Confession: I love Amazon. It is so easy for me to order something and have it at my door in one

[CTyankee]

day. And as I sink further into old age with a bad back, I value it more and more.

But the story of the company's mistreated, even abused, employees is just sickening me.

Is there another company with a similar service, but honorable, that anyone can recommend to me?

[leftstreet]

1. You get things from Amazon in one day?

Do you live next to a distribution center?

[CTyankee]

2. Yes. There is one here in CT.

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. I got same day for my dog food yesterday. nt

[rdchili96]

71. ....

I go to Chewy for all my pet needs, Amazon can suck it ; )

[Maraya1969]

78. Chewy needs to cut their shipping costs and add other products.

[FreeState]

76. I got 8 hours on a delivery last week

I placed it at 10:30pm and it was on my door at 6:30am - didn’t pay any shipping either.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. They are building distribution centers all over the place

OK...they call them "Fulfillment Centers" but they are springing up everywhere.

A few years ago there weren't any in Jacksonville, FL. Now there are at least two HUGE ones in this area and a smaller center (in an old K-Mart they converted) less than a mile and a half from my house.

Have you noticed how many new, multiple trailer dock/door warehouses are going up? There is a building boom on these properties all over the place. If people wonder where the commerce that used to take place in Malls and other "Brick and Mortar" stores went, that's where it's going.

I'm just wondering where the hell they expect to get all the truckers that will be needed to move all those trailers.

[leftstreet]

14. Yeah, there are like 30 in my state already

Over 120 in CA. But i don't know anyone who gets anything in one day

Amazon dropped their two-day guarantee some time ago, but maybe it depends on the location.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. I think you're right about location.

Same day or next day requires a LOT of logistical planning, and there is no way they can offer such a service on everything they sell to every customer, everywhere. It's also not cheap, so that's one reason why Amazon Prime has gone up.

As I said, I live real close to one of the facilities where they load their delivery vehicles, so I am often prompted to select next day shipping.

As a trucker, one of the things that bugs me about Amazon is their usage of independent contractors to do a lot of their transportation. The person driving the van painted in Amazon corporate colors that is delivering goods to your house is not an Amazon employee. They work for a subcontractor (which is possibly that driver) who is working on a 1099, not a W-2.

[former9thward]

73. I get same day on many orders.

Or sometimes overnight and it is waiting there in the morning.

[Zeitghost]

82. I get things in one day

And occasionally same day all they time. There are now at least two fulfillment centers in my area of central California. .

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

36. I get same-day delivery for some things

In fact, I ordered and received some office supplies and an ALA reading journal yesterday, and they were on my doorstep about 4-5 hours later.

I imagine it's because I live in a large city.

[Dorian Gray]

86. Here in NYC

many things come next day. There are even some items you can get same day.

[MLAA]

3. You could try ordering from Target.

To get it same day you would need to use their delivery service which comes at a cost, plus I tip the delivery person extra. I too would like to wean myself entirely from Amazon. It requires me to think ahead and place one larger order with everything I need (groceries, sundries, etc) rather than my past mentality of ordering things as needed from Amazon and having them show up that day or next day.

[CTyankee]

5. I prefer to shop for groceries, but a little at a time to save wear and tear on my back.

[haele]

34. Target delivery uses Shipit.

$9 a delivery or $99 a year and a personal shopper you tip. I tip well enough on those days I just can't get to the store that there's two Shipit delivery folks that literally fight to shop for me whenever they see my name come up. Before my knee surgeries I did a lot of Shipit.
I consider them working for me for around 40 minutes. So my tips are always one hour minimum wage rounded up or 20%, whichever is higher.


Haele

[MLAA]

41. I'm the same.

And if I have bulky, heavy items like 40 water bottles I round up extra. I’ve had great luck with every single shopper thru shipt at Target and other grocery stores.

[Demovictory9]

51. Yep..target is great

[womanofthehills]

63. Target has 81.5 % of its stock held by institutions

Blackrock, State Street, Vanguard, etc. These companies also own part of Amazon.

I live rural so unless I want to spend my life driving long distance to shop, I order lots of stuff on Amazon. Bigger stuff like shocks & struts to toothpaste & organic rice.

[Tree Lady]

4. I live out of state from my mom

in her 90's. She has food at her senior apt place but still needs other things, I use Amazon for that. When they don't have something I use Walmart delivery service. I will say Amazons delivery works the best but their prices are much more than Walmart.

I also hate how they treat employee's and hope somehow that will be forced to change as they lose employees.

[CTyankee]

9. I hope so, but I am not optimistic.

I never use Walmart but I could try it.

[Tree Lady]

12. If you buy over $35 you get free

mail delivery. If you want delivered right away they have people its costs around $8 and then there's the tip part.

[marybourg]

28. Walmart does not treat its employees

any better than Amazon. Possibly worse.

[GP6971]

49. Hello.

[Demsrule86]

6. Amazon is not so bad...the workers I know are please mostly. They get good benefits right away.

[Celerity]

19. Amazon's $185 Billion Pay-to-Play System

A new report shows that Amazon now takes 45 percent of all third-party sales on its website, part of the company’s goal to become a monopoly gatekeeper for economic transactions.

https://prospect.org/power/2023-09-21-amazons-185-billion-pay-to-play-system/



Amazon now takes 45 cents in fees out of every dollar of third-party sales at its marketplace, according to updated statistics in a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The e-commerce giant’s extraction from third-party sales revenue was just 19 percent in 2014. It grew to 27 percent in 2017, 35 percent in 2020, and reached 45 percent this year, according to ILSR’s figures. This has imposed significant pressure on sellers’ ability to make a profit, and is contributing to inflation woes as fees get passed on to customers in the form of higher prices. Overall, Amazon is projected to make $185 billion in fees from third-party sellers in 2023: $125 billion from U.S. third-party sellers and another $60 billion from foreign-market businesses and vendor ads. In 2014, that number was $13 billion. Put another way, in nine years, Amazon has increased its fee revenue 14-fold.

The fees far exceed Amazon’s costs. For example, Amazon has already made $82 billion in fees from domestic and foreign third-party sellers in the first half of 2023, enough to cover all of its fulfillment facilities, which ship products sold by both third-party sellers and Amazon itself. “In other words, Amazon doesn’t have to build warehousing and shipping costs into the price of its own products, because it’s found a way to get smaller online sellers to pay those costs,” writes Stacy Mitchell, ILSR’s co-executive director and author of the report. In this sense, the third-party seller fees subsidize the below-cost sales that allow Amazon to drive competitors out of the market. ILSR’s updated numbers are roughly in line with other analyses like that of Marketplace Pulse, which estimated earlier this year that nearly 52 percent of third-party seller revenue is captured by Amazon.

Third-party seller exploitation is likely to be a major facet of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against Amazon, which is expected to be filed soon. The reason that third-party sellers don’t just leave the platform, given this abuse, is that Amazon has grabbed so much control of online commerce that these sellers can’t just bypass it. “Amazon’s dominance of online retail means that businesses that make or sell products have little choice but to rely on its site to reach customers,” ILSR writes. Most third-party businesses on Amazon don’t survive, in fact, at least not ones based in the U.S. Of the top 10,000 sellers on the site, more than half are based in China, according to data from Marketplace Pulse.



