Boycotting Amazon when they pay Clarkson £800,000 per episode?

And damned with it, I have no doubt, J10

thatbags Naughty naughty!

This could be called the Boycott Amazon And List Your Manifold Virtues Here thread.

Another long-term Amazon boycotter here for so many reasons, like they don't pay their taxes, they treat their workers terribly, they've put many many other shops out of business.
I shop locally for almost everything, in a very small town. I support our independent book and music shops and the lovely shop run by volunteers to help restore a beautiful 16th century merchant' house. Groceries from Waitrose (basics, not luxury foods) because they run on ethical principles and I bank with Nationwide, not a filthy crooked bunch like HSBC.
Almost all of my clothes comes from charity shops so I don't need to spin but I do pick wild foods in season. Mushrooms daily at the moment.

Pressed post by accident. Re Buying goods made by low paid workers: do I not buy them and risk the workers eg in Bangladesh or Amazon employees losing their jobs? Its a tough one. Just off to collect more fleece from the hedgerows -lots of spinning to do before winter!

Good point rubysong. I've seen working conditions in garment factories in Bangladesh - made me shudder. The women there were glad of the jobs and proud of the quality of them. When I see "made in Bangladesh" on a label I really have to pause for thought.

If I boycotted all companies with unethical business practises I would probably be living in a shed and wearing hand spun clothing made from wool gathered on the hedges. Checking up on the background of every supplier wouldn't leave time to do the hand spinning and weaving. The governments of all countries should be making sure that taxes are paid and workers are treated properly.

www.ethicalconsumer.org/boycotts/boycottamazon.aspx

It does make a difference.

You have to pay to watch Clarkson. Amazon Prime does not come free.
So it's not just a question of boycotting Amazon; it's a question of paying to watch Clarkson.
£800,000 an episode. How many members is that?

Same here Merlot- because I was working for extra money, not for the very basic (I did childminding at first- paid a pittance)- so I had that luxury, as you did.

Most people do not have the choice- they have to feed their family and if the only job there is is a'shitty one' as you say- or practically slave labour, you still have to take it or watch your family do without the basics.

I do wonder- at what stage does anything that does not concern us directly, becomes our concern or not our concern. As consumers we do have a responsibility for the effect of our commercial choices, no? Not at all? What about the effect on farming, meat and milk prices?

And you'd be amazed at the huge influence of massive boycotts - do you really think Starbucks would have decided to pay fairer tax had it not be for the huge slump in customers?

I don't think the Amazon workers are my concern. I worked for some shitty people in the past when I was trying to earn a bob or two when my kids were small. If I got treated like dirt, guess what? I left!!

Boycotting Amazon won't make a ha'porth of difference.

No concern for all those Amazon workers?

I won't be boycotting Amazon as, with DS1 and family in USA, I can actually send them decent birthday and Christmas presents through Amazon.com without the crippling postage costs I have been paying to the post office.

Perhaps we've all succumbed to regarding Amazon as the only choice, given the behemoth it has become, selling everything from vitamin supplements to sunglasses. But there are alternatives, not least if you're buying books. I can recommend Wordery; a huge selection of books at discounted prices (and cashback if you go via its Quidco link), professionally run, and free delivery worldwide (no minimum order necessary, unlike Amazon). Have also ordered from A Great Read; a smaller selection of books but very good discounts, free UK delivery on all orders and excellent customer service. For example, Anna Jones's A Modern Way to Cook is £17 on Amazon but £12 on A Great Read.

And unless I'm buying books as gifts, I can find many of the titles I want to read at my local library; otherwise reservations are just 50p a book. The only exception to that is if they have to reserve a book from a library outside the county, in which case it will cost a little more. My library managed to track down an out-of-print book, which I needed for research, at a college in Winchester. It cost £3 to borrow via an inter-library loan - and second-hand copies were listed on you-know-where starting at £75!

The one stumbling block, I thought, might be e-books for my Kindle but there are alternatives. Just ask Google the question!

For non-book purchases, I just do best price searches and now find that Amazon is rarely the most cost-effective option. So, even without the word 'boycott' passing one's lips, if you don't mind spending just a few extra minutes online, checking for best prices, you'll probably find that Amazon doesn't necessarily come out tops.

Anyway, do hope this might be useful to someone!

(As for Clarkson, nothing would persuade me to watch anything in which he appears, wherever he crops up . . .)

I think Clarkson is a bit of a Pratt so wouldnt watch the show and will not lose the convenience of Amazon just because of him!

You may do as you like, but I don't think many people will worry about what he is earning.

If enough people watch the programme for Amazon to make a profit, it won't matter even if ALL gransnetters boycott A. They make enormous amounts of money worldwide without having to pay tax, and that is all that matters to them. A lot of people love JC, incl. our prime minister. Never watch him; he reminds me too much of the MCP buffoons from my childhood, and my mind boggles as to why a modern day PM would hold him in such high esteem.

I won't use Amazon for several reasons, that treat their employees abysmally, that they are selling a book by a man who promotes and encourages rape and admits to having committed this crime several times and now Jeremy Clarkson. Whether this affects Amazon or not is immaterial what matters is my conscience.

If Amazon can get away (legally) with not paying some taxes, then blame the Government, not them. I would, if I could!

If Clarkson can earn that salary, then good luck to him - supply and demand....

Amazon will make stupendous amounts of money out of the programme so there would be complaints if they didn't give a good share to those who do the work and are despite what ever one may think the "attraction" which brings in the money from the viewers. the only way to stop it is for the viewers to reject the programme and cut off the money feed. I am afraid it is the law of the market place.

Won't be long before th fashion passes and something else is the "craze'

Look on the bright side. At least that's £800,000 per episode the BBC won't have to fork out.

Haven't used Amazon for ages, since they c**ked up a Christmas order. I also don't use them on principle, re taxes, etc. If I need any books I use Waterstones, which is a throughly British organisation.

I'm sure they won't notice my boycot, but as has been mentioned before, if enough people do so, they will eventually notice. Do you remember the advertisement for "Unite union"? tThe little ant who tried to move the large bear, he called another then another, eventually with thousands of ants, they moved said bear. Perhaps, we GNetters could do that?

Agree with all that, suelowe. Haven't used Amazon for a couple of years, and haven't noticed a big gap in my buying habits.

It's typical Amazon behaviour : pay big money to JC , which they can well afford because they pay ( and treat ) their own employees abysmally , and avoid paying taxes where possible in GB. Non-payment of taxes allows them to undercut decent businesses , so it's win / win for Amazon . People buying from them are backing their practices .

dj it wasn't aimed at you. The 'we' I meant is us the Great British public. We need every penny of tax income to run the country. Don't see why we should lose our cut of Jeremy's pay cheques.