to give up on Amazon Prime

[whiterabbitsweets]

Don't get me wrong. Amazon customer service is excellent so I've no complaints there.

However, it's clear that they've boomed during the covid-19 pandemic whilst smaller businesses have suffered really badly.

These are the same small businesses that can't avoid tax on the scale that Amazon do. As a result, come payback time Amazon will continue to pay the bare minimum while any remaining SME's will likely face increases to help reduce the deficit.

Irrespective of opinions on tax avoidance I think we'd all be better off if business was done with smaller suppliers/shops. I may end up paying a bit more and waiting an extra day or so for delivery but my money will go to real people.

One thing that's come from this year has been the need to support local businesses, which I'm trying to do more of. Amazon just seems like an obvious company to drop completely.

@Yohoheaveho

If you want Amazon to pay its fair share of tax then absolutely we should discuss it on forums to raise awareness, make sure people understand the arguments!

We should absolutely discuss this but that's hard to do when people use bad arguments like "but omg amazon doesn't pay tax" and pretend that all small business put on pedestal on threads like this do. It just becomes the same tedious thread after thread after thread.

Better to make informed choices and vote with your wallet/purse.

Even better. Encourage people to make an choice when they vote in next elections

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Many things are done within the confines of law but are not right. By your logic Philip Green has done nothing wrong with people's pensions so no worries there I guess.

That's not what I said. I said onstead go and pester MPs to change the law so this can't happen within the law.

Apologies. I read it like you were excusing the practice as it was within the law.

I'm waiting for a delivery from an independent. The amazon order, placed at the same time, arrived days ago. Fortunately I don't need the independent order urgently but if I could have got it from amazon I would have and I'd have an extra fiver, that I had to pay on postage, too.
The fact that the legal amount of tax they pay is small is galling, but if I don't buy from them they won't suddenly start paying more. If everyone stopped buying from them they wouldn't pay more, but a lot of people would be unemployed.
And you know what? Bezos would still be rich. If he lost all his money he'd find a way to make more, because that is what he does. That is what all successful entrepreneurs and business people do - they make money.

So I'll keep buying from amazon and at least I can watch amazon prime TV or read my kindle while I'm waiting for my independent order to arrive.

@whiterabbitsweets

Good point *@Yohoheaveho*

As we've seen with Mancock giving a £30m contract to his ex neighbor, the gov paying £millions to middlemen and Rishi Sunak having financial interests in the UK vaccine, it's all a crooked pile of excrement.

Better to make informed choices and vote with your wallet/purse.

We have government by the wealthy to promote the interests of the wealthy www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rishi-sunak-parents-wife-narayan-murthy-infosys-b1765087.html Who are Rishi Sunak’s in-laws, the Indian entrepreneurs wealthier than the Queen? www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/nov/27/huge-wealth-of-sunaks-family-not-declared-in-ministerial-register chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is facing questions over the transparency of his financial affairs after a Guardian investigation established that his wife and her family hold a multimillion-pound portfolio of shareholdings and directorships that are not declared in the official register of ministers’ interests. Akshata Murty, who married Sunak in 2009, is the daughter of one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs. Her father co-founded the technology giant Infosys, and her shares in the company are worth £430m, making her one of the wealthiest women in Britain, with a fortune larger than the Queen’s. Sunak is bound by the ministerial code, which requires him to declare any financial interests that are “relevant” to his responsibilities, and which could conflict with his duty to the public. Ministers must also declare those interests of their close family, including siblings, parents, spouse and in-laws, which might give rise to a conflict. But Sunak’s entry mentions no family members other than his wife, and only refers to her ownership of a small, UK-based venture capital company. Research by the Guardian shows that Murty and her family hold many other interests, including: • A combined £1.7bn shareholding in Infosys, which employs thousands of staff in the UK and has held contracts with government ministries and public bodies. • A £900m-a-year joint venture with Amazon in India, through an investment vehicle owned by Murty’s father. • A direct shareholding by Murty in a UK firm which runs Jamie Oliver and Wendy’s burger restaurants in India. • Five other UK companies where Murty is a director or direct shareholder, including a Mayfair outfitter that supplies the tailcoats worn by pupils at Eton College.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

I wasn't intentionally putting smaller businesses on a pedestal but simply pointing out that UK based SME's don't have the ability to offshore, locate or funnel transactions through multiple routes to avoid audit. Therefore, the tax take is invariably higher. This can only be a positive for a recovering economy.

The rest is just further justification. For instance, after the Philip Green BS over the years, I've purposely not purchased from his stores.

Oh look, Rishi sunak in-laws have a 900 million pound a year joint venture with Amazon
He won't want to be making any laws that hurt the profits of Amazon now will he!

@Yohoheaveho

Shocking. Absolutely shocking!

It's not about my personal business but my use of big vs small businesses for my shopping habits.

You are free to shop how you like, but no need to whinge about where the rest of us shop.

@Lockheart

Do what you like, it's your money. Why do you think you're being unreasonable?

Because MN hasn’t got a section called ‘AIVS?’*

• ‘Am I virtue signalling?’

www.zeebiz.com/india/news-rishi-sunak-wife-akshata-murthy-is-richer-than-the-queen-of-england-she-is-daughter-of-infosys-co-founder-narayan-murthy-142893
Report states that Akshata Murthy posseses shares worth over £430 million (approx Rs 4,200 crore) in her father NR Narayan Murthy’s tech giant Infosys.
www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2014/06/27/amazon-ties-up-with-it-billionaire-murthy-of-infosys-to-launch-e-commerce-joint-venture-in-india/?sh=15b5bd6af7a6
Amazon Ties Up With IT Billionaire Murthy Of Infosys To Launch E-commerce Joint Venture In India
Narayana Murthy, the billionaire co-founder of Indian IT services firm, Infosys, has formalized an e-commerce joint venture with the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, through his private investment firm, Catamaran Ventures. The deal was signed in May.
Arjun Narayan, who heads the Bangalore-headquartered Catamaran, confirmed this in an email, saying, “Catamaran is partnering with Amazon Asia to offer services that help offline sellers and SMBs in India to get online and to take advantage of the fast-growing online customer base in the country.

I think the answer is to use them sparingly. Im making a conscious effort to use more independent stores because im seeing more and more shut down and thats not what I want for the country or my town. Also the small independents who sell through amazon arent generally the 1 day prime ones.
Also the last few months, 1 day prime seems to have changed to 3 day prime, so theyre already moving the goal posts.

I think theyre really hard to avoid completely, but its going to take conscious effort from all of us if we want to keep our local shops going

I love shopping on Amazon. So convenient .