I'm very proud, and quite vocal, about the fact that I've never been a prime member, and I've curtailed my amazon shopping to roughly 2 to 3 items Per Year for the past 10 years! Just as you mentioned in your post, I'm somewhat troubled by the idea of an amazon delivery person working odd hours in the morning or late into the night, just so i can get something that's not critical, at my doorstep in some ludicrously short time window. Not to mention the entire chain of people that have been overworked and underpaid to even get the items into the hands of the delivery people. The whole idea of this monolith merchandise outlet gobbling up all the regular, brick and mortar cornerstones' in countless town across the country is frankly nauseating. What ever happened to interacting with your community while out shopping? With going out of your house/apartment to connect with the environment and people in your town so that you can feel like you are part of something bigger? Sitting inside our homes and pushing buttons on our handheld supercomputers can be quite isolating, and in the end, we as a species are in fact very social creatures. It's not healthful to frequently shop on any of these applications, UNLESS you are physically limited and shopping in the traditional sense is difficult, try to get out of your home and do your shopping in person! Of course it's way more work, but work is good for us! it makes us stronger in many ways and helps you feel connected to your community.
p.s. Love that you mentioned Deborah's!! It honestly is my favorite place to shop. In fact, I am wearing my purple Deborah's apron as I write this response! lol
And yes Debra's is absolute perfection! On paper, it makes literally no sense- the main store is chopped up and hard to push a cart in, plus half the merchandise is literally NEXT DOOR, but somehow it just works so well. Not shopping there anymore was one of the hardest parts about leaving Eastern MA.
I have been fighting this good fight since Covid. People try to talk me out of it and even tell me to buy stock in Amazon. We never were big on Amazon to begin with. But increasingly I felt the need to turn my back on the leviathan and pay an extra $5 to $10 to buy directly from the manufacturer. Also, I do a lot of thrifting. More recently my local Facebook Buy Nothing group has been a delightful source of needed and not so needed products as well as removing the same from my home. Even so, I still sometimes order from Walmart and the product comes in an Amazon box, disappointing. Or a gift request comes with an Amazon link, I source the origin. I will keep fighting my one person war against a lazy consumer who loves the convenience while I love the unconventional.
It feels like a one person war, but I'm hopeful that there are more of us out there than we realize! Thrifting and Buy Nothing are amazing resources, and I've started to use eBay for used items when I need something very specific that's not available locally. Thanks for sharing!
I'm way more into eBay and am dismayed when an eBay purchase arrives via AMZN logistics, although that seems to be the exception - most eBay & Poshmark purchases arrive via USPS.
I wrote this huge comment and then somehow lost it 🫣 the short version is that I’m weaning off - pet items now come from chewy and if I can’t get it local then I check independent online sellers. Definitely on a journey of less is LESS!! Thank you for this, great article! :)
I tossed Prime to the wayside last year. I live in a remote rural area and was consistently receiving inferior items from Amazon. The closest UPS store is over 25 miles away so I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle. If I can't find what I need locally I just do without.
Nothing more frustrating than having to go to the trouble of returning something because it was inferior quality to begin with! Thanks for sharing, Anita!
It seems like all these companies go through this arc where they are new and exciting, celebrated even, and then they fall from grace, often deservedly so. I share your concerns about fuel use and waste, but I remember back in the day we would just drive around wasting gas and time looking for items that we may not find. The alternative to all those vans on the road may be everyone driving every which way to shop. The massive amount of shipping materials generated from Amazon shopping is very concerning.
Personally I try to limit my Amazon shopping to items I just can’t get locally, like 5 gallon jugs of Dawn dish detergent, or the specialty boots I need for work. If someday I can cancel my Prime account I will. For now it feels like a necessary evil.
Thanks for your perspective! If you're not using Amazon frequently and are using it intentionally (which it sounds like you are), you can still get free shipping without Prime, it just takes a little longer.
And I completely agree with your assessment on the arcs of companies. Amazon is no longer shiny and new- a trap I clearly fell for back in the day!
Most subscriptions are insidious methods to get more of your money because they're designed to be convenient. Their thoughtless, autopiloted renewals are often overlooked long after their initial appeal wears off. Here, 8 years, accompanied by life circumstances shifts, seems like a long time to get divorced from Prime. Annual or semi-annual financial assessments can reveal these kinds of unnecessary spending - or at least identify candidates for elimination or reduction. Insurance policies and entertainment seem to be the great opportunities for re-calibration. I was glad to see some acknowledgement of the additional local motorized vehicle travel and packaging implications, coupled with the critical thinking of distinguishing levels of urgency. https://www.npr.org/2024/09/05/g-s1-20325/could-you-live-without-shopping-for-a-year-try-the-no-buy-challenge?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20240916&utm_term=9716148&utm_campaign=news&utm_id=51549028&orgid=305&utm_att1=
It is definitely a cycle designed to keep you in their ecosystem. In the case of other subscriptions (Netflix, Disney+), there's at least new programming to discover. But Prime is kind of all things at once (TV, music, shipping, discounts), which ends up meaning it's really about nothing at all
I know. I need to just take the plunge and get rid of it too. We are using them for photo storage, which is probably a terrible idea, and we order a fair amount of our vitamins and supplements from Amazon, but like you, I suppose if we did that all at once, we’d still qualify for the free shipping.
