I've gotten to the point where I want to stop supporting Amazon. I can't vouch for everything in all of the articles below being true, but I feel that I've heard enough over the past year that I want to change my spending practices. Seeing as I've placed 174 orders to date this year, I know it won't be the easiest thing ever. Tell me your strategies if you've stopped shopping there. E.g., do you order elsewhere? Do you only shop at bricks & mortar? Do you use Spotify instead of Amazon music, for example?
Here are a few articles I've read recently about their unacceptable business practices:
I always shop in store if it's available unless it's dog items from Chewy. I like seeing how employees are treated in person, it tells you more than anything else about corporate culture.
We’re still prime members but are evaluating whether it’s still worth it. We don’t order as much as we used to. We use music quite a bit but not the movies/shows as much. One thing I do is put stuff in my cart if I want to order and then sit on it for a bit. I sometimes decide I don’t need them or I grab them when I’m at Target, etc. I think my main reason for using Amazon is buying a bunch of unrelated things at once, instead of going to a gazillion stores or not even knowing which stores to find things. If I can find a solution for that, I’d be golden. If it’s more like basic things I know I can get in the grocery store or Target, I will.
What exactly are you buying from them? Is it random crap that you don’t need (that’s me) or specific items for the house?
This is what I asked myself, too! LOL.
A bunch of it is groceries that were cheaper than at my grocery store. I don't need to do that, though, so that is easy enough for me to stop. My protein bars that I don't know where else to order (but I could look). I buy presents, but I can start getting those at my local Target.
But some of it is stuff that I don't know where else I would get. As one example, I wanted neon orange tights for a costume. And elf ears, lol. I don't know where I would have gotten those.
Maybe a good first step would be to stop ordering stuff that's cheaper on Amazon than locally -- because yes it's cheaper, and it comes at a great, great cost. OTOH, maybe this isn't something to do in "steps", but just to decide to cut the strings and be done. I guess I'll also be cancelling my Amazon credit card, although it also gets 5% back at Whole Foods which I like.
I canceled Prime two or three months ago and honestly it hasn't been as difficult as I built it up in my head to be. I still order from Amazon, but I'm not making the middle of the night purchases that I used to. If there is something I "need" I leave it in my cart rather than pulling the trigger right away, if I actually need something in the future I will combine my items to get over the $25 minimum. I find myself going back and deleting the item more often than not. I figured I could pay for expedited shipping once a month and come out ahead.
I've shifted a lot of the things I buy to Target, they now have two day shipping (that doesn't require a membership fee) and I can return items in store if I change my mind.
If I stream music I just listen to Pandora. My son is probably the one who is missing out the most cause he likes the Super Wings episodes that were included with Prime, but I just bought him one season of ~50 episodes for $10.
The bottom line is I know I don't need a lot of the things I was ordering from Amazon and I certainly didn't need to have them shipped to me in separate orders so they get to me in two days.
What exactly are you buying from them? Is it random crap that you don’t need (that’s me) or specific items for the house?
This is what I asked myself, too! LOL.
A bunch of it is groceries that were cheaper than at my grocery store. I don't need to do that, though, so that is easy enough for me to stop. My protein bars that I don't know where else to order (but I could look). I buy presents, but I can start getting those at my local Target.
But some of it is stuff that I don't know where else I would get. As one example, I wanted neon orange tights for a costume. And elf ears, lol. I don't know where I would have gotten those.
Maybe a good first step would be to stop ordering stuff that's cheaper on Amazon than locally -- because yes it's cheaper, and it comes at a great, great cost. OTOH, maybe this isn't something to do in "steps", but just to decide to cut the strings and be done. I guess I'll also be cancelling my Amazon credit card, although it also gets 5% back at Whole Foods which I like.
I don't buy a lot from Amazon. I accidentally signed up for Prime and I need to cancel it because I've only ordered once in the last year.
When I do use Amazon, it's for something that I don't know where else to find. Usually odd gifts for people who don't like the mainstream, popular gift of the year, books I can't find elsewhere or if someone gives me a gift card.
I think it's ok to use it sparingly, even if you don't love everything about Amazon. I honestly think having 100% of Amazon users decrease their purchases by 50% would be better than having 10% stop using it completely. Amazon can have their place, but they don't need to be so big they dominate ever aspect of what we buy.
I've heard problematic things about door dash. And other gig economy contractor-based delivery services in general, although I use Instacart from time to time.
