For years, when I mention not shopping Amazon.com, people tell me (often lecture me) that it saves people money. They have no choice but to buy from there.
I agree Amazon has displaced many alternatives, but I see tons of Amazon deliveries every day and when I see what’s delivered, it’s nearly always something that will be in a landfill within weeks, maybe months. In my building, I see how many packages are delivered daily and I see how much people throw out. I can’t speak to other buildings and neighborhoods, but I see a lot of Amazon deliveries and packaging littering the streets everywhere in the city and I ride through all neighborhoods.
For today’s post, I searched “top selling amazon.com products“. Your results may differ from mine, but I see nearly all of the top items impoverishing people for little benefit and ending up in landfills leaching toxins into the biosphere. Crocs and ice makers (three kinds) are not necessary for life, health, or happiness. The electronics things are all disposable, likely replacing broken old ones not valued because they’d buy new ones on Amazon.
LED strip lights reinforce the rebound effect that what savings we attained in LED over incandescent we will overcome with lighting things we never did until we use as much energy for lighting as before. The “tummy” control body suit implies people are unhappy with their bodies, likely related to doof peddled by places like Amazon.
People keep insisting that eating healthy costs more, but it can be just as affordable, even if people don’t find ways to make it significantly cheaper, as I do. In any case, they don’t have to buy “tummy” control body suits.
I’m not saying I conducted a scientific study, that these results represent any meaningful cross section, or that poor people are buying these useless things (though people buying them are impoverishing themselves relative to not buying them). I’m just writing in my blog, but I don’t accept that Amazon saves people money. It promotes them buying junk to the point of addiction.
The search came up with another result. Here’s a screen shot of that one. I defy you to find one item that if it never existed again, the world or anyone within it would lose a moment’s sleep. By contrast, I can point out how each pollutes in the extraction, creation, delivery, and disposal, as well as how it takes money from people who can’t afford it.
For the record, Amazon won’t let me post reviews on it because it requires you spend at least fifty dollars there in the past twelve months as their way of keeping out bots. I haven’t spent a penny there in years. Full disclosure, I still sell my books there, which you should read. Here are the two big ones, Initiative and Leadership Step by Step, at Bookshop.org (let me know if you want to read them and price is an object).
I know that you will not profit from it but your books are available at Thriftbooks also. Besides the library it is a low carbon means of accessing the books.
I support people buying my books through Thriftbooks!
Hi Josh. We appreciate your writing. But we think you should quit selling your books on Amazon. We think that you’ll be happier. We’ll get one from the library.
I agree.
Your suggesting has gotten me thinking. I think I will go through a process like when I stopped eating cheese finally to go fully vegan, stopping flying, and a few other things: my mind struggled with internal conflict, eventually reaching a place where I would act with confidence, unable to consider going back.
Thank you for the suggestion. I haven’t acted on it yet, but suspect I will. If you know of resources, like stories of others who quit selling books there, please share. I’ll post about changes when they happen.
Hi Josh.
Thanks for your thoughtfulness about quitting selling books on Amazon. Your approach sounds very reasonable. We sold used books there for several years and then just put our site on permanent vacation. We lost a lot of sales but moved over to another site for used books. I think that’s better because they only sell books? You sell new books and, I presume, it makes an important part of your income. Our business was a sideline. Good luck!
Thank you, your story helps. I’ll keep you updated.