We also had our supplements on auto order and had to retime them so that we had enough for free shipping. It's not stopping cold turkey, just easing away slowly
I’m torn on Amazon. I absolutely agree with everything you say, particularly trying to find products from real companies that don’t have alphabet soup names. And the environmental impact 😱. I’m not, and never have been, a huge Amazon shopper, except for things that are impossible to find locally or would mean driving into Dallas to a specialty store. I’m also not a regular Whole Foods shopper, so the extra discount doesn’t come close to paying for our Prime membership. I am a serious book buyer, but Barnes & Noble or indies get that business. But…my son works for them (Amazon Web Services to be exact), so I have a hard time advocating against them. I know the two businesses (Amazon and AWS) are technically separate and AWS would most likely continue to exist even if the retail platform collapsed, but a good portion of his total compensation is Amazon stock…It’s a dilemma for me!
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Marianna! I hadn't even thought about AWS, which controls so much of the internet now.
As I said in the article, I'm not fully opting out of Amazon (I don't know how possible that would even be at this point given how ubiquitous they are), but am choosing not to renew Prime or get caught in a cycle of endless consumption. It's a tightrope walk, one it sounds like you're walking in your own way too. I appreciate your take!
Thank you for finally giving me the kick in the butt to cancel my Amazon Prime! I immediately did it after ready this. I started with cancelling Audible when I read about Libro.fm app and supporting by local bookstore instead of Amazon. I have also had this overlying feeling of quilt with keeping my Prime even though I really don´t use Amazon anymore at all since becoming a more aware shopper and trying to boycott companies that support Israel (the NO Thanks app is excellent). So, again, thank you. Amazon Prime is cancelled!
I'm very proud, and quite vocal, about the fact that I've never been a prime member, and I've curtailed my amazon shopping to roughly 2 to 3 items Per Year for the past 10 years! Just as you mentioned in your post, I'm somewhat troubled by the idea of an amazon delivery person working odd hours in the morning or late into the night, just so i can get something that's not critical, at my doorstep in some ludicrously short time window. Not to mention the entire chain of people that have been overworked and underpaid to even get the items into the hands of the delivery people. The whole idea of this monolith merchandise outlet gobbling up all the regular, brick and mortar cornerstones' in countless town across the country is frankly nauseating. What ever happened to interacting with your community while out shopping? With going out of your house/apartment to connect with the environment and people in your town so that you can feel like you are part of something bigger? Sitting inside our homes and pushing buttons on our handheld supercomputers can be quite isolating, and in the end, we as a species are in fact very social creatures. It's not healthful to frequently shop on any of these applications, UNLESS you are physically limited and shopping in the traditional sense is difficult, try to get out of your home and do your shopping in person! Of course it's way more work, but work is good for us! it makes us stronger in many ways and helps you feel connected to your community.
p.s. Love that you mentioned Deborah's!! It honestly is my favorite place to shop. In fact, I am wearing my purple Deborah's apron as I write this response! lol
So perfectly said Rob! 100%!!
And yes Debra's is absolute perfection! On paper, it makes literally no sense- the main store is chopped up and hard to push a cart in, plus half the merchandise is literally NEXT DOOR, but somehow it just works so well. Not shopping there anymore was one of the hardest parts about leaving Eastern MA.
I have been fighting this good fight since Covid. People try to talk me out of it and even tell me to buy stock in Amazon. We never were big on Amazon to begin with. But increasingly I felt the need to turn my back on the leviathan and pay an extra $5 to $10 to buy directly from the manufacturer. Also, I do a lot of thrifting. More recently my local Facebook Buy Nothing group has been a delightful source of needed and not so needed products as well as removing the same from my home. Even so, I still sometimes order from Walmart and the product comes in an Amazon box, disappointing. Or a gift request comes with an Amazon link, I source the origin. I will keep fighting my one person war against a lazy consumer who loves the convenience while I love the unconventional.
It feels like a one person war, but I'm hopeful that there are more of us out there than we realize! Thrifting and Buy Nothing are amazing resources, and I've started to use eBay for used items when I need something very specific that's not available locally. Thanks for sharing!
