Amazon is like a third member of our household. My husband will say, “We need [fill in the blank],” and I will respond, “Ask Amazon.” You can buy anything from Amazon—groceries, clothes, even patio furniture—and have it delivered to your door in a day or two.
A recent poll found that Amazon is the second-most trusted institution in the US, preceded only by the US Military. Right now, 153 million of us are Prime members—and about 40% of our online purchases are made through Amazon.
Wonderful, right? Well, maybe not. Like you, I have been hearing about the reasons for not making purchases from Amazon, but one hits closer to home—Amazon is damaging our local small businesses, farmer’s markets and more.
Prepandemic, my husband and I were big supporters of small businesses. But I will be among the first to admit that Amazon made the lockdowns much easier, and I fully embraced loading things into my Amazon cart and periodically placing orders.
But it is time to break that habit! So this past Sunday, we headed to a local farmer’s market and purchased the fixings for four dinners for this upcoming week—all for about what we would have paid at a grocery store and without relying on Amazon at all. We chatted with the vendors who were happy to tell us about their products. All in all, a great morning and we plan to go back next weekend.
I am not giving up on Amazon. I still appreciate the convenience. But I will think twice about where I make my next purchases—with a click on my laptop because it is easy…or at a small business or vendor that needs our support.
