Amazon

I try not to buy from Amazon because of poor work conditions etc.
For books, maps etc I use www.wordery.com - the prices are good and there are no delivery charges.
Most other items I just buy via Ebay or large supermarket

I use World of Books, if I can’t get a book locally. They’ve always been brilliant and deliver quickly, through the post.

I avoid using Amazon, not only because of their labour practices but also their tax avoidance practices.

I use their catalogue to trace books, I have never bought anything else from them, When I have got all the details, I order the book from Waterstones, Abebooks is excellent for second hand books and for anything else ebay, or just googling what I want and buying direct.

We buy from The Book People you may not always see the book you want but we've had some amazing bargains. Half price hardbacks, paper backs typically a pack of four by same author for less than £10.

Despite the working practices and their tax fiddles, which I despise them for, I am a regular user of Amazon Prime.
Usually next day delivery and competitive prices.

I also am a regular use of Amazon Prime but they let me down badly over the BH weekend by saying I was not in Saturday evening- nobody rang my doorbell but the same book slipped through the letterbox on Sunday evening. I do not think that the fellow on Saturday bothered. I usually go to a pick up site and that way I do not waste days indoors.

In this land of technology surely they can narrow the delivery between 7am and 10 pm. Other companies can give me an hourly slot.

I use Amazon as a last resort so I've used them maybe 3 times. Other sources are willing to reduce their prices or give you a little extra if you raise the cost which again I've rarely done. Like a lot of organisations, Amazon are said to be taking unfair advantage of the available workers and it makes me very uneasy. Makes it feel like humanity has gone back to the times when families had to resort to the workhouses. You may think I exaggerate but some of the situations I've seen and heard of are very depressing.

I use Amazon, but it's only for items that I can't find on the high street or on any other site. I get my vacuum cleaner bags from Amazon as I can't find the particular type I need anywhere else.

I only use Amazon for downloading free books on my Kindle, they exploit every questionable loophole for their own profit. Along with Google, Starbucks, McDonald's and the rest I avoid them all, there are plenty of ethical alternatives that do pay proper taxes.

And who do we have to thank for allowing Amazon to avoid paying tax: no less than the high priest of the eu: Jean Claud Juncker

My student great-nephew works for Amazon in one of their dispatch warehouses during his holidays. He has no complaints about the hours and conditions and it has meant he has a low student debt to repay when he leaves next year.

I rely entirely on Amazon to feed my reading habit via Kindle.
It's good to hear that OldMeg's relative who actually works in an Amazon depot has no complaints. Good lad avoiding student debt.
I do wish Amazon would pay appropriate taxes though. Everyone else has to!

Yes, agree about the tax Jane, but while there are loopholes companies will take advantage. Close the loopholes.

I actively try to avoid Amazon - I also use Wordery, The Book People, Hive & Proper Music. Interestingly they are often cheaper than Amazon. For second hand books I look on Better World Books & Oxfam first.

However, I find that for odd craft, DiY things etc. Amazon often has stuff that can be difficult to find elsewhere.

I need wedges in my shoes - I meandered around the net for awhile getting more and more confused . Finally I succumbed to Amazon. Now I have the information to be able to go direct to the suppliers - whose charges are the same. Made me smile, as it seemed like a reverse of looking at something in shop then ordering from Amazon!
I gather (from DiL who knows this stuff) that it is expensive to get 'boosted' posts so a small company will find it cheaper to sell through Amazon (who take 25%) than to pay to get to the top of search engines.

That's a good point about the small companies, Nannarose.

I depend on Amazon for all my shopping except for groceries, can’t get out to shop.

I understand why people use Amazon, particularly for the reasons Annie has stated above. There are a couple of small items that I have occasionally ordered from them, usually because I can't get these things elsewhere. I don't like patronising them because of the appalling way they treat their staff. They exemplify the down side of the inevitability of globalisation and they have become such a behemoth and no doubt will expand further thus continuing to suck the guts out of the high street. When politicians talk about working conditions and the suppression of income, the sad fact is there is little they can do to improve things for the lot of employees of companies such as Amazon, where I believe union membership is not allowed.

On Amazon, you can see who the small companies are that are supplying many of the goods. You can then contact the companies directly, if you wish.
There are many online suppliers of all sorts of things, besides Amazon.

Is it legal for a company to prohibit union membership?