If you are avoiding Amazon and Target, where are you buying what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has read a little bit into it knows how Amazon is a huge monopoly now in many spheres of life and business (AWS). If you need anything, chance is there is not a single store around you that will have it - but Amazon does. Example - try to buy a decent stainless steel frying pan or pot. How many stores will you go to before you find something not too shabby. Amazon has been fighting unionization, greenwashing their carbon footprint, etc. Read the stories how drivers cannot take a break? Extorting book sellers for rock-bottom prices, having huge fees for small sellers or copying innovative products under its Amazon Basics brand. Media stories galore over the last 10+ years. Yet we shop there. The convenience is unbeatable. Today everything is about convenience and lack of pain/discomfort. So, the real reason for boycotting Amazon is that it is too big to the point it creates negative externalities for the system as a whole. When people say we have a choice, not really. Target was the local brick-n-mortar alternative. Exclude both from your shopping and you are in a tough spot. Add three children and a wife, and full-time jobs in the office, and good luck managing a household without any sort of convenience of online shopping. In the end, we will pay dearly with our own freedom. United States grew fastest and created the most wealth for average citizens when there was a lot of competition among companies, not when we had mega monopolies in every sphere of life and out of this world income inequality. Monopoly and oligarchy were anti-American concepts.

When I think more about it, it is just an evolutionary period. We are not going back, so time to pull out your phone, open amazon app and order something made in china. Mr. Xi needs his exports, because nobody over there is buying the knick-knacks.

I'm 13 and this is deep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never shopped at Target, but I love Amazon and I'm keeping my Prime membership. Bezos and Zuckerberg aren't the problem, here. (Don't use Facebook or any Meta product).

Bezos is an oligarch. He sat behind Trump when he was inaugurated.
Bezos has gutted the Washington Post, ending its editorial independence in favor of Trumpist flattery.

Give your fingers a little more work and find alternatives to Amazon and while you're at it boycott Whole Foods.

There are MANY places to buy every thing you want or need that are not Target or Amazon!!!

I read reviews on Amazon and go to the manufacturer's website and buy directly from there. Or I just google the product and buy it from another website.

If the millions of voters who voted for Harris or anyone else not Trump just voted with their dollars and walked away from Tesla and Amazon, we would make a dent in the power of Bezos and his cronies, and we'd exercise the only power we have.

Boycott the oligarchs!! If you care about democracy, that is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd love a good replacement for kids stuff - specifically basic clothes, not the kind I would get as hand-me-downs. For example, socks, underwear, leggings. Where you shop for these?

Don't sleep on Kohls! It's old school but seriously...Nice selection of Under Armour, Nike, etc for kids. Also good for shoes, homewares, toys for gifts, socks, bras, etc.

Lands End, JCPenny, Kohls -- all online, all have free delivery and great sales!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't proactively support small businesses even if I like the notion of small businesses because they're just not that great. They are more expensive and don't have the same stock. And some are certainly very ideological (looking at you Penzys).

Amazon is wonderful. Target is convenient. The only person who cares if you try to make a moral argument out of avoiding Amazon and Target is you and you alone, no one else. Do what you want but you aren't budging the needle except you will spend more money by trying to avoid the big boxes and Amazon, and it was another person on another thread who also pointed out it's more ecologically friendly and sustainable to stick with Amazon and deliveries than going to 20 different stores in your car.

Yup! If I have to get in my car and venture out to 5+ stores to get what I can get at one, then I'm hurting the environment as well as wasting my time. Also, I live in a city, so driving to city stores (if not within walking distance) means finding parking, paying for parking at each of those 5 stores. I would much rather save that 2hours+, save the environment and order online. Similarly, many small stores now redirect you to amazon for their items. It gives them a much larger audience and saves money. People are more likely to order online if shipping is free. And yes, I live in a bldg with over 200 units, so when the amazon truck comes multiple times a day, it's a large drop-off--not to mention all of the other condo/apt buildings within 5 block radius. Much more efficient than 1000+ people driving to 5+ stores, circling the block multiple times to find a parking spot, etc.

FFS, you can buy everything online. No driving, no environmental degradation. Just use google or duck duck go, and SEARCH. There are so many online outlets that aren't Amazon or Target. Spend your money elsewhere with just a few clicks. No driving at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never shopped at Target, but I love Amazon and I'm keeping my Prime membership. Bezos and Zuckerberg aren't the problem, here. (Don't use Facebook or any Meta product).

Bezos is an oligarch. He sat behind Trump when he was inaugurated.
Bezos has gutted the Washington Post, ending its editorial independence in favor of Trumpist flattery.

Give your fingers a little more work and find alternatives to Amazon and while you're at it boycott Whole Foods.

