Moving Away From Amazon

I get everything that I can locally but I do like and use amazon eg I am equipping my new allotment and today have bought lashing straps, a very good lock, weed fabric, covered stakes. All of these will arrive tomorrow and I can install them on monday. Armchair shopping is fantastic, anything else apart from local, is several miles away and choice is limited and often not good enough

I don't feel good at using Amazon, but we live in an area devoid of shops and even towns further afield have few alternatives.

I've never heard of most of the other sites mentioned here - is there something I could buy that would enlighten me?

I don’t use Amazon, other than to search for the item I want. I then check out the companies, and order direct from them if they are British companies - I try to support businesses in this country if I can.

Never used Twitter or X, which I’m glad about now I’ve seen Musk’s complete lack of respect for other peoples personal data.

Well done Jane. I occasionally use Amazon, but always feel guilty afterwards, for the reasons you state. No it will not make a blind bit of difference to Bezos, however I see it as a moral issue and that is what matters.

Btw, Jane, if you had your way, all those Amazon workers, drivers etc, will be without a job, just saying …..

I’m sorry, I’m not going to stop using Amazon. It’s an easy way of shopping - and quite frankly, moral policing is not for me. But good luck with your project !

merlotgran

^Let's get our power back people!^

Sorry but empowerment to me means making life as easy and uncomplicated as possible given my age and the fact that I live on my own.

I don’t know what I’d have done without Amazon during four very difficult years including Lockdown.

Absolutely! I'm going with whatever makes life easier - and cheaper - for me, and I make no apologies for doing so.

No excessive consumption in my house either. I buy only what I need.

rockgran

I try to avoid Amazon and use Ebay if possible. I prefer to use PayPal and Amazon doesn't accept (as it is a competitor).

Me too.
I refuse to sign up to Prime, but on the odd occasion that I need something in a hurry, Amazon is the best option, paying the extra charge if an option.

Well done Jane! I have never got into using this web site really, I think I have only used it two or three times because others have chosen their gifts on there for me to order. It’s killed all the high streets shops because they don’t pay their taxes like the locals.

No excessive consumption in my house. Like many others I’m more than capable of sticking to a budget.

I’m also well aware that Lockdown is over.

I have never used Twitter/ X and I avoid Amazon for the same reasons as MONica.
I appreciate some people are housebound or find shopping difficult. Bot I often wonder do we really need all that we buy? DH had deliveries of something or other several times a week and often bought things he had already got. He also bought in bulk and I am still using up huge quantities of non-perishables. All excessive consumption.

I think all of us have lines in the sand where we feel we should make a stand, even though we know that in the big scene of things it will barely show - except the more people who do so, the more chance there is we will make a dent.

Look at X. people and companies are deserting it in droves. Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022, rechristened X it is now worth just over $9 billion. The company has lost over 40% of its value every year since he bought it. It is now worth 20% of what he paid for it - couldn't happen to a nicer man!

The same with Amazon. I stopped using Amazon when I found it was paying almost no tax in the UK bcause sales were directed through Luxembourg.

I have other lines in the sand over environmental and food quality issues, as I am sure do others.

Well done Jane. I have used Amazon extensively and the morality of the owner sticks in my throat. I try now to buy from elsewhere. Buying over the internet has become so much easier than previously when it was Amazon or nothing. I do still have Prime mainly for films but I think I'll stop that when my annual subscription runs out. I liked Twitter and made some good friends there. Since Musk took over, it has become nasty and I've moved to Blue Sky. I hadn't heard about Google. I'll have to Google it!

For me it is anything Meta related with its desire to hoover up my contacts that I won't use. We use Signal instead of Whasapp, and I won't touch Facebook, no desire to post my life online.

A few abstentions is not going to put Amazon out of business, and within a few years it will be drones dropping off your parcels, not the heavily monitored delivery drivers.

I try to avoid Amazon and use Ebay if possible. I prefer to use PayPal and Amazon doesn't accept (as it is a competitor).

I use Amazon for 2 things; a calendar which I cannot find anywhere else and for looking at the details of books or other things which I then buy from someone (anyone) else because their descriptions are often more detailed than those on other sites.

I've never been tempted to use X (or Twitter) but would miss WhatsApp for keeping in touch with family and friends.

Facebook I use only to find out what is going on around here but I don't have a personal page and don't post.

Changed to DuckDuckGo a while ago and it seems to work fine.

We all have to make our choices!

Cossy

Much as I do admire your stance, currently it’s not for me. Amazon and Prime are just too convenient for me to want to give up.

I don’t do X anymore due to Musk, but still have fb/instragram and use WhatsApp daily

I’m with Coasy here.
As I said, I really admire Jane for making a good effort, but I couldn’t do without Amazon now. I buy things all the time from them, often things that I’d spend ages trailing round different shops to find, or would be much more expensive if bought in a shop. I still go the shops most weeks, but I do rely on Amazon. And there is the point about people losing their jobs if Amazon was put out of business.
The only social media I do is Gransnet and Facebook. I have WhatsApp but I don’t think of it as social media as I only use it for messaging friends and family.

I haven't used Amazon for years. I can purchase anything I want on line from other retailers and get it delivered very quickly, often next day. I don't understand people's utter dependency on one retailer.

I'm weaning myself off twitter, especially as many of the people I followed have moved to bluesky, which, at the moment is altogether less toxic.

I have a facebook account which I don't access very often an rarely post on.

I do love Whatsapp, though 😢

I’m another who has never used Twitter/X.

Bluesky is a good alternative to X.

And far less unpleasant posts.

Much nicer.

And I don’t have a car. If I can’t get something, unless critical, I do without

Never used X, and have avoided using Amazon for years and years. I occasionally have no choice, but do it holding my nose!

A lot of people don’t drive and have no public transport. A lot of people are housebound. A lot of people have commitments which leave them no time for going to the shops. Do you think that putting Amazon workers out of work would be a good cause?

There’s always a plus side, Amazon do treat their staff slightly better now and do provide some people with an additional income stream.