Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to please ask you not to plough even more money into Amazon over this lockdown?

665 replies

schitter · 02/11/2020 16:01

I know, it's cheap and easy.
I know you probably need to find the lowest price you can.
I know it being delivered straight to your door is win win on non essential trips out.

But pleeeasssssse let's not make the richest man in the world any richer than he is already if you have any other option.
Even shopping online with the big high street retailers is better than lining JBs pockets.
Look at those little individual eBay shops that'll no doubt have exactly what you're looking for and you only have to wait a couple of days extra, it's not the end of the world.

Please look around you, please look what else is available.
Lots of your local shops have diversified into offering home delivery because their livelihoods depend on it.

My livelihood depends on it! My little business did 3% (yes, three percent) of its usual sales in April. I permanently laid off 4 staff and haven't made a penny personally since.
I feel sick at the thought.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
NoSquirrels · 02/11/2020 16:34

@Redwolf1

Sorry op I want to side with you I really do but it doesn't make financial sense. A mum at my dds school sells usborne books and I really want to buy a load through her but today I realised I could save £2/3/4 or even £5 per book buying on amazon. That makes a huge difference to someone like me who has been made redundant. I wish it wasnt like that but it is
Could you buy one or two from her and the rest elsewhere?

Do check out Wordery.com as well as the other options mentioned up thread - often comparable discounts to Amazon.

dottiedodah · 02/11/2020 16:35

I see where you are coming from ,but with Christmas looming and non essential shops closed what are we to do! Also had bad knee last month or so .Couldnt get out .Amazon is a life saver in those circumstances. Love looking around small towns for things in independent shops .Not possible now! Also Amazon first class regarding refunds/exchanges .No quibbling at all .

FelicityFlamingo · 02/11/2020 16:37

I life amazon and buy loads from them. They're always well priced and the delivery is swift so threads telling me not to buy from where I want to buy from won't make me change my mind

I am sorry about your business though, I know it's tough

jessstan1 · 02/11/2020 16:41

@HaudYerWheeshtBawbag

Isn’t amazon a platform for small businesses?
Yes it is. Amazon keeps people in work, either working at their packaging places or in small retailers. I certainly won't stop using it just because it has a big boss who had the guts and the wherewithal to get it going - good luck to him. I do not resent anyone for becoming rich. Amazon is great.
Fandajji · 02/11/2020 16:42

I buy almost everything from amazon. My life is far too busy too pass up anything that makes it easier!

BrightYellowDaffodil · 02/11/2020 16:43

I do often support local businesses and go out of my way, even if it means paying a little more, to do so.

But I still get some things from Amazon. It's not reasonable to assume that everyone has the time/funds etc to hunt round the internet or pay more.

terfinginthevoid · 02/11/2020 16:44

Amazon got so big by being really really good at what they do. Ever since they started their website was just better and easier to use than their competition and it still is. People aren't going to stop using them.
I agree with you that Jeff Bezos doesn't need any more of our money - the answer to that should be taxing his wealth, and taking the business into public ownership.

Redwolf1 · 02/11/2020 16:44

@noSquirrels I think I will do that because I feel so guilty about it. Thanks for the tip I will look at wordery

unmarkedbythat · 02/11/2020 16:45

The thing about eBay is the searches are so shite. Say I'm looking for a table, want to pay up to £100. Loads of results come up and you click into them to find out that they sell the table you are after, but for £300, and have come up in the search because they also sell a footstool for £100. That is very annoying. Also the inability to search by area.

Lily193 · 02/11/2020 16:46

Amazon is a major employer in the area where I live and we were repeatedly told during lockdown by some of their couriers that they were grateful to still have a job so I won't stop using it for that reason alone.

Cuddling57 · 02/11/2020 16:47

I also see where you are coming from but I find it hard to justify going into local shops and paying more for items from local people who I know are richer than me.
The larger companies also employ local people so that can't sway it either.

Noideawottodo · 02/11/2020 16:47

Love Amazon. Sorry. I'm very rural so the only small businesses tend to be food, which I do support rather than use a supermarket. But for everything else, its Amazon or John lewis .

Annasgirl · 02/11/2020 16:47

Whew - well I hope none of you ever lose your cushy jobs and actually have to work at an amazon warehouse - have you ever thought that this race to the bottom on price only really hurts the low paid? The millionaires in Wall Street and Knightsbridge will still be loaded but when all the local craftspeople are replaced by low paid Chinese or other Asian workers with no worker's rights, where will the people be to buy your product or service in the UK?

Oh, wait, you plan to sell your product and service to all the Chinese millionaire factory workers do you?

I always support local business and plan to do the same this year, but I only ever buy what I need. I have already bought the Christmas books online from my local bookstore as we are in lockdown here. I will buy any other gifts and food items from local stores either direct or online. And I hope that all of us who do this can manage to save our local businesses and not end up with yet more towns full of multinational warehouses.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 02/11/2020 16:47

@PrayingandHoping

What about the thousands of people amazon employ? They are one of the biggest employers in my area...

I always support small businesses but it's not black and white

Agreed.
LindaEllen · 02/11/2020 16:48

I am here to offer another point of view, and to beg you - on the contrary - TO use Amazon.