There are MANY places to buy every thing you want or need that are not Target or Amazon!!!

I read reviews on Amazon and go to the manufacturer's website and buy directly from there. Or I just google the product and buy it from another website.

If the millions of voters who voted for Harris or anyone else not Trump just voted with their dollars and walked away from Tesla and Amazon, we would make a dent in the power of Bezos and his cronies, and we'd exercise the only power we have.

Boycott the oligarchs!! If you care about democracy, that is.

Better boycott Apple and Meta too. I'm sure you own several products built with slave labor.

The funny thing is that you have convinced yourself that you have power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never shopped at Target, but I love Amazon and I'm keeping my Prime membership. Bezos and Zuckerberg aren't the problem, here. (Don't use Facebook or any Meta product).

Bezos is an oligarch. He sat behind Trump when he was inaugurated.
Bezos has gutted the Washington Post, ending its editorial independence in favor of Trumpist flattery.

Give your fingers a little more work and find alternatives to Amazon and while you're at it boycott Whole Foods.

There are MANY places to buy every thing you want or need that are not Target or Amazon!!!

I read reviews on Amazon and go to the manufacturer's website and buy directly from there. Or I just google the product and buy it from another website.

If the millions of voters who voted for Harris or anyone else not Trump just voted with their dollars and walked away from Tesla and Amazon, we would make a dent in the power of Bezos and his cronies, and we'd exercise the only power we have.

Boycott the oligarchs!! If you care about democracy, that is.

Better boycott Apple and Meta too. I'm sure you own several products built with slave labor.

The funny thing is that you have convinced yourself that you have power.

Okay, NP. We do have power and boycotts work. Target is sh**ing bricks and Tesla is cooked. Amazon is trickier just because of the convenience factor, but I’ve cancelled Prime and started shopping like I did a a decade ago before we had Prime. I buy everything I possibly can from Costco and supplement with local grocery and drug store purchases. It’s saving us SO MUCH MONEY. Just being thoughtful about purchase and knowing I’m hitting them in the only place that matters is enough. People like me were propping up this economy. Not going to do it anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't proactively support small businesses even if I like the notion of small businesses because they're just not that great. They are more expensive and don't have the same stock. And some are certainly very ideological (looking at you Penzys).

Amazon is wonderful. Target is convenient. The only person who cares if you try to make a moral argument out of avoiding Amazon and Target is you and you alone, no one else. Do what you want but you aren't budging the needle except you will spend more money by trying to avoid the big boxes and Amazon, and it was another person on another thread who also pointed out it's more ecologically friendly and sustainable to stick with Amazon and deliveries than going to 20 different stores in your car.

Beg to differ:

Teslas is down 40%
Target sales are down 3% since Jan, stock is down

You don’t think Target and Tesla care? You do you but I’m spending MY money where I want and with businesses who aren’t groveling at the feet of facists.

Tesla is an intriguing and narrow example to cite, the product was far more popular among the "left" than the "right" so it was prone to consumer shifts in a way mass retailers are not. A comparable would be Budweiser, it's a product more popular among the "right" than the "left" so the boycott had real impact. And it doesn't help that Tesla stock was already enormously overvalued as any market guru would have told you even before Musk came on the scene. Unlike Budweiser, given Musk's history in reviving Twitter's value I wouldn't rule out a big Tesla boom in a year or two.

Your boycott is going to garner nothing more than a slow clap because reasons you cite are actually very popular among most Americans, such as the DEI rollbacks. You are in the distinct minority. Both Amazon and Target and Walmart also hire large numbers of working Americans who'd struggle otherwise to find other jobs. If you knew anything about Amazon, while their corporate culture is demanding and works people hard, those who who are able to perform are rewarded greatly. A lot of success stories of employees starting from the bottom and working their way up with determination and grit.

You can do what you want, the tradeoff is that you will spend more money and be more inconvenienced by avoiding Amazon and popular big retailers who have enormous scales of efficiency they pass on consumers. Virtue signaling is a luxury, and it's your decision.

Well thank you for granting me the right to spend my money how I want, Pompous Poster LOL I’m not virtue signaling because I’ve told no one how I’m spending my $ (minus people in an anon forum). And, I’m actually NOT spending more $$. I’ve saved money since scrutizing my spending and shopping sources. But, keep being Pompous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but also boycotting Amazon (also cancelled my Wash Post subscription) and Target and doing my very best to shop local. I find something on Amazon and then use Google lens to find it elsewhere. Also team never a Tesla Nazi mobile or shop at Walmart (we subsidize Walmart so much because they don't pay their employees enough and teach them how to apply for welfare, SNAP, etc. It's a piss-poor business model that wouldn't succeed without the government handouts to their employees

I will not willingly support the oligarch billionaires

Yet you almost certainly own stock in Amazon, Target, and Walmart. And you're telling us that you never shopped at Walmart? It wasn't like they just started engaging in these business practices. Very hypocritcal and not the flex that you think it is.

I have bought 3 things at a Walmart in *my entire life*. I’m 52. I started boycotting them around 1996 and only shopped there once when I was in the middle of nowhere and had no other options. Somehow I’ve managed just fine avoiding that crappy store all these years. No stock either. The Waltons can f right off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I gave up trying to boycott anything. For example, Amazon is just too convenient and the prices and quick delivery is too good to waste my time trying to find alternatives. My piddling little purchases are not going to make any difference anyway. I think some folks are making their lives more difficult for no reason tbh.

I also know many people who work for amazon. They are all great people, and it's a good company to work for (none of them are warehouse workers---they are on the tech side). They work hard to reduce their carbon impact---the "climate pledge" is real and the work they are doing to reduce effects and encourage other companies to sign the pledge is amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It must be exhausting to be so outraged so often that you don't know where to shop.

One person doesn’t make a difference but groups of people do. Look at Tesla & Target as just 2 examples and look how Costco sales and stock have soared.

It's not exhausting at all to just....not shop at these stores. And I am spending so. much. less. money. because turns out, I don't need most of the crap I was buying on Prime or at Target. Will there come a time where I need something from one of those stores? Sure. But I have drastically reduced my spending online and that feels great for a number of reasons.

Well that is a You issue if you were buying mostly crap. I purchase things we need, without me having to leave my home, drive 20 mins+ to one or more stores, stand in line and drive back or onto another store. But I don't usually purchase "crap we don't need".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't proactively support small businesses even if I like the notion of small businesses because they're just not that great. They are more expensive and don't have the same stock. And some are certainly very ideological (looking at you Penzys).

Amazon is wonderful. Target is convenient. The only person who cares if you try to make a moral argument out of avoiding Amazon and Target is you and you alone, no one else. Do what you want but you aren't budging the needle except you will spend more money by trying to avoid the big boxes and Amazon, and it was another person on another thread who also pointed out it's more ecologically friendly and sustainable to stick with Amazon and deliveries than going to 20 different stores in your car.

Beg to differ:

Teslas is down 40%
Target sales are down 3% since Jan, stock is down

You don’t think Target and Tesla care? You do you but I’m spending MY money where I want and with businesses who aren’t groveling at the feet of facists.

Tesla is an intriguing and narrow example to cite, the product was far more popular among the "left" than the "right" so it was prone to consumer shifts in a way mass retailers are not. A comparable would be Budweiser, it's a product more popular among the "right" than the "left" so the boycott had real impact. And it doesn't help that Tesla stock was already enormously overvalued as any market guru would have told you even before Musk came on the scene. Unlike Budweiser, given Musk's history in reviving Twitter's value I wouldn't rule out a big Tesla boom in a year or two.

Your boycott is going to garner nothing more than a slow clap because reasons you cite are actually very popular among most Americans, such as the DEI rollbacks. You are in the distinct minority. Both Amazon and Target and Walmart also hire large numbers of working Americans who'd struggle otherwise to find other jobs. If you knew anything about Amazon, while their corporate culture is demanding and works people hard, those who who are able to perform are rewarded greatly. A lot of success stories of employees starting from the bottom and working their way up with determination and grit.

You can do what you want, the tradeoff is that you will spend more money and be more inconvenienced by avoiding Amazon and popular big retailers who have enormous scales of efficiency they pass on consumers. Virtue signaling is a luxury, and it's your decision.

I am both virtual signaling and think you're all lazy that you can't run a few errands instead of ordering on amazon. Take a walk! It's not that hard.

So I should overpay for my toiletries, TP, Paper products, etc at a large grocery store chain? Can't walk there as it's over 2 miles and I'm not walking home with all of that in one trip. I should get in my car, drive there, search for parking (live in a city) for 5+ mins possibly, overpay and support another large conglomerate who isn't much "better than amazon or target"?

Quite simply, your local Mom&Pop stores are not selling your shampoo or TP/Paper products typically. I support local when I can, but I'm not wasting hours of my day driving around to search for some item when I can order it and have it delivered next day and only take 2 mins of my time. It's not being lazy, it's called being efficient. I have no desire to waste 1 hour+ of my time to pay more (or not find what I need).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't proactively support small businesses even if I like the notion of small businesses because they're just not that great. They are more expensive and don't have the same stock. And some are certainly very ideological (looking at you Penzys).

Amazon is wonderful. Target is convenient. The only person who cares if you try to make a moral argument out of avoiding Amazon and Target is you and you alone, no one else. Do what you want but you aren't budging the needle except you will spend more money by trying to avoid the big boxes and Amazon, and it was another person on another thread who also pointed out it's more ecologically friendly and sustainable to stick with Amazon and deliveries than going to 20 different stores in your car.

Beg to differ:

Teslas is down 40%
Target sales are down 3% since Jan, stock is down

You don’t think Target and Tesla care? You do you but I’m spending MY money where I want and with businesses who aren’t groveling at the feet of facists.

Tesla is an intriguing and narrow example to cite, the product was far more popular among the "left" than the "right" so it was prone to consumer shifts in a way mass retailers are not. A comparable would be Budweiser, it's a product more popular among the "right" than the "left" so the boycott had real impact. And it doesn't help that Tesla stock was already enormously overvalued as any market guru would have told you even before Musk came on the scene. Unlike Budweiser, given Musk's history in reviving Twitter's value I wouldn't rule out a big Tesla boom in a year or two.

Your boycott is going to garner nothing more than a slow clap because reasons you cite are actually very popular among most Americans, such as the DEI rollbacks. You are in the distinct minority. Both Amazon and Target and Walmart also hire large numbers of working Americans who'd struggle otherwise to find other jobs. If you knew anything about Amazon, while their corporate culture is demanding and works people hard, those who who are able to perform are rewarded greatly. A lot of success stories of employees starting from the bottom and working their way up with determination and grit.

You can do what you want, the tradeoff is that you will spend more money and be more inconvenienced by avoiding Amazon and popular big retailers who have enormous scales of efficiency they pass on consumers. Virtue signaling is a luxury, and it's your decision.

This doesn’t make sense?

The left wants you to shop locally, so while you pay more, the money goes into the community.

The right wants you to support more billionaires, so you’ll pay more because of price gouging, lack of competition, lack of regulatory protections, and a desire to bring production back to the US — which will be astronomical.

So, you’re going to pay more. We all are. It’s up to us to decide our values.

I support local all the time, whenever possible. But there simply are no local "mom& pop shops" for purchasing Tp/Paper products, toiletries, etc other than grocery stores, and most of those I have issues with as well, so it's not any better. My nearest Trader Joes is 25 min drive away and I have to search for parking, so wasting 5+ mins typically finding it while running my vehicle. My nearest Costco is also 20+ mins away, and once again, many times have to circle for 5-10 mins to locate a spot. But they dont even sell my toiletries and if they did I don't need a 2 years supply at one time (live in an apartment). And quite frankly there never were local stores that sold toiletries, TP/paper products---closest thing was target, as I gave up Walmart decades ago for their practices

[Anonymous]

I wonder how much time these people waste looking for the next bad guy or grievance. If it wasn't Bezos, it would be some other evil "oligarch."

Remember those crazy Occupy Wall street loons? They changed nothing but it made them feel good about themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never shopped at Target, but I love Amazon and I'm keeping my Prime membership. Bezos and Zuckerberg aren't the problem, here. (Don't use Facebook or any Meta product).

Bezos is an oligarch. He sat behind Trump when he was inaugurated.
Bezos has gutted the Washington Post, ending its editorial independence in favor of Trumpist flattery.

Give your fingers a little more work and find alternatives to Amazon and while you're at it boycott Whole Foods.

There are MANY places to buy every thing you want or need that are not Target or Amazon!!!

I read reviews on Amazon and go to the manufacturer's website and buy directly from there. Or I just google the product and buy it from another website.

If the millions of voters who voted for Harris or anyone else not Trump just voted with their dollars and walked away from Tesla and Amazon, we would make a dent in the power of Bezos and his cronies, and we'd exercise the only power we have.

Boycott the oligarchs!! If you care about democracy, that is.

Bezos does not own Amazon, he has stock in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but also boycotting Amazon (also cancelled my Wash Post subscription) and Target and doing my very best to shop local. I find something on Amazon and then use Google lens to find it elsewhere. Also team never a Tesla Nazi mobile or shop at Walmart (we subsidize Walmart so much because they don't pay their employees enough and teach them how to apply for welfare, SNAP, etc. It's a piss-poor business model that wouldn't succeed without the government handouts to their employees

I will not willingly support the oligarch billionaires

Yet you almost certainly own stock in Amazon, Target, and Walmart. And you're telling us that you never shopped at Walmart? It wasn't like they just started engaging in these business practices. Very hypocritcal and not the flex that you think it is.

I have bought 3 things at a Walmart in *my entire life*. I’m 52. I started boycotting them around 1996 and only shopped there once when I was in the middle of nowhere and had no other options. Somehow I’ve managed just fine avoiding that crappy store all these years. No stock either. The Waltons can f right off.

Love walmart. Their delivery is fantastic.