I'm way more into eBay and am dismayed when an eBay purchase arrives via AMZN logistics, although that seems to be the exception - most eBay & Poshmark purchases arrive via USPS.
I haven't had that happen yet- yikes!
I wrote this huge comment and then somehow lost it 🫣 the short version is that I’m weaning off - pet items now come from chewy and if I can’t get it local then I check independent online sellers. Definitely on a journey of less is LESS!! Thank you for this, great article! :)
Thanks Andrea! I'm glad we're thinking along the same lines!
I tossed Prime to the wayside last year. I live in a remote rural area and was consistently receiving inferior items from Amazon. The closest UPS store is over 25 miles away so I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle. If I can't find what I need locally I just do without.
Nothing more frustrating than having to go to the trouble of returning something because it was inferior quality to begin with! Thanks for sharing, Anita!
It seems like all these companies go through this arc where they are new and exciting, celebrated even, and then they fall from grace, often deservedly so. I share your concerns about fuel use and waste, but I remember back in the day we would just drive around wasting gas and time looking for items that we may not find. The alternative to all those vans on the road may be everyone driving every which way to shop. The massive amount of shipping materials generated from Amazon shopping is very concerning.
Personally I try to limit my Amazon shopping to items I just can’t get locally, like 5 gallon jugs of Dawn dish detergent, or the specialty boots I need for work. If someday I can cancel my Prime account I will. For now it feels like a necessary evil.
Thanks for your perspective! If you're not using Amazon frequently and are using it intentionally (which it sounds like you are), you can still get free shipping without Prime, it just takes a little longer.
And I completely agree with your assessment on the arcs of companies. Amazon is no longer shiny and new- a trap I clearly fell for back in the day!
Most subscriptions are insidious methods to get more of your money because they're designed to be convenient. Their thoughtless, autopiloted renewals are often overlooked long after their initial appeal wears off. Here, 8 years, accompanied by life circumstances shifts, seems like a long time to get divorced from Prime. Annual or semi-annual financial assessments can reveal these kinds of unnecessary spending - or at least identify candidates for elimination or reduction. Insurance policies and entertainment seem to be the great opportunities for re-calibration. I was glad to see some acknowledgement of the additional local motorized vehicle travel and packaging implications, coupled with the critical thinking of distinguishing levels of urgency. https://www.npr.org/2024/09/05/g-s1-20325/could-you-live-without-shopping-for-a-year-try-the-no-buy-challenge?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20240916&utm_term=9716148&utm_campaign=news&utm_id=51549028&orgid=305&utm_att1=
It is definitely a cycle designed to keep you in their ecosystem. In the case of other subscriptions (Netflix, Disney+), there's at least new programming to discover. But Prime is kind of all things at once (TV, music, shipping, discounts), which ends up meaning it's really about nothing at all
I know. I need to just take the plunge and get rid of it too. We are using them for photo storage, which is probably a terrible idea, and we order a fair amount of our vitamins and supplements from Amazon, but like you, I suppose if we did that all at once, we’d still qualify for the free shipping.
We also had our supplements on auto order and had to retime them so that we had enough for free shipping. It's not stopping cold turkey, just easing away slowly
I’m torn on Amazon. I absolutely agree with everything you say, particularly trying to find products from real companies that don’t have alphabet soup names. And the environmental impact 😱. I’m not, and never have been, a huge Amazon shopper, except for things that are impossible to find locally or would mean driving into Dallas to a specialty store. I’m also not a regular Whole Foods shopper, so the extra discount doesn’t come close to paying for our Prime membership. I am a serious book buyer, but Barnes & Noble or indies get that business. But…my son works for them (Amazon Web Services to be exact), so I have a hard time advocating against them. I know the two businesses (Amazon and AWS) are technically separate and AWS would most likely continue to exist even if the retail platform collapsed, but a good portion of his total compensation is Amazon stock…It’s a dilemma for me!
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Marianna! I hadn't even thought about AWS, which controls so much of the internet now.
As I said in the article, I'm not fully opting out of Amazon (I don't know how possible that would even be at this point given how ubiquitous they are), but am choosing not to renew Prime or get caught in a cycle of endless consumption. It's a tightrope walk, one it sounds like you're walking in your own way too. I appreciate your take!
Thank you for finally giving me the kick in the butt to cancel my Amazon Prime! I immediately did it after ready this. I started with cancelling Audible when I read about Libro.fm app and supporting by local bookstore instead of Amazon. I have also had this overlying feeling of quilt with keeping my Prime even though I really don´t use Amazon anymore at all since becoming a more aware shopper and trying to boycott companies that support Israel (the NO Thanks app is excellent). So, again, thank you. Amazon Prime is cancelled!
Oh wow- I'm glad this gave you the nudge you needed! Thanks for sharing, Karen!