Can you survive without Amazon?

Because Amazon the company (not, you know, Amazon the rainforest) kinda sucks

Photo by Daniel Eledut on Unsplash

I last touched on the issue of Amazon back in July, when I totally didn’t mean to interrupt your Prime Day shopping (Side note: Did you happen to hear that Amazon is doing yet another Prime Deal Days this October, because apparently one weird consumerist Amazon holiday a year isn’t enough?)

But the online behemoth is back on the front page of the news, this time because the Federal Trade Commission and 17 US states have sued Amazon for illegally stifling competition on its platforms (If you are outside the US, this is likely old news— Amazon settled in an EU antitrust dispute this past December).

First, I think it’s worth noting that the consumer experience on Amazon has become something of a hassle. As Brian Barrett wrote last week in The Atlantic, “Amazon feels less like an online Target or Best Buy than it does Big Billy’s Bargain Bin, dollar-store trinkets sold for name-brand prices. The problem isn’t that it lacks what you want, but that it offers infinite permutations of often unknowable quality.”

In fact, roughly 60% of Amazon offerings don’t come from Amazon itself— instead, 3rd party sellers with little oversight sell counterfeit and sometimes toxic goods, counting on consumers to identify which products are legitimate and which contain elevated levels of dangerous chemicals like lead or lack necessary safety certifications. The problem for legitimate companies and sellers on Amazon is simple: Whoever has the lowest price wins the ‘buy box’— meaning that the company manufacturing a product may not actually be the one Amazon prioritizes when it sells to us.

Couple that with Amazon’s consistently irresponsible or downright shoddy business practices— from using books as a loss-leader to drum up sales while driving independent bookstores out of the market to destroying millions of unsold products— and it’s easy to understand why more and more people want an out.

Sustainable solutions will ultimately require substantial shifts for large corporations guided by policy changes or consumer pressure. One of the ways to exert this kind of consumer pressure is, quite simply, to vote with our dollars and opt out from engaging with companies who aren’t aligned with our values.

Consumers consistently report that the biggest barrier to shopping small or sustainably— AKA, giving up businesses like Amazon— is not knowing what’s out there. And while I’m not saying that customer awareness doesn’t play a part, I don’t think that’s all— or even most— of the story.

Like if it’s 2 am and your kid is running out of diapers, chances are you’re not going to be like “Oh, let’s price compare and wait 5 days for something to ship and…” No. You’re going to get the first diapers you can find, because the alternative of poop all over your floor is worse. Ditto if we’re going to be on a plane and my 3 year old somehow remembers that she got lollipops literally a year ago when she was on a plane and now I have to get dye-free lollipops here before our flight (not me, not me, definitely not me on the week I’m writing about how sucky Amazon is…). And there, ladies and gents, is the first way Amazon gets you over more ethical retailers: The convenience factor, specifically if you didn’t think to plan ahead.

The other way Amazon gets you? The price. I’m not going to sit here and promise you that shopping small is always less expensive, because then you would 100% say Jennifer you are so out of touch have you even looked at the price of things on Amazon lately? I can get a bullhorn for all my screaming-at-people needs and a dancing potato for like 99 cents and… I get caring about the price. But the *cheap* prices on Amazon feel a little— okay, a lot— more icky when you realize that this price exists only because Amazon strangles small businesses and sucks the soul out of writers and whatever else they happen to be doing on this otherwise-totally-normal-Wednesday.

I’m not here to convince you to never use Amazon. (Although I am here to convince you of things, I guess? Which became very very evident this week when I met up with one of my dearest friends for a walk and she said “I thought about stopping for coffee on the way and then I remembered your post last week and I didn’t because $1000 a year?!). But if you wanted to use Amazon less, I’m pretty sure the planet would thank you.

(I thought about including a list of Amazon alternatives in this post, but TBH you guys are smart and know how to Google. But if you decide you really don’t feel like Googling, you can find a great list of alternatives + my guide to responsibly dispose of pretty much everything in the nifty new Resource Round Up tab at the top of my page).