Post by wanderingback on Nov 26, 2019 11:01:32 GMT -5
I very very rarely order from amazon. I pretty much only occasionally use it because I’m on my SO’s account. I think I had 4 orders last year. So maybe it’s because I don’t use it much it’s easier for me to give suggestions
I don’t buy any groceries or household supplies from there. I just go to the store as needed.
For other items I really just plan ahead and if I need something then I once again just look online for local stores that might have it and go there.
For music I’ve always just bought stuff on iTunes.
I really don’t buy much stuff really and don’t order things online so for me it’s easier to just pick up things at the store as I needed.
I'm having a hard time with this too. I have had 163 orders in 2019. It's almost exclusively birthday/Christmas shopping and specific household/personal products brands that I can't find easily in local in stores.
With two young kids and both adults working, my time is precious and running to 5-6 stores on weekends isn't sustainable. But my time isn't worth how Amazon is treating their workers.
My contribution: I'm trying to use ShopRunner more (free 2 day shipping from many stores, and it's a free service for AmEx card holders), but it tends to be clothing/jewelry/shoes, food gifts, or sports related.
Post by puppylove64 on Nov 26, 2019 11:15:33 GMT -5
I use Apple Music. I never found prime tv/music had anything I wanted to watch. I buy everything I need at the grocery store or target. Occasionally I order something obscure from amazon but only maybe 4 times a year. Target will price match amazon too. I honestly hate waiting for amazon shipping.
I also have a target red card, so if it is a gift or I’m not in a hurry, I order online with free shipping. It is usually 2 day vs amazon 7-10 days. I also don’t like dealing with amazon returns
A bunch of it is groceries that were cheaper than at my grocery store. I don't need to do that, though, so that is easy enough for me to stop. My protein bars that I don't know where else to order (but I could look). I buy presents, but I can start getting those at my local Target.
But some of it is stuff that I don't know where else I would get. As one example, I wanted neon orange tights for a costume. And elf ears, lol. I don't know where I would have gotten those.
Maybe a good first step would be to stop ordering stuff that's cheaper on Amazon than locally -- because yes it's cheaper, and it comes at a great, great cost. OTOH, maybe this isn't something to do in "steps", but just to decide to cut the strings and be done. I guess I'll also be cancelling my Amazon credit card, although it also gets 5% back at Whole Foods which I like.
I don't buy a lot from Amazon. I accidentally signed up for Prime and I need to cancel it because I've only ordered once in the last year.
When I do use Amazon, it's for something that I don't know where else to find. Usually odd gifts for people who don't like the mainstream, popular gift of the year, books I can't find elsewhere or if someone gives me a gift card.
I think it's ok to use it sparingly, even if you don't love everything about Amazon. I honestly think having 100% of Amazon users decrease their purchases by 50% would be better than having 10% stop using it completely. Amazon can have their place, but they don't need to be so big they dominate ever aspect of what we buy.
I cancelled Prime out of principle when the price went up and don't miss it at all. I never ordered groceries from there. I use my Sirius XM or Pandora apps for music. I order random stuff from there, like dry shampoo. I get all my dog stuff from Chewy.
Although I did just have to have my coworker order something for me on her Prime account, I need a gift for our angel tree before 12.5 and the free shipping wouldn't get it here until 12.4-12.9.
I have started shopping a ton at Target because of their drive up pickup option. I can order random things and it's ready to pick up in 20 minutes and I don't have to get out of my car. Their app is so easy to use plus will automatically show you any discounts (and some things are cheaper in the app than in store). They don't do it for fresh items but will for shelf stable food items. If I don't need it as fast I can have it shipped although I try to avoid that when possible since it's so many extra steps (and packaging).
We use Spotify for music since we got a great package deal with Hulu. Seems like most of what I order on Amazon is vitamins and I could probably source them from elsewhere.
We recently cancelled our Prime membership (the annual renewal was coming up and we decided it wasn't worth it). For us there were a few reasons - the biggest at the moment is that our income recently dropped significantly, so we no longer have extra money to fritter away on things we don't really need. So even before we cancelled, we had reduced our ordering. I find it really interesting how when there's more of a financial constraint, we're much better at determining want vs need. For example, DH "needed" some different cables for a video setup that he wanted. That's not a need. We also use a budgeting tool now that basically tells us how much money we have in each category, and if we don't have the money to buy something, we just don't (unless it's actually a real need, in which case we rearrange the budget). I miss the Prime Video, because we don't have any other streaming video services, but it's not like I actually watch that much anyway.