Firstly, as someone has pointed out, they are a huge, huge employer. A warehouse has recently opened near where I live, and it has provided hundreds of jobs, including to my brother who suffered the closure of his previous long term employer thanks to lockdown. By encouraging people away from Amazon, you're directly contributing to more job losses in the future, most likely. The people who work for Amazon have families to feed, just as much as those running these small businesses that you speak of.

Secondly, this is on a personal level .. remember that small businesses also sell on Amazon.

My partner and I have a business of buying old toys, making them better, and selling them. Previously, we'd have sold at local markets, but these aren't happening at the moment, leaving us really stuck. To help with this, we have started to sell on Amazon, which has been a godsend for us. He fixes broken games consoles bought from boot sales for a fiver, allowing us to then sell them at ten times that price. We buy old lego sets and replace any missing pieces so we can sell them as complete. We buy old fashioned wooden toys, give them a lick of paint and put them up for sale. We also have one or two of our own products for sale at the moment, but that's kind of an experiment.

When you're buying something from Amazon, click on 'view more offers' to make it clear who you're buying from. Often (not always though), when you click 'buy it now', you're just buying from Amazon, when there are lots of sellers who sell the same things. They will all be small businesses - so buy from one of those instead!

Finally, I would urge you to please not make this lockdown any more difficult than it's going to be already. If people on here are stressed out about Christmas shopping, non essential shops are closed .. then please just let them put everything in one Amazon basket and check out. Yes, they probably COULD buy from Facebook/Insta pages, or individual websites, but with so much on our minds at the moment, it's honestly easier to be able to get everything from one place.

The Amazon hate threads are not only saddening me, but it also scares me. Amazon and eBay for us have been a chance to keep our business plodding along. Not amazing, we're not getting rich, but we're turning over enough to keep us going.

Yes, there is a very rich man at the top of this organisation, and it's galling to think about sometimes. But at the same time, when you think about the overwhelming good Amazon can do - to those they employ, and the smaller businesses who use them as a selling platform - it's clear that there is a much bigger picture. And without that greedy git, there wouldn't BE an Amazon, my brother would be unemployed, and we would have to call it a day on our business.

So please, please, please stop campaigning against Amazon when it's such a beneficial system for many - albeit with a very rich, greedy man at the head of it.

NameChange84 · 02/11/2020 16:48

Three of my friends are self published writers who currently ONLY are able to sell their wonderful books through “fulfilled by Amazon”. Two of there have Christmas books coming out so I will buy them. I’m sorry but I have Prime and when I had a recent injury and was able to buy a Tens Machine, Sling and Walking Stick And have them delivered in less than 24 hours I have to admit it was a godsend.

speakout · 02/11/2020 16:48

unmarkedbythat you can search by area on ebay- go to advanced search- top right of home page, you can select by postcode- so say all sellers within a 2/10/15/50 mile radius of your home.

ShoppingBasket · 02/11/2020 16:49

I have tried to buy from shops in the high street but a lot don't have what I want or online delivery is expensive, sometimes doubling the price of what I want. I just can't afford that. Amazon are free delivery and very good at sorting issues with items so far.

OzziePopPop · 02/11/2020 16:49

@Redwolf1

Sorry op I want to side with you I really do but it doesn't make financial sense. A mum at my dds school sells usborne books and I really want to buy a load through her but today I realised I could save £2/3/4 or even £5 per book buying on amazon. That makes a huge difference to someone like me who has been made redundant. I wish it wasnt like that but it is
This.

Sorry but at the moment it’s wherever is cheapest for me.

BackforGood · 02/11/2020 16:50

Everything @wink1970 said on P1, plus, it is a bit like asking people to buy fair trade, or not buy from Primark or not by eggs from caged hens or to only buy organic meat. Nice, if you have the means to be able to make that choice. It isn't a situation everyone is in.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 02/11/2020 16:50

@LindaEllen an excellent post.

Opinionator · 02/11/2020 16:50

Thank you for this. I've been absolutely flat out buying from Amazon, and this has really got me thinking about how unfair it is to small business owners. ❤ I'll start looking on eBay at individual sellers

Hardbackwriter · 02/11/2020 16:51

Someone has set up a website - I think It’s bookshop.org - that supports independent book shops.

I'm intending to either use this, or to do an order to collect through my local book shop, to buy books for Christmas presents. But let's be honest, it's essentially an act of charity and that's how I see it. I will pay around twice the price for the exact same products and I'll do this because I like the existence of independent bookshops and want them to continue to be a thing, but I can see why lots of other people don't think this is worth it for them.

speakout · 02/11/2020 16:52

LindaEllen

I agree- I would encourage people to buy from Amazon.ng flexibi

It has been a particular benefit for women, allowing me a opportunity to work from home with yong children, giving flexibility.
I would not have been able to become self employed without Amazon.

calamityjam · 02/11/2020 16:52

If I buy on other platforms I am charged for delivery which I don't on Amazon. I have just been furloughed for the 3rd time this year. I cannot afford to spend up to an extra fiver per delivery

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread