The Damage of Next-Day Delivery
I have not bought anything on Amazon in at least two years. It all started for me when I realized how bad Amazon is for the book industry. Because Amazon sells the books for much cheaper than the list prices, authors get a much, much smaller cut of the royalties. In addition, the convenience and sheer reach of Amazon makes it hard for even the most successful independent bookstore to remain in business. When Borders closed its doors in 2011, Barnes & Noble became the only major competitor Amazon has in the book industry. Not only are authors and small bookstore owners losing income, giving Amazon that much power means they have more of a say in which books get published, and which books are successful once published. If Amazon chooses not to advertise a book (which they do) it is devastating to sales.
So it started out there. At first I just tried to make sure I ordered mostly from independent bookstores, but as I kept seeing more and more authors talk about how harmful Amazon was for them, I slowly cut myself off from the instant gratification of next-day delivery. I accepted that if I wanted my money to support the things I want to support, I may have to pay a little bit more for it. Not buying from Amazon became even easier for me during the first year of the pandemic, because bookshop.org was born. Bookshop.org is a website that was set up to directly compete with Amazon, plus they give a percentage of each sale to independent bookstores. You can even set up your account so the proceeds from your sales go to a specific bookstore, if you’d like. Then I discovered biblio.com, another website set up to directly compete with Amazon, but with used books. For the past two years I’ve committed to shopping directly from the source if possible, and to avoid Amazon at all costs. A decision that was originally based on books has only been solidified the more I’ve learned about Amazon. They shortchange their workers. When workers protested for safer working conditions after a warehouse fire this year, Amazon suspended 60 of them without pay. Nothing about that company is ethical.
Does boycotting Amazon even make a difference though? That’s a question I’ve asked myself many times. I worry sometimes that I’m being more performative than anything, and that I’m not making an actual difference. And at least in some ways, I think that this is true. Amazon is not missing my business in the slightest. And it’s not like I’ve sworn off every large and unethical company. I still shop at Walmart. But I think it does make a difference to those authors and independent bookstores that get my business. It makes a difference to Pioneer Book, the used bookstore in Provo where I shop and where my bookshop.org proceeds go. It makes a difference to the small businesses at the farmer’s market, which I’ve started going to much more often since I stopped buying from Amazon. And if I’m being honest, most of the things I used to buy off of Amazon I don’t really need anyway.
I realize I am privileged to be able to choose not to shop on Amazon. I live in an area that’s accessible and has lots of options. I don’t live in a food desert. While I am a college student, I can usually afford to pay a little bit more to shop more ethically, and if I can’t, I have the resources to find another way to make it work. I have a car so I can drive to the farmer’s market and other sustainable stores when I want to. And I’m not advocating for everyone to boycott Amazon. If we lived in a perfect world, that would be great, but we don’t live in a perfect world, and I get it. But if you do live in Provo, at least consider what other options you might have. And even if you don’t want to give up Amazon, just choose one thing. Choose one thing you can do to make the world better for at least one person, and do it. I think if all of us committed to doing something like that consistently, the world would be a much better place.