I also prefer to buy music than subscribe to streaming services, but that's probably because I don't acquire new music all that often and am perfectly happy listening to the music I already have. I have a few different playlists that I rotate through to keep things interesting, since my music library is so large that sometimes it's hard to navigate, especially if I want to listen to a mix of things and not just an album, etc.
Basically though, Amazon is a convenience. Pretty much anything you can find on Amazon, you can find somewhere else. And if it's grocery delivery that you need for convenience (because life is crazy), I'm betting you can find that locally. I also tend to stock up a little more knowing that I'm not going to be able to get things in 2 days from Amazon, so for example I bought a bunch of LEGO sets (admittedly off of Amazon, but I could have gotten them anywhere) to have a stash of birthday presents for my kids' friends. So that way we don't have to rush to Target the day of the party, since LEGOs are appropriate for 5-12 year olds of any gender.
Another reason I cancelled Prime is that I am paying a fee to spend more money with Amazon. On average Prime members spend double what non-Prime members spend on the site annually.
Post by arehopsveggies on Nov 26, 2019 13:07:04 GMT -5
I’m trying to buy gifts this year at local small businesses. I bought a gift at an art studio yesterday and it was really nice to see the artists face light up at making a sale (and it was a $20 item, not like I was spending $$$) My town just doesn’t have much shopping options for everyday stuff. For lots of things it’s amazon or Walmart - and often even if I drive the 15 minutes to Walmart they’re out of/ don’t carry what I needed
I need to take a look at our Amazon buying and see where we can cut back. Like many, most of my purchases are for the convenience of buying something without having to spend my whole weekend driving around to a half dozen stores. Others are things that I just can’t get in my city. I suspect I can cut my Amazon purchasing in half without feeling too much pinch, so I think I’m going to make that my goal for 2020. I think I will also select the “no-rush” shipping as much as possible to reduce the strain on warehouse workers and reduce the environmental impact of fast shipping.
We do use Prime for streaming, but not much. I consume a lot of Kindle and Audible content that I can’t really get anywhere else.
I'm reducing what we buy from Amazon as well after seeing the Last Week Tonight episode on it. It was very depressing. I've mostly swapped to Target instead since most of what I buy is baby stuff (toys, diapers, housewares etc). I have a RedCard so I get 5% off and free shipping on most items. It is not as fast as amazon, but honestly I don't really need things as fast as amazon ships. I"ve also found the prices on Target are very similar to amazon.
I can't give up amazon all together right now as H isn't on board, but I'm slowly getting him there. I do also prefer to shop in store for a lot of things, especially clothes. Shoes are another big thing I buy on Amazon, I'm trying to switch to Zappos or buying in store, although that's hard as I have problem, wide feet and the in store selection is pretty bad.
I have been anti-amazon forever. Don’t get me wrong, I still use them for things like you said: random, specific things that I need that I’m not able to find in-store. But I try to buy everything I can locally. I still shop in Barnes and noble, I go to our local toy store to buy birthday gifts, local shoe store for shoes, Best Buy for technology stuff, target for snacks and junkfood my grocery store doesn’t sell, CVS for household items...
I will say though, I can do this because I’m privileged enough to afford it. The local toy store and shoe store and b&n and CVS are often much more expensive than amazon so I completely understand why so many people use amazon. That said, people need to be wary of amazon.
They jack up their prices in December and make it look like it’s on sale, but if you look at target and toys r us (do they still exists??) you see that they’re actually cheaper there. So I tell people all the time to double check pricing before automatically assuming amazon is cheaper.
I never buy anything that I put on my skin or consume from Amazon because they combine reviews from multiple sellers and some sellers sell knock-off skincare products and @ products that can give rashes and worse so I stear clear for those items.
I use Apple for music and I’m a family member on my mom’s prime account so I get the free shipping, but I don’t pay for prime. Maybe if you don’t use prime movies/tv, set up one person to pay for prime for a bunch of family and people contribute? Less people paying the full prime fee but everyone gets the free shipping?
ETA: I also meant to add I have the privilege of time. I work from home freelance very part time so I have time to go around to various stores. If I was working full time and doing everything else in my life I could see myself ordering from amazon more often.
Maybe just start by asking yourself before every purchase “Do I need to buy this on amazon?” Your answer doesn’t always have to be no but even if it is half the time, you’ve cut down on purchases and every bit helps.
