Can you provide an alternative that isnβt a PITA? Amazon is successful because it makes shopping easy, often more secure than shopping elsewhere, and is more ecological than shopping in person. Where else can I get a dozen completely different category of items without checking out 12 times? Should I drive to 12 different places, and burn all that gas, just to spite Amazon? Where can I shop where I can comparison shop between a hundred different brands and options, to get the item I want and not just what the shop owner carries?
Iβm not being facetious; I want an alternative, but thereβs only so much inconvenience Iβll accept.
I just assume you are in the US and i canβt speak for the situation there. Here in the EU there are plenty of options. Sure itβs a bit more expensive sometimes, but often times itβs not.
And the convenience, I get it. Amazon customer support is unbeatable. From what I hear it is getting worse, though.
For me in the EU it is possible, but sometimes a struggle. The ideological thing makes it worth it for me, and if there are more and more people that donβt use Amazon (as often), there may be a time when it dies.
The only items I bought on Amazon since coronavirus hit are a phone charger, some shirts that arenβt available anywhere else and a pedal for a sewing machine.
So I canβt tell you an alternative the alternative you are looking for, but for me it is a lot of small to large online stores and some offline stores as well. There isnβt quite something as convenient that has virtually everything out there, afaik.
Ok, the EU is different. You have - generally speaking - walkable cities and good public transport infrastructure. Most people live in cities, not suburbs, and even your suburbs have decent walkable shopping and good public transport. Iβd do less online shopping if I lived in Munich, or London, or Paris, or even the smaller cities.
Still, thereβs a lot of stuff you still need to go online for, or settle for whatever your local small shop has. Sometimes the local is acceptable for not having to shop Amazon.
Youβre right, things are different in the states. Weβre trapped in our Suburbia.
