. Living in a small rural town in Iowa, we don't get a lot of thing that the "big city folk" have access to, so maybe that's the problem. Heck, I can't even find fire roasted tomatoes anywhere around here.