I’ve been working in the last few years of getting rid of big tech services. PayPal and Amazon are left. I’ve been questioning the need for PayPal in a world of virtual credit cards. My main reason for using it was security of purchase but I feel this need is no longer there. BTW, equivalent EU service to PayPal that is equally well accepted? Feels like this one may be more difficult to satisfy.
I couldn’t disagree more. Amazon is a choice. You have to choose other options and move away from the mindset of immediacy.
Tell me the other choice and I’ll happily change. I could do without the fast shipping. That’s just a bonus. But how do I get products for sensitive skin that the drug stores and Walmart don’t carry, or electronics parts, or reasonably priced clothes in my styles. And local specialty shops are going to require an entire day of travel and shopping for a single product or two.
To get everything I use out of necessity or projects, I’d end up using up all of my weekends to find and travel to places that carry them and likely have to spend a lot more money on them. A few I could order direct from the manufacturer or from specialty shops online, but the manufacturer sites are likely to cost more, plus shipping costs for one off items. The specialty shops online are often just owned by another corporate blob and if I end up with a defective product I often have to pay to ship it back assuming they accept returns at all, which with cosmetic products they often don’t, even if it’s defective or opened. And if it’s damaged in shipping or stolen, the recipient can’t file a claim with the shipping company and getting many online shops to do it for you often requires hours on the phone to get through layers of escalations.
So, yes, it’s a choice. But the alternatives require a significant investment of time and money. Given my job requires around 10 hrs per day and being neurodivergent, I often don’t have time or energy, and then wouldn’t be able to do anything fun. Not to mention, I definitely don’t get paid enough. So, no not technically 100% necessary, but unfeasible not to, at least for many of us.
I’ve posted this a few times but here it is again for you:
I have managed to nearly eliminate Amazon entirely from our lives for the past two years. I usually find things by searching what I want to buy on DuckDuckGo and then adding “-amazon”, “-etsy”, “-walmart”, “-temu” and “-pinterest” as search modifiers.
A lot of little shops are perfectly legit, but watch out for:
Things being ridiculous bargains. Small shops will almost always be more expensive due to higher overheads and less bulk
Too much variety in product (unless they’re a marketplace with 3rd party vendors). A legit shop will have inventory that makes sense together in its theme. If they sell everything from bubblebath to uranium they’re either probably not actually selling it or drop shipping it.
Pictures that look like they come from lots of different sources, or no consistency in images. If they don’t have their own pictures of products or standards of presentation that’s suspicious
Some general recs that apply if you’re in the US:
For anything electronic or computer related: B&H Photo or Microcenter
For music stuff: Sweetwater, but there’s a lot of great small music stores, or you can use a marketplace like Reverb
For clothes: if you have any clothes you already enjoy, go directly to their brand website. If you don’t, go to local secondhand shops and touch, handle and try on some clothes to see them in person. I’ve discovered some brands I like by finding something in a thrift store that was well made but not my size or preferred color.
For house repair and DIY stuff: we order from a local building supply store, but there’s also hardwareandtools.com, 1stoplighting, Waysource, Lightbulbs.com, Timothy’s Toolbox etc.
For food items, local grocery stores often offer online shopping and delivery. If it’s a specialty item or imported the import companies sometimes have their own websites.
For cosmetics, skin care and some home cleaning things, there’s Hive or Grove Collaborative which try to prioritize sustainability
For tea, coffee and spices, Adagio and its sister websites
For that “everything store” experience, Costco will ship a good percentage of its offerings for free with a membership in the continental US.
For something hard to find you can’t find another site for, try Ebay.
I do business with all sorts of independent retailers and have only had good experiences with them. These are sites that I’ve personally bought from but there are a lot of smaller sites just trying to make a place for themselves on the internet
Great list and you are right. The other thing I would mention is the option to sometimes “go without”. Take a look at the popular items on Amazon and a good chunk of that list are not strictly necessary for a good life.
I’m in a pretty similar boat to you. Not great financials, not a lot of spare time, I live in a remote location with limited purchasing options. But I made the decision a long time ago to not use Amazon. That does mean purchasing from multiple sources, seeking vendors who will sell products, and maybe pay a little more.
The thing about Amazon is that their pricing is artificial. The whole package, from item price to shipping is meant to capture you, the consumer, into their ecosystem. I am willing to spend a small amount extra to not support hegemonic practices. It isn’t even that much money, and the time investment to find sources is just that (an investment). For most of my mail order stuff, I already know the vendors to use.
I don’t like to castigate folks for using amazon, and I apologize if I was too confrontational, but I do want to encourage people to engage in their options before amazon is all we have.
Best wishes finding quality sources!