I find it mildly infuriating that people still buy on Amazon 😅
Convenience and cost, means amazon isn’t going anywhere. You can spend more time, and more money avoiding them if you want, but don’t be upset others aren’t willing.
Plus, even when you do find what you’re looking for elsewhere, are Walmart, Target, and Home Depot really so benevolent? The odds of me finding what I need from a small locally owned business (at least in my area) are pretty slim.
I know that feeling all too well. The small local grocery store is, at minimum, 2 to 3 times more expensive than Walmart, or even the Dollar General a block away. The local hardware stores aren’t much better.
This is also my experience. Recent example, I can buy a 1.9L container of mayonnaise for $8.99 at Costco to make homemade potato salad for my grandmother’s 95th birthday party. But I forgot to prepare until the last minute and realized I had no mayo, and so I went to the local place who charged $7.99 for 443mL of mayonnaise from the same brand.
Amazon sells 3.78L of mayonnaise (dear God who needs that much mayo?) for $18.70, making them not quite as competitive as Costco in terms of price per mL, but pretty damn close, and moreover still way better than the local place.
Mayo for the whole year, if it doesnt expire before you use it up
Increasingly I can’t be confident what the quality level of products will be at those places. Amazon has huge counterfeit item and poor quality item problems that they don’t care to fix. I know Target will have reasonable quality, I know if I buy a brand name product l, I’m getting that product. I know if I buy Walmart brand, the quality is lower, but not pure garbage. I currently get none of those guarantees on Amazon, even Amazon basics aren’t safe from these problems.
Definitely had issues with quality and/or damage, haven’t gotten a true counterfeit yet to my knowledge, but I can at least partially attribute that to the fact that I almost never buy things that aren’t shipped/sold by either Amazon or the manufacturer.
When I shop I usually search for something on Amazon, check if the manufacturer has a website & it is comparably priced, check if the local stores (Target, etc.) stock it at a fair price, and if all else fails I buy through Amazon (after checking CamelCamelCamel to verify I’m getting a good deal).
To my knowledge the worst offers for counterfeits are tech items like cables, chargers, and drives. I’ve also learned some designer board games are commonly counterfeits. Amazon comingles stock so it doesn’t matter who you buy from, if someone puts counterfeit product X into the system you have a chance to get it.
If you’re buying a branded product and it is shipped by the official brand store on Amazon, then you can be assured it is not counterfeit. If you buy a branded product that is shipped by Amazon it could be co-mingled with counterfeit stock.
Although I agree that might happen I think they have improved on it and at the end except for time lost that you cannot recover, the customer support is so good that you always get your money back or s replacement without issues.
Then I decide I want to try and support a small business. So, I find a website for one that looks legit enough. So far so good. Find the product. Yep! Go to check out… $10+ delivery fee. I know that’s not their fault. I do. But I’m not spending $20 on a $10 item that’s just not reasonable. Sometimes it’s fine to eat that cost if it’s like a cart full of stuff with just the one fee but for a bunch of individual things that I can’t get locally it doesn’t work.
Fine, then I’ll be upset at people continuing to support a company that systematically abuses its workforce.
I’d love to see the list of companies that produced all the various products in your house.
Nothing’s perfect. But that doesn’t mean we should accept the worse.
But of course, and I’m not saying that. But I do think it’s perhaps a little bold to actively criticize a stranger for having the audacity to do business with Amazon as if they aren’t, for instance, using AWS-backed websites literally every day.
I’m not saying Amazon is good, but rather that hypocritically trying to call out people for failing purity tests that you yourself almost certainly don’t pass isn’t a particularly productive or positive use of one’s time.
Amazon is hardly the worst, just the biggest
Are you referring to the concept of capitalism?
That’s exactly why climate change is going to kill us all.
Edit : you can downvote me, but if you systematically go for the easiest and cheapest solution, and can do otherwise (and generally, you do), you’re a big part of the problem.
not everyone has the ability to drive 50+ miles to get to the le creuset outlet store
On Kbin, we see the # of upvotes and # of downvote separately, is that not the case here?
Also, the goal should maybe be turning the systematically easiest and cheapest solution into one that’s also green. Definitely some steps to get there though
Genuine question, what better alternative is there? I put a lot of effort into buying from small businesses with good morals, but I have no idea how to do this for the things I would buy online. If I don’t buy from amazon, i’m buying from target, Walmart, or some other supermarket. I don’t see how those are better.
Dumb question incoming; do these companies not offer delivery via postal services or the like? Where are you located?
Many companies do, I always try to purchase from the source if possible. Unfortunately some only deliver via other retailers like amazon and Walmart.
eBay is ok for a good portion of what Amazon sells, but it’s not a perfect replacement. It’s not all auctions now. There are lots of things you purchase outright and they ship very quickly. Watch out for people who resell Amazon items at a mark up though. It too is not all that much better than Walmart, Amazon, etc, but at least you keep anyone from dominating.
Otherwise, sometimes there are small sellers you can find for niche products.
Tyranny of convenience 😬
I can order from amazon, or spend an hour in the car to go to a store and pay a higher price.
I’m buying from amazon.
It’s been a last resort shop for me for the last year or so
If a place can’t get me something in time, isn’t available, or ultra expensive, I’ll get it at Amazon
While I will exhaust all local alternatives first, Amazon is my pinch hitter when I can’t find The Thing anyplace else.
Why tho. Their shipping is amazing. And they have pretty much anything you could want.
Yeah, and warehouse workers piss into bottles and cannot unionize.
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So at least in Europe, where they can unionize and can and do protest for their rights, I don’t see them as any worse than many other multinational chains that do the same.
Do you happen to know whether they actually are unionized in EU countries though, or just could? Genuine question, as I couldn’t tell you (as a German citizen)
Aside from that though, even if warehouse and delivery workers’ conditions were absolutely fine, their monopolistic tendencies are still somewhat of an issue. I’ll try not to turn this into a full essay, because this topic can get real philosophical REAL fast (we’re about 3 winded sentences away, I’d guesstimate).
But: AWS aka Amazon’s cloud business prints SO incredibly much money that they can perhaps unfairly undercut a grocery competitor like Kroger’s, Aldi, and whatnot are their names, that they can start to have a really, really good advantage quite quickly (as hinted to by OP’s order above: not plastics, not electronics, not household goods – food). In case any reader isn’t aware, grocery chains’ margins are absurdly, comically low.
The firm policies/microeconomics philosophy comes in here: how much cross-subsidizing should an undertaking actually be allowed to do? In other words, when is a company expanding too much – even though expansion is something that you could argue to be a core, if not the integral part of what defines a business? Europeans will perhaps see this a bit more strictly, whereas Americans might be inclined to answer close to unlimited here, but keep in mind, this can lead to Mega-everything-corp faster than you realize or like.
I didn’t make all of this up on the spot just now, BTW (some first further “readings”). This has been a somewhat well known issue for some years now, and people knew there could be a day coming where we as a (global) society have to ask ourselves: How many areas can a company dominate in before it becomes too dangerous?
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Amazon may be monopolistic, but I have access to more products through from different brand names than I do through the rest of the local multinational chains.
That’s the core issue, I think.
Amazon might be the first major case of monopolistic tendencies where the firm’s behavior hasn’t been obviously disadvantageous (or obvious it will be in the not so distant future) to the consumers from the getgo. So you’d effectively be regulating and banning towards a worse consumer experience, as of now…
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As an ex-warehouse employee, I will go out of my way of I have to get something just to not buy something online. The conditions of most warehouses I’ve seen, especially in this heat, should be illegal.
SDA is the union that represents Amazon workers in Australia.
No one’s forcing them to work there 🤷♂️. Start your own amazon.
Their social situation probably does. If you are a good for nothing, or they won’t hire you anywhere else, what would you rather? Being homeless or working for Amazon?
Well my social situation means I have to take a bargain where it becomes available to me. Not just hypothetically, I’ve actually been homeless in the past so I don’t want to end up there again because I was spending more than I need to of my meager income in some desperate attempt to support people who own brick and mortar businesses. That’s a lot more than I’ve ever had.
So it’s amazons fault for giving “good for nothings” a place to work? Sounds like they are helping the situation
yeah, minimum wage worker, just beat one the biggest companies of human history
People said the same thing about Walmart but the great Jeff bezos worked hard and did it.
People here are saying they want to pay Amazon’s competitors, and your argument is that they shouldn’t do that because the workers should be starting their own Amazon competitors…
Yep
And you will have no recourse wheb the product you buy is (a) not what you thought you were getting, (b) going to break in a month or two or © set your house on fire if you leave it plugged in.
Really cuz I have returned tons of stuff without even being questioned. Amazon doesn’t make most the products they sell?
My house isn’t on fire.
Oh thabks for clarifying I guess since the problem hasn’t happened to you in particular its not actually a problem. /s
I’ve returned so much stuff to Amazon without query, just a refund. I’d be surprised if you got any pushback as the process is 100% automated.
Not exactly true for Australian consumer laws. The retailer has to resolve a and b. C manufacturers and sellers need to adhere to standards but Amazon would be liable for selling dangerous products. Also get insurance.
I’m in the process of manually transferring my wishlists for ebooks and physical books to Kobo and B&N atm. Then I’ll be transferring my other wishlists to Notebook.
After all that I’ll just use Amazon like a search engine.
We’ve shifted the grocery past of our shopping to Thrive Market.
Damn. Someone should open a store in your area. They would make a killing.
Easy to find stuff
What other option is there, Aliexpress?
Assuming the person lives in a normal town or village, you always have plenty of options. Groceries by post is totally absurd.
I would believe amazon ships fresh food via whole foods. If you live by a whole foods, its almost guaranteed that there is an alternative nearby.
They’re not shipping groceries from an Amazon warehouse lol. It’s usually just whole foods. Basically the same as doing a doordash or Instacart etc. It actually used to be pretty sweet because if you had prime they didn’t add the delivery fee so it would save me a trip. Sadly, they got rid of the free delivery. I believe there is or was a class action about them charging the delivery fee now
Dude I live in a village - this is redic
It is faster to have 20 slaves in 20 different parts of the warehouse stuff 20 different envelopes than it is to have 1 single slave go to 20 different locations in a warehouse and stuff a box.
Their obligation is just to get the product from their facilities to your door. They don’t give a shit HOW it gets there.
I mean, if it were 20 different items I could probably put it down to that but there were six packets of each of the flavours and types. You’d think all the Alfredo’s could go in one package, for example, not each in their own padded envelope. Does pasta even need padding? It was just ridiculous, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a disgruntled worker engaged in a bit of malicious compliance!
I used to work in a shipping depot that delivered to Amazon, among others.
And whenever a shipment went out to Amazon, we had to take packages of 20 items, like they’d be delivered to retailers, and rip them open to put each item into packaging carton individually, before it was even delivered into an Amazon warehouse.
In our case, it was parasols, so it could be different for smaller items or just items that are more likely to be ordered in bulk, but yeah, I imagine, Amazon just does not want to deal with the packaging in their warehouse, if possible.
Preach lol
It’s easy 🤷♂️
It shouldn’t be on the individual consumers to avoid monopolies; we need antitrust enforcement; we need to break up Amazon.
It’s not just about the monopoly though. Their site is rife with counterfeits and is basically Wish now. Want a GE lightbulb? There’s a 50/50 chance you’re getting a counterfeit that isn’t UL tested so you don’t know it’s safe, and that’s if you can even find the product at all hidden between the random name generator company listings for random garbage that’s slightly similar to the search term you entered.
why? it’s super convenient. I do all of my grocery shopping via Amazon Fresh. cheaper than a brick & mortar store
This does not affect you at all. Let others be.
they did it out of spite, to get you to stop ordering groceries from the internet, lol
There was like 12 packet pastas @ 85 grams each, 12 cans of spaghetti and baked beans. A couple of other odds and ends. All piled on my front porch when I arrived home from work today. The postman must’ve been livid.
Kinda sorta…while it’s a lot to take to the door, it knocks off most of the packages off our list in one stop. I’m more upset when people order cat litter.
I put the packages in this box to bring them in, so I can imagine it would’ve been pretty frustrating going back and forth to the truck with handfuls of packages. I sure hope he forgives me. lol.
But anyway, why cat litter? Because it’s heavy, or spills? I’m in Australia so online cat litter offerings are not a cost effective option, but I’ll keep your protest in mind for the future.Cat litter weighs a ton and must always be brought to the door. Really, anything heavy and bulky is just a pain. I’d rather take the 20+ little parcels to the door.
Oh no! I don’t drive, so heavy and bulky is why I need most things delivered. 😅
Are you a kind little old lady that makes Christmas cookies as a tip every year? I don’t mind doing it in that case. Everyone else can stub their toe on a coffee table every day for the rest of their lives as far as I’m concerned.
❤️ Last year I gave the postie a six pack of beer, the year before I gave him a box of Favourites (popular box of mixed chocolates). The postie is delivering rain, hail, or shine. He’s usually already dropped off my delivery while I’m still in bed! It’s a tough job and they don’t get enough praise.
I personally don’t like beer, but you’re ok…
