5 Tips for Breaking Up with Amazon
Say sayonara to the mega-store and support local instead!
As a small business, we can’t help but love other small businesses. It’s part of our ethos to support other small companies in their ventures. Which is why we felt like we needed to talk about Amazon—they’ve been negatively impacting smaller companies around the country and world.
In Lendio’s American Dream Survey of more than 2,000 small business owners, many viewed Amazon as a threat to their bottom line. About two out of three small business owners said they view large corporations like Amazon as having a negative impact on growth opportunities. As of 2020, Amazon reported 200 million paying Prime members worldwide, which is up from 150 million paid Prime members at the end of 2019. In 2021, their net annual global revenue amounted to $386.06 billion US dollars.
At Fearless Foundry, we believe in the power of supporting local. It’s a good feeling to know your money is going back into your community or to women or minority owned businesses. We know breakups can be hard, so here are our top 5 tips to help you say sayonara to Amazon:
#1: Use Amazon As a Search Engine
No one can deny the fact that Amazon is a great place to find a wide variety of products. They pretty much have everything from clothes to food and specialty items. Many people like Amazon because of this variety; you can type in what you need and find top rated products in seconds.
If you like Amazon’s product recommendations but don’t want to add to their billions in revenue, use them as a search engine! If you find a product you like, head straight to the company’s website to purchase it instead. Many brands also offer free shipping, or steep discounts for signing up for their emails.
Research suggests that about two out of five Americans have made purchases directly from a brand vs. marketplaces like Amazon. Companies are finally getting better at selling directly to consumers, putting more money in the hands of small businesses who make more when customers buy directly from them.
#2: Support Local Stores Instead
Money makes the world go round. Okay, maybe not, but it keeps people fed, clothed, and housed. Buying from Amazon takes money away from people in your community. People who need that money to live and raise their families.
Some will argue that Amazon employs people too, so then the argument becomes a question of values. What do you value most? What do you want your money to support: Large corporations where the wealth is unequally distributed, or smaller businesses that may be women or minority-owned?
If you don’t know where to start, you can’t go wrong with a Google search. If you need a new desk, think about what stores in your city sell desks. Or type “furniture” into Google Maps. You can even find women-owned businesses on Google. With Google's new feature, businesses can identify as being women owned, led, or founded, which will show at the top of their Google profile.
But what happens if you need a specialty item and can’t seem to find it anywhere, except on Amazon? Don’t panic. Local stores in your area may be willing to order-in an item for you! This way, you get to support a local business and get what you need. Spending $100 at local stores keeps $67 of that in your community!
#3: Go to the Library
Books are expensive, and one of the reasons why Amazon has become so popular is because it sells books at the cheapest price, with free two day shipping. Amazon has been negatively affecting small bookstores since its inception, given that it was a bookseller from the get-go. They now control almost half of US book sales.
We’d like to ask one question: Remember libraries?! You can read books for free from the library, and most libraries are willing to order-in a book if they don’t have it. Unless you need your own copy of a book to take notes in, borrowing from the library is a no-brainer.
If you do decide that you need your own copy of a book, or want to gift a book, buy it from your local bookstore. You can also checkout online stores like BetterWorldBooks, which donates a book for every book sold, or IndieBound, which helps you find local bookstores that carry the book you want.
#4: Support Alternative Online Stores
Shopping online is convenient. No one can argue with that. But breaking up with Amazon doesn't have to mean giving up online shopping. There are so many great online marketplaces that support artisans and do better with their business models. Here are some of our favorites:
Etsy is great for finding handmade clothes, jewelry, decorations, art, and so much more. It’s easy to sort by price, and some vendors even have free shipping!
Amazon bought Whole Foods, but if you still want to buy organic online, Thrive Market can be a good option. Their membership is only $5 per month, giving you access to up to 30 percent off organic groceries. They have carbon neutral shipping and give back by helping families in need.
We don’t want to be bossy, but quit buying cleaning products in plastic bottles! Blue land offers plastic free cleaning and laundry products. You buy their glass bottles once, and can refill them forever with refill tablets that come in compostable packaging.
Uncommon Goods is a fun online marketplace to find unique gifts, kitchen goods, and home goods. They donate $1 to a Better to Give program of each customer’s choice.
eBay has almost everything from food and supplements to electronics and sporting goods. Plus, it’s a great place to shop for used or refurbished items like laptops or kitchen appliances.
#5: Don’t Beat Yourself Up
We said it earlier—breakups can be hard. Be forgiving with yourself as you move through the breakup process. If you need to order from Amazon, use Amazon Smile, so at least 0.5% of your purchase will go to a charity of your choice. You can also use Amazon delivery day to get your orders in fewer boxes and less packaging. Plus, you always have the option to leave comments on your orders with a request to use as little packaging as possible. And don’t forget about ordering in bulk. This will help reduce the environmental impact and shipping materials that come from making multiple purchases.
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It’s such a satisfying feeling to watch your money remain in your community, knowing you’re helping support small business owners and their employees. Voting doesn’t just happen on election day, it happens every day when we vote with our dollars.