Amazon fees on third-party sellers fall into three main buckets: referral fees, advertising fees, and fulfillment fees. The referral fee is a straight off-the-top commission for the privilege of selling on Amazon, and that totals 15 percent for most products. Advertising and fulfillment have been the growth areas for Amazon. Advertising fees do not come from what most laymen would think of as traditional advertising. Much of it comes in the form of businesses paying to list products in Amazon’s search results under labels like “highly rated” (which often have nothing to do with the rating of the products). As with Google, those who get the visible space at the top of search listings are paying for it; those who do not are pushed to the bottom of search, typically unseen by customers. Because Amazon’s organic search “favors products with more sales,” ILSR writes, paying for search ads that boost sales increases a business’s listing in organic search as well. Referral and search ad fees combined have increased by almost 50 percent since 2017.

snip

[Wonder Why]

22. And their prices reflect it. They are often no bargain exceeding other big box places many

times. Places such as Wally World, Home Depot, Target and others that have a local presence. Even FleaBay often beats their prices. Places lie Sam's and Costco will beat them hands down. But the worst is the fake reviews, the difficulty in getting satisfaction from the third party seller after the Amazon return period and the unwillingness of Amazon to police those third parties for fake reviews, fake products, warranty issues, etc, etc.

[justaprogressive]

21. Have you not read the stories about the working conditions in

the fulfillment centers?

Amazon Warehouse Workers Are Organizing Against Dangerous Conditions 9/2023

Amazon workers at the STL8 fulfillment center in St Peters, Missouri, filed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) complaint August 3 against the company for health and safety violations in their warehouse. The complaint claims that the company deliberately discourages workers from receiving medical care when they are injured.

Workers say that AMCARE, Amazon’s in-house medical staff, repeatedly dismiss medical complaints and keep Amazon workers on the job despite sustaining sprains, torn ligaments, slipped discs, pinched nerves, and concussions.

Amazon employs more than three thousand workers at STL8, northwest of St Louis.

Wendy Taylor had been working at the facility for three years when she tripped and fell over an empty pallet that was left in her work path. She fell to the concrete floor face-first. Her nose was bleeding and her head was aching, but she mostly remembers the terrible pain she felt in her leg.

https://jacobin.com/2023/09/amazon-warehouse-workers-are-organizing-against-dangerous-conditions

[live love laugh]

25. Seems like a local issue not company wide.

[justaprogressive]

46. You must be joking...

There are years of stories about Amazon warehouse conditions NATIONWIDE

an investigation by the Allentown Morning
Call newspaper revealed what were—quite literally—sweatshop conditions.
When summer temperatures exceeded 100 degrees inside the company’s
Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, warehouse, managers wouldn’t open the loading bay
doors for fear of theft. Instead, they hired paramedics to wait outside in
ambulances, ready to extract heatstricken employees on stretchers and in
wheelchairs, the investigation found. Workers also said they were pressured
to meet ever greater production targets, a strategy colloquially known as
“management by stress.” Amazon

Things are not better now.

“the Amazon encampments began to seem more and more like microcosms of a national catastrophe.”
― Jessica Bruder, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

[live love laugh]

54. Approx. 300 facilities, 1m employees and 2 locations are a problem?

[justaprogressive]

60. Use google much? How about TODAY's news

Amazon Sued By FTC And 17 States

HAHAHAHAHAHA

'Bye now!

[live love laugh]

61. What do lawsuits have to do with your claim that they mistreat people?

You’re comparing apples to oranges.

[justaprogressive]

77. wrong again...an Amazon apologist who knew?

Obviously you don't look up / do anything for yourself.

Amazon Warehouse Workers Deliver Petition, Drivers Picket Outside California Air Hub 9/23/2023

The ULP strike by Amazon drivers and dispatchers in Palmdale, Calif., began on June 24. KSBD is the 14th Amazon warehouse that Palmdale Teamsters have picketed during their three-month ULP strike, among other warehouses in California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Georgia, and Massachusetts.

The Palmdale workers’ growing strike will continue until Amazon reinstates the unlawfully terminated Palmdale employees, recognizes the Teamsters Union, respects the contract negotiated by workers, and bargains with the Teamsters to address low pay and dangerous working conditions.

