To ask how you can live with yourself if you use Amazon

[paperbeatsrock]

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?

What I don't like about the business models of Amazon, Uber etc is the way they flood the market, undercut their competitors & then once they have the monopoly increase their prices as sooner or later then need to make a profit.

@speakout how big a cut do Amazon take, out of interest?

I am biased for an odd reason. Amazon is buying us a new car.

DH was smart enough to buy a block of amazon stock in our retirement account in 2008, after the big market drop. It's up over 500% since then, so rather than finance the new car we're getting to replace my old banger we've sold some of the shares to pay for the car,

Thanks JB.

It’s make a big difference to the lives of the deliverers if we tipped. I watched Sorry we missed you, bleak Ken Loach film and have resolved to do so.

Amazon is utterly fantastic!

It’s up to the government to have the necessary tax rules in place and apply them appropriately. You shouldn’t feel guilty.

Love my amazon account. Shipping to northern ireland can be bloody nightmare- checking sites. No issues with Amazon prime and I can get stuff from independent retailers.

I haven't used Amazon in years. Probably 6 or 7 years. I honestly don't miss it. And I buy my ebooks through kobo.

Lots of retailers don't treat staff well. Most of them are not known to have staff wear nappies due to pressure to avoid toilet breaks. They have also had staff collapse on the warehouse floor and not be noticed, later dying.

Once companies with these practices have broken the competition they will raise their prices.

I do not use Amazon. Be a bit more organised and shop around. When you can, choose a smaller retailer and pay more, especially if you are someone who buys fairtrade tea or coffee. Why don't you think people working in the UK deserve a fair wage and fair treatment?

Most of us can make better purchase choices, including choosing not to have or waiting a bit longer. I was grumpy to pay an extra tenner recently for something to not use Amazon, then thought that it's someone else's kid being treated like shit by them and I could choose not to enable that.

I dont use them.

I am wondering what people actually buy off Amazon on a weekly basis?

Welll, that's not too hard really, is it? Think what you buy from the shops during the week. Then imagine buying it from Amazon

So this week, I bought

• X2 tubes of blistex (same day delivery, cheaper than Boots, had no time to access shops That particular day)

• a 2nd hand book on Katherine Howard

• some giant (Non Christmassy) gift bags with rope handles. Wish to fuck I had just bought online in the first place instead of wasting an hour or so in my life Going to Tesco, pound shop and the Range unsuccessful

• buying a pack of giant multi coloured tissue paper

• buying a multi back ofnwell reviewed fleece lined leggings (about 40% cheaper than in Tesco)

I am wondering what people actually buy off Amazon on a weekly basis?

Anything that you would buy anyway, I bought cough sweets the other day as I didn't want to go to the shop with my cold, sometimes I might need certain cleaning stuff, people pop to the shops more than once a week, Amazon is no different, I probably have at least 2 deliveries a week

I love Amazon. I order something every week.

I have just bought an external hard drive, not exactly the sort of thing I am going to find easily at the spec I want, down my local high street, its being delivered tonight. I could probably get it at Currys or somewhere like that but they are not going to do a convenient evening delivery and there was a thread slating them the other day.

Surely half the reason the high street in the Uk is now a bit shit is because of amazon and similar? It is a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy

It is so ridiculously easy. And they have put huge effort and skill into making it so. That’s why people use it.

Most of my friends work long hours and have small children. In their limited free time they don’t want to trail round shops, when they could order it in a minute or two. It’s as much this societal issue as anything.

Surely half the reason the high street in the Uk is now a bit shit is because of amazon and similar?

Well it’s a chicken and egg situation. Many had become very complacent, paving the way for competition.

They’ve all had the chance to up their game now though. Particularly in the area of in store experience, which is their clear selling point against Amazon. Some have. Many haven’t bothered.

Does anybody know if Amazon would be less terrible for warehouse and delivery staff if people didn't have prime?

I do not use Amazon. Be a bit more organised and shop around. When you can, choose a smaller retailer and pay more, especially if you are someone who buys fairtrade tea or coffee. Why don't you think people working in the UK deserve a fair wage and fair treatment?*

I do think people everywhere deserve a fair wage and fair treatment in their employment but my husband has been working in excess of 74 hours per week for the last two years. I'm out of the house commuting and working 50 hours per week. Have responsibilities to my autistic step son and elderly relatives. I literally do not have the time to shop any other way than online, or through Amazon.

I really hate using it and would rather go out of my way than support a horrible business. It doesn’t look after its employees and doesn’t care about the U.K. otherwise they would pay more in taxes.

I used it once last year. Aiming to not bother at all this year.

Be a bit more organised and shop around

This comment really doesn’t understand the realities of many people’s lives now.

Surely half the reason the high street in the Uk is now a bit shit is because of amazon and similar? It is a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy

I agree & it's impossible for physical shops to compete simply from a logistics point of view.

Nrpmum - fair enough but I would suggest your experience is not the norm and that most of us making the choice to use Amazon could choose differently. Most of the examples I have read here involve things people could wait for or spend the extra quid in the shops for.

Where feasible (and for most of us it is feasible at least sometimes), we can all choose to support a small supplier, a local shop, an online retailer who doesn't behave like Amazon. It doesn't have to be everything, you don't have to be perfect but I don't understand the attitude of people working average hours without juggling massive family needs (again, most people) who don't want to do anything, especially when the only difference they would note is a few extra quid for something they want but don't need or waiting a couple more days for delivery.

Be a bit more organised and shop around

This comment really doesn’t understand the realities of many people’s lives now.

I agree that it would be impossible for me to live without online shopping but you can in most cases not use Amazon.