AIBU?
To ask how you can live with yourself if you use Amazon
paperbeatsrock · 27/11/2019 12:06
Just kidding! All those political threads asking how people can possibly vote for X or Y must be getting to me.
I use Amazon. (While I’m frequently ordering from a vendor rather than Amazon themselves, Bezos still gets his cut.) Yet, the more I read about them, the more I realise I’m part of the problem. So I guess my question is, do you have stern words with yourself for using them, but keep doing it anyway?
paddlingwhenIshouldbeworking · 27/11/2019 12:13
Have massively reduced due to packaging & ridiculous tax situation.
If I get it in a shop now I do as it goes straight in my bag without cardboard, plastic and that air-filled plastic packaging, all for one thing.
Still struggle with books as not many bookshops left thanks to Amazon. And my kids have dots and we have amazon music.
Am aware it's likely a futile protest.
Whitney168 · 27/11/2019 12:15
I do use Amazon, but I cancelled my Prime account as I did find it stopped me looking elsewhere and I was ordering things I might not have done if I couldn't a) have them almost immediately and b) had to meet a minimum spend or pay for postage.
So, not great, but I did break their hold on me a wee bit at least.
TreesRUs · 27/11/2019 12:19
Just read a Guardian article about delivery, and it’s not even just Amazon. All delivery is causing us problems.
I’m really trying to cut down, especially as I have a large amount of shops easily accessible by public transport. But because of delivery there is so much less choice now in shops. For example as a tall fat person I struggle with clothes 
havingtochangeusernameagain · 27/11/2019 12:19
I think it depends. Yes I buy kindle books which is bad for Waterstones and bricks and mortar booksellers. But good for the trees (I've got the tablet computer anyway, so the un-eco-friendly consequences of buying that have already happened).
My son has a Garmin running watch. The other day the strap broke. Now where on earth would I get a replacement strap. I was able to get one the next day via my husband's Amazon Prime. Without Amazon I would probably have had to have bought a whole new watch. £15 versus £200 or so.
I know there are big issues with it, but it's not as clear-cut "Amazon is bad, high street chains middling, high street independents good" as people make out.
toomuchfaster · 27/11/2019 12:22
I use it for things I can't get elsewhere, eg liquid soap refills as the supermarkets round here have stopped selling them and I didn't want to go back to bottles. Bulk buy nappies as cheaper, soon to stop (fingers crossed!). We do make a concerted effort to order in one large order every so often, rather than lots of little ones to cut down on packaging.
tabulahrasa · 27/11/2019 12:25
I’m not happy about using amazon... but there are things on there that are pretty hard to track down other places, some things are considerably cheaper.
Then on top of that, I’ve had to use them twice this week because I’ve ordered things weeks in advance from other places and they haven’t arrived in time and amazon can get me them next day...
NoNewsisGood · 27/11/2019 12:26
A lot of Amazon is made up of marketplace sellers (from one-person businesses to much larger scale companies) who use the platform to sell their goods. Yes, some are importing from China, some though are companies who have their own website, but are found by Amazon users instead of spending on marketing to promote their own site and some are small businesses selling products they design/produce on a small scale so can't afford a shop or chain of shops or don't have the expertise to sell in to the larger chains. Amazon provides a platform for those businesses who are also paying Amazon a lot to use it....but, they are using it and you are buying their products.
BrightYellowDaffodil · 27/11/2019 12:26
I do use Amazon but not a huge amount. I like being able to read reviews (although a) that doesn’t stop me shopping elsewhere for the same product if I want to and b) you have to be careful that they’re real). Having the protection of a large company is helpful (Amazon replace and refund without quibble, in my experience). And I use the Merketplace a lot for secondhand books, and I pick charities where I can.
If there’s something specific I want, it cheeses me off no end to have walked into town, trailed round half a dozen shops then found that the product I’ve decided on is out of stock.
Yes, they could pay more tax, and I would prefer it if they did, but then it’s up to governments to change the tax laws so they have to. I can’t imagine many companies - or people, come to that - who’d pay more tax than they were legally obliged to. Campaign for governments to close tax loopholes!
UnderneathTheMangoTree · 27/11/2019 12:27
I don't use Amazon on principle, but I do order a lot online. People who say Amazon is so convenient and cheap have never tried other online shops. They use Amazon because they know it, it's their first choice because it's so well known, not because it's the cheapest place to shop. I have bought clothes, cosmetics, second hand and new books, tech stuff etc. online and have always been satisfied with price and service. I often buy directly from the producer, so e.g. my last purchase were some organic spices, I bought these directly from the firm that produces them.
All it takes is the small effort of using Google to search for whatever it is you want to buy, instead of typing it straight into the Amazon homepage.
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