“Amazon doesn’t care about our safety, so we organized a union to keep ourselves safe,” said Jarrid Long, an Amazon driver and Teamsters Local 396 member from Palmdale. “I’ve been chased by dogs. I’ve been close to fainting from the heat in the vans. We are on strike to put an end to Amazon’s unfair labor practices and more Amazon workers are joining the fight every day.”

https://teamster.org/2023/09/amazon-warehouse-workers-deliver-petition-drivers-picket-outside-california-air-hub/

Does this really look like a company you'd want to work for?

[Demsrule86]

27. I know workers at Amazon...it isn't a miserable job. You may be surprised that Starbucks is

a terrible place to work...they keep you part time so no insurance- nasty in general.

[Ms. Toad]

45. That's not universal.

My daughter also worked at Starbucks had insurance as soon as she hit 3 months. Their benefits, aside from education, were slightly better than Amazon - and they treated their employees extremely well during COVID and in the immediate aftermath when they had to adjust staffing (these were national programs, not local). They treated my slightly-better-than-minimum-wage daughter better than the University I worked as an assistang dean treated me during the last budget cuts . . . I had to read about my significant pay cut in the newspaper; my daughter was given 3 options - each of which had some benefits, two paid sessions to make sure she understood heroptions before she ranked her choice, and most workers got the option they chose.

She doesn't like interacting with people, but otherwise didn't have any real complaints about Starbucks.

[rdchili96]

72. Heh....

[Ms. Toad]

43. Their health insurance is excellent and inexpensive

And starts on the first day, unlike other places which impose a 3-6 month delay. They have a decent 401K match. They pay for approximately 2 courses a semester at many local colleges - they pay up front and you don't have to repay if you can't finish the semester. The courses don't have to be related to the work you are doing for them.

On the down side, they have no sick leave. If you are sick (aside from a short period during COVID) you have to take time without pay - AND - you have to have enough built up or you lose your job (at least until you've been there long enough to qualify for FMLA). They do have disability pay (60% of pre-tax pay) which kicks in at 1 week out.

It's work that is physically hard on your body (whether you are just on your feet for most of the shift - or tossing boxes around).

(My daughter has worked there for about 2 years now.)

[Ocelot II]

7. Yes, it's a dilemma, especially for those who can't get out easily to shop.

Amazon was a godsend during the pandemic (which seems to be rearing its ugly head again). But I don't like the way its employees are treated either. Many items can be ordered directly from their manufacturer without going through Amazon, but you often have to pay fairly hefty shipping costs and it usually takes longer to get the thing, but I've started getting stuff that way in some cases. The DoJ's antitrust lawsuit against Amazon might have some effect on their service. We shall see.

[CTyankee]

10. I order a lot from L.L.Bean. I get "bean bucks" by using their MC so that encourages my shopping

there. I never carry a balance so they don't make money off of me that way.

[WhiteTara]

16. They are straight up magats.

[CTyankee]

30. At LL Bean?

[WhiteTara]

31. here.. Read it and weep.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/donald-trump-linda-bean-llbean

[CTyankee]

32. well, another one bites the dust...

[WhiteTara]

33. I know.

They have beautiful flannels.

[mountain grammy]

62. Wow.. You'd think I'd know this by now

being on DU, but sooner or later.. how disgusting. Some 60 years ago when I lived in CT we loved to go to the store in Maine. I've loved their products, no more. I even want to get rid of that LL Bean vest I bought in a thrift store some ten years ago. . love that vest, maybe I can razor off the logo.

[WhiteTara]

66. used clothing isn't the same

But it is disgusting that so many want to be our overlords.

BTW, hang out with me and I'll tell you horror story after horror story and then follow up with a weeping tale of evil that I know.

[mountain grammy]

69. I want to know everything....

very cool vest with zippered pockets so I don't lose things..and yes, the Goodwill corporation got my $$$ not LLBean.

[sl8]

68. But that's Linda Bean's personal view.

Linda Bean *is* famously MAGA.

The company has said that that her personal opinions are not representative of the company. As far as I know, the company has shown no support for Trump or MAGA views. Please let me know if I've missed something that indicates otherwise.

At the time, she was one of ten company board members. I'm not sure if she still is.

