half of you wouldn't have survived the pre-internet world, "oh no i have to shop locally??"
this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2026
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Got that backwards. These sites killed local businesses and even local specialty chains. No amount of "consumer choice" is going to fix this because like 80% of the business is driven by other businesses.
Yelling at like your local mid size companies for buying things off amazon would do a lot more good than just yelling at random people on the digital street.
I miss shopping locally.
Specially in the mall.
Hot day, in the middle of summer? Go to the mall. soak up the air conditioning, wander through the stores checking out the cool shit, grab lunch in the food court, maybe grab a movie after wards, hit up a few more stores, maybe grab a show if one was happening somewhere, then go home for dinner.
Malls always depressed me tbh. Everything just felt off.
They are monuments to consumption, and there is no ethical consumption.
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Yes and no. Some are actually not reachable outside Amazon. Some tell you they only work over Amazon. Some offer only Paypal as payment method, which I don't use. Some only offer some Chinese payment methods that I'm not going to use, either. Or their non-Amazon shop is only available in Chinese. And some have suspicious online presences where i think it is good to have Amazon in between, in case they do something fishy.
I've done shipping for a company that sold direct and through partners, and a lot of times they actually make a better margin with Amazon just because of shipping costs. Amazon makes it so much cheaper to ship that even though they take a bigger margin it still saves the company money. Free shipping is a lie, it just means the company eats it and averages it into the price.
I'm the opposite. If they don't offer PayPal or another common payment option I'll usually not use it. So many sites have terrible security and I don't feel like having my cc info stolen because it wasn't properly handled.
Especially for a one time purchase not something I'd get monthly
Nah. Amazon is quicker, no shipping fees, solid return policy and I don't need to break out the credit card and play challenge puzzles with my bank to use it online. I'll do my best to support local retailers on foot, but if I'm ordering online, I want quick and reliable. Sadly, that's Amazon for now.
It kinda amazes me, some households can avoid using amazon forever, and other household have to make orders there like their life depends on it.
How can it be some people dont need to use the service, while others find it essential? Lifestyle cant be the only reason?
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They usually offer free shipping if you buy past a certain minimum as well, with a handful offering free shipping on everything.
Amazon already exploits it at a lower floor of $35 so they can price everything at 34.99 to get you to buy more stuff.
I'm a pick my own poison kind of person. For awhile my poison was Amazon, but they fucked up so bad that I steer clear of it almost entirely.
When I stopped using Amazon, this was like a decade or more ago, the information in this meme was pretty spot on. However, I'm not convinced it's as relevant here and now in 2026 as it was in 2020 or even 2015. And the number of contrarian comments in this thread seem to back that up, anecdotally of course.
I gave up my favorite tea entirely because the stuff was like $15 on Amazon (so 3 bags for $45 and then free shipping), it was $25 a bag on the brand's website and no free shipping option, and it was even more expensive on Walmart. I'd be willing to pay a little more just to avoid Amazon, but there comes a point where I just go without.
Several years ago there was a niche docking station that was kind of a fad for the Steam Deck and much cheaper than the official dock. It was cheaper to buy on Amazon, but for the sake of avoiding that shit hole, I decided to order directly through the manufacturer's website. Not only was the dock more expensive that way, there was no free shipping, AND THE BALLS ON THOSE BITCHES -- they asked for a tip on my online order. So needless to say, that made my decision to skip on that dock a whole lot easier.
As far as I know, Amazon doesn't ask for tips on their online orders (yet), so as much as I despise their site, they're still a better experience than the typical first-party brand sites I've visited. Still, I encourage folks to use alternative stores and sites as much as they safely can (and as much as they can afford to).
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I havent touched amazon in 10 years and I cringe at how much friends and family still use it. Fueling our fascist billionaire fire ever more because they're too ignorant to use their brains and not buy from a psychopath. Other people are the downfall of the world 🙃
If you live in USA, because lots of countries have a replica of Amazon but with local shops.
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Haven't used Amazon for the last three years. There are plenty of other online shops in my country. Unlike Amazon, they are not flooded with cheap noname trash, but have a well curated inventory.
Yeah, but having to do that for a dozen stores and than having to cancel a dozen mailing lists is a pain in the ass. Entering in card information each time so it’s not stored…
Convenience is worth the cost sometimes.
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Mass online marketplaces are just advertizing companies that get commissions instead of upfront payments that people mistake for an actual store.
Ah yes. Amazon is basically a drop shipper with reviews and stateside warehouses and their reviews are worthless. They weren't, but they are now.
I'm not sure how you justify the cost.
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Amazon (the online shop) was still operating at a loss in 2023 btw, absolutely insane https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2023/04/27/Amazon-A1-2023 (most or all of its profit is from AWS and Amazon's advertising operation)
If shipping is handled by the seller instead of Amazon, it doesn't make a difference price-wise, and I always avoided buying products on Amazon that aren't shipped by Amazon. But that's not always true and my budget is a bit too tight for randomly paying 5€ extra for shipping when it's avoidable. Luckily, Amazon doesn't actually have a monopoly in the online shop realm (at least where I'm at), even if the competition doesn't quite have the same diversity of products.
Good advice. I will treat the amazon site as nothing more than a catalogue I can peruse. Any purchase decisions will make me find the source of the product. Thanks!
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