I haven’t looked into target’s shipping practices because I only shop with them in-store, but if you’re switching to shipping everything from target instead of amazon for that specific concern, you might want to look into it because I suspect any company offering free 2-day shipping is utilizing the giant warehouses that treat their employees terribly. They may not be target employees, but target may be using a company with those practices to ship their stuff. The 2-day shipping for everything is the problem amazon created and every company that utilizes it is continuing it.
Maybe just start by asking yourself before every purchase “Do I need to buy this on amazon?” Your answer doesn’t always have to be no but even if it is half the time, you’ve cut down on purchases and every bit helps.
This is basically what I've been doing and it has cut my amazon usage significantly.
I'm reducing what we buy from Amazon as well after seeing the Last Week Tonight episode on it. I do also prefer to shop in store for a lot of things, especially clothes. Shoes are another big thing I buy on Amazon, I'm trying to switch to Zappos or buying in store, although that's hard as I have problem, wide feet and the in store selection is pretty bad.
Amazon owns Zappos.
I found that I have naturally used Amazon less and less. Their prices aren’t as competitive as they used to be and I don’t trust the reviews.
@
I was heavily dependent on Amazon when my DS was younger and in store shopping was impossible. Now that he’s getting older, I am trying to shop in store again more. I am returning less stuff and buying less overall.
I haven’t looked into target’s shipping practices because I only shop with them in-store, but if you’re switching to shipping everything from target instead of amazon for that specific concern, you might want to look into it because I suspect any company offering free 2-day shipping is utilizing the giant warehouses that treat their employees terribly.
Target employs a third-party company (disclosure: my former employer) to do their shipping. And yes, they have the same complaints about employee treatment as Amazon.
I will add, for some reason, I never got on the buy everything online bandwagon. I'm not sure why. Until recently, we didn't have much disposable income. I thought the cheapest option was to go to the store myself and shop, even though H and I both work full time and have other time commitments. I buy a good amount of store brand products and I'm in a rewards club where I earn about $10 a month based on what we spend. So, maybe for me it wouldn't have been cheaper to buy a lot of basics from Amazon. It's an interesting perspective that going to stores in person is privileged. I don't disagree but it's a different mindset.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Nov 26, 2019 14:46:51 GMT -5
I order a lot of random crap from Amazon for sure but I've found that I buy a lot more random crap I don't actually need when I go to a store. Like, I'll go to Target for shoelaces and dish detergent and come home spending $75.
ETA:
@@
While I love getting away and having time to myself to just wander a store without a kid in tow, that's absolutely terrible for me for impulse buys.
Otherwise, I generally don't have the time to go from store to store. I can manage a grocery store trip and a Costco OR a Target trip on the weekend, but usually not both.
I'm reducing what we buy from Amazon as well after seeing the Last Week Tonight episode on it. I do also prefer to shop in store for a lot of things, especially clothes. Shoes are another big thing I buy on Amazon, I'm trying to switch to Zappos or buying in store, although that's hard as I have problem, wide feet and the in store selection is pretty bad.
Amazon owns Zappos.
I found that I have naturally used Amazon less and less. Their prices aren’t as competitive as they used to be and I don’t trust the reviews.
@
I was heavily dependent on Amazon when my DS was younger and in store shopping was impossible. Now that he’s getting older, I am trying to shop in store again more. I am returning less stuff and buying less overall.
I order a lot of random crap from Amazon for sure but I've found that I buy a lot more random crap I don't actually need when I go to a store. Like, I'll go to Target for shoelaces and dish detergent and come home spending $75.
ETA:
@@
While I love getting away and having time to myself to just wander a store without a kid in tow, that's absolutely terrible for me for impulse buys.
Otherwise, I generally don't have the time to go from store to store. I can manage a grocery store trip and a Costco OR a Target trip on the weekend, but usually not both.
@@@ I was chatting with some moms recently about how giving their kids an allowance was super effective in preventing them from begging for things at Target, since the answer was "spend your own money on it". I feel like this applies to adults too - if you have a budget that tells you how much you can spend on random crap at Target (or household goods, etc), then it cuts down on impulse spending.
I will add, for some reason, I never got on the buy everything online bandwagon. I'm not sure why. Until recently, we didn't have much disposable income. I thought the cheapest option was to go to the store myself and shop, even though H and I both work full time and have other time commitments. I buy a good amount of store brand products and I'm in a rewards club where I earn about $10 a month based on what we spend. So, maybe for me it wouldn't have been cheaper to buy a lot of basics from Amazon. It's an interesting perspective that going to stores in person is privileged. I don't disagree but it's a different mindset.
I live in Manhattan so all of the stores by me are much higher priced than anything online.