On edit:

https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/01/liberals-dont-let-donald-trump-tarnish-l-l-beans-sterling-brand-reputation.html
Liberals, Don’t Let Donald Trump Tarnish L.L. Bean’s Sterling Brand Reputation

BY L.V. ANDERSON
JAN 12, 2017 5:08 PM

[...]

[Trailrider1951]

13. I do some of my online shopping at Target

It's great for household items like rugs, curtains, kitchen items, clothing, pet supplies, vitamins, and even some furniture. It does, however, take a bit longer to receive the items. I order my groceries from Safeway and pick them up at the store ( 3 miles away) the next day. Books and music are available at Half Price Books.com, but you do have to pay for shipping.

One thing I've noticed about Amazon is that repeat purchases are usually offered at a much higher price than the original purchase, which really pisses me off. If I search Amazon using a different IP address (at my daughter's house) and not logging in, I can find the same item at a much lower price, close to what I originally paid. They seem to have an algorithm that makes you pay more on repeat.

[pnwmom]

38. Me, too. And I can often get a same day delivery with Target. nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. For Dry goods/Home decor, try Wayfair

I've ordered a few things from them and their quality is quite good.

I realize they aren't a manufacturer, but still.....


https://www.wayfair.com/

[Silent Type]

17. Amazon was a "life-saver" during Covid shutdown.

[justaprogressive]

20. Your plea's answer would depend

on what you want to buy...

If you want department store selection (see I'm old) that's difficult!

BUT this may help:

Best 13 sites like Amazon

[mercuryblues]

37. There are links in that website

That said my computer was frozen until I called Microsoft, and they conveniently gave me a phone number.

I had to shut it down to stop the pop-ups, despite them telling me shutting it down would be bad.

I suggest deleting the link.

[Ms. Toad]

44. I don't think it was the site.

I had no warnings when I visited (and I get them periodically even for legitimate sites). It is rated as a legitimate site. I've personally visited all but three of the sites linked to (and know them to be legitimate sites).

[budkin]

23. We love it too, it's going to be incredibly tough to break up n/t

[KarenS]

24. We have chronic illnesses here,,,, and are older.

Between Amazon Prime and Walmart Plus in Home we get things delivered alot.
We are in the outskirts of the Phoenix Metro area,,,, many options on deliveries and shipping, I never pay to expedite shipping bec it comes so quickly anyway,,,,
with the Walmart Plus I mark shipping but it half the time it is delivered,,,, with the Walmart Plus in Home there is no tipping.

We go the the grocery store for produce, meat and lottery tickets

[JCMach1]

26. I use Walmart delivery, but there is no moral upside there. However,

There is significant savings on groceries.

[Elessar Zappa]

29. I use it.

Unless one lives likes a Stone Age hunter-gatherer or farmer, there’s no way to avoid dealing with shitty corporations. There’s a good likelihood that every device people on this site use to post on the internet or answer phone calls was made somewhere with terrible work conditions. It’s just unavoidable.

[womanofthehills]

64. Plus- all the corporations are owned basically by same institutions

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TGT/holders

Target

0.20% % of Shares Held by All Insider
81.51% % of Shares Held by Institutions
81.67% % of Float Held by Institutions
2,434 Number of Institutions Holding Shares

Top Institutional Holders

Holder Shares Date Reported % Out Value
Vanguard Group Inc 43,825,141 Jun 29, 2023 9.49% 4,845,745,826
State Street Corporation 34,085,093 Jun 29, 2023 7.38% 3,768,788,722
Capital World Investors 32,711,606 Jun 29, 2023 7.09% 3,616,922,265
Blackrock Inc. 32,463,555 Jun 29, 2023 7.03% 3,589,495,266
Bank of America Corporation 11,449,692 Jun 29, 2023 2.48% 1,265,992,440
Wells Fargo & Company 9,502,715 Jun 29, 2023 2.06% 1,050,715,194
Massachusetts Financial Services Co. 9,310,990 Jun 29, 2023 2.02% 1,029,516,161
Franklin Resources, Inc. 8,973,381 Jun 29, 2023 1.94% 992,186,734
Geode Capital Management, LLC 8,443,280 Jun 29, 2023 1.83% 933,573,467
Morgan Stanley 6,128,784 Jun 29, 2023 1.33% 677,659,645

Top 10 owners of Amazon

Top 10 Owners of Amazon.com Inc
Stockholder Stake Shares
owned Total value ($) Shares
bought / sold Total
change
The Vanguard Group, Inc. 6.71% 688,451,442 95,013,183,510 +3,418,505 +0.50%
BlackRock Fund Advisors 3.73% 382,388,400 52,773,423,084 +2,680,004 +0.71%
SSgA Funds Management, Inc. 3.27% 335,869,897 46,353,404,485 +3,970,330 +1.20%
Fidelity Management & Research Co... 2.49% 255,857,128 35,310,842,235 +1,970,574 +0.78%
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (I... 1.99% 204,505,214 28,223,764,584 +27,771,068 +15.71%
Geode Capital Management LLC 1.66% 170,151,722 23,482,639,153 +4,842,542 +2.93%
Norges Bank Investment Management 0.96% 98,376,088 13,576,883,905 +6,220,831 +6.75%
Capital Research & Management Co.... 0.96% 98,110,530 13,540,234,245 +3,961,390 +4.21%
JPMorgan Investment Management, I... 0.88% 90,378,301 12,473,109,321 -3,265,357 -3.49%
Wellington Management Co. LLP 0.81% 82,898,137 11,440,771,887 +7,059,481 +9.31%
Top 10 Mutual Funds Holding Amazon.com Inc
Mutual fund Stake Shares
owned Total value ($) Shares
bought / sold Total
change
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF 2.65% 271,726,243 37,500,938,796 +67,871 +0.02%
Vanguard 500 Index Fund 2.10% 214,983,245 29,669,837,642 +1,205,997 +0.56%
Fidelity 500 Index Fund 0.99% 101,450,358 14,001,163,908 +650,798 +0.65%
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust 0.96% 98,096,208 13,538,257,666 +415,038 +0.42%
Government Pension Fund - Global ... 0.95% 96,928,172 13,377,057,018 +14,515,072 +17.61%
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF 0.81% 83,335,671 11,501,155,955 +101,688 +0.12%
Invesco QQQ Trust 0.79% 80,591,129 11,122,381,713 +14,826 +0.02%
Vanguard Growth Index Fund 0.72% 74,279,805 10,251,355,888 +312,282 +0.42%
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund 0.59% 60,333,616 8,326,642,344 -764,928 -1.25%
American Funds Growth Fund of Ame... 0.58% 59,670,517 8,235,128,051 -2,762,798 -4.43%

https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AMZN&subView=institutional

[A Brand New World]

35. We use Amazon a lot because we live in an extreme rural area and it's an hour drive to

get to a large store. We only go to the large stores once a month so Amazon it is for anything needed sooner. It was especially needed during the pandemic as we are elderly also. So my feeling on the matter is people do what they have to do.

[lindysalsagal]

39. Local retailers don't answer the phone, so, you have to drive all over just to find out they don't s

stock the exact item you need. If all local retailers would provide that customer assistance, we wouldn't need to rely on the amazon online stock info.

[ananda]

40. Same

I also have a bad back, and using Amazon
really helps.

[Voltaire2]

42. amazon monopolizes online shopping

basically nobody else can compete.

The FTC has initiated an antitrust lawsuit against them.
"Our complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. "The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftc-amazon-lawsuit-17-states-monopoly

[live love laugh]

55. Monopolies operate without competition. Amazon doesn't.

Amost every sizeable retailer competes: Target, Walmart etc.

And there are online giants like Alibaba, and growing concerns like Shein.

Walmart’s been squeezing suppliers and engaging in anti-union practices for decades without any scrutiny.

If Amazon is a problem so is Walmart. AND Walmart’s customer service pales in comparison to Amazon.

[Voltaire2]

56. Target and Walmart are not effective competition.

But I guess you know better than the FTC.

[former9thward]

74. I know better than the FTC on that case.

You do know that the FTC loses many of their cases in court. They are not God.

[GoodRaisin]

81. Why isn't Walmart's on-line business effective competition for Amazon?

What’s the difference?

[Voltaire2]

83. Good question.

Walmart and Target have the financial resources to effectively host their own online storefronts For Their Own Stores.

Amazon controls, dominates, monopolizes the third-party online storefront business. If you do not have the resources of a Walmart, basically your only choice is to do business through Amazon, on their terms.

[GoodRaisin]

85. I dropped Target from my response because I don't do any business with them. I do on line

business with both Walmart and Amazon. Both offer me a chance to do direct business or 3rd party business. Both market the same services to me, i.e. fast deliveries, premium services etc. If Amazon can control and dominate their 3rd party vendors then Walmart can do (and probably does) the same. It appears to me that 3rd Party business could opt for Walmart rather than Amazon if they don’t like Amazon terms. As a customer of both I don’t see light between the way they operate their on line businesses and they certainly do look like direct competitors to me.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

47. I avoid Walmart and all the local big box stores like the plague, Amazon for me

They recently did me a solid, ordered something for my sister as a gift to her place and got a message "stuck in shipping", so I canceled the order, got a refund and a credit for inconvenience, then a few days later my sister said the package had arrived?!

Guess it unstuck itself, lololol, a freebie!

[womanofthehills]

65. "Stuck in shipping" is the latest scam

If you follow the links- they want your info. It’s not Amazon.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

70. Derp, so some random scammer refunded money to my Amazon account? Not believing

I tracked it all the way USPS, sent cancel order to Amazon, they delivered

[JCMach1]

84. Walmart delivery is also a bit more reasonable compared to Amazon

Although, it's Walmart.

Choose your evil corporation, I guess

[NowISeetheLight]

50. Money - History

There is a way to be sent a spreadsheet CSV file of your Amazon purchase history from the website. Early this year I found it and asked for it. I had spent $43,000+ over my Amazon "career" going back to the beginning. It's kind of staggering.

Directions to get it are here if you're interested.

https://www.tillerhq.com/how-to-download-your-amazon-order-history-report/

[Raftergirl]

52. I just bought a pair of Lee denim stretch black jeans on Amazon this morning. $23 plus

free shipping and will be delivered tomorrow. Last week I ordered shower curtain liners and body wash. Delivered the next day.

The last pair of jeans I bought a few weeks ago were Moussey’s at a local boutique. $225 on sale from $350.

I cannot get my panties in a twist over every shitty corporation since there are barely any out there that are not shitty to their workers.

I do my major grocery shopping at Walmart because I love ordering online and their curb side pickup is great. But I also shop at a great local butcher and at a fish monger and spend a lot of money on a share from a CSA.

My son has been getting recruitment calls from Amazon since he graduated college but their work environment in corporate headquarters also sucks, so he has never even entertained the idea of working for them.

[HipChick]

53. Do you watch Netflix or any other of the streaming Channels?

Because most of them run on Amazon Cloud Services...AWS. A lot companies you interact with will probably running their business on AWS

[leftyladyfrommo]

57. I use Amazon all the time. And I have a cash back

card that gives me 5% off. That credit builds up pretty fast.

I go to Walmart for some things.

[GoCubsGo]

58. I don't love it, but I don't have many choices where I live.

Outside of Walmart, Target, and a few others, every other brick-and-mortar store requires at least a minimum of 70 miles round-trip to drive there. No thanks. Not risking my life to be on the road with the idiots around here. I often have to go online to get what I'm looking for, because the local stores don't have what I'm looking for (e.g., a particular swimsuit or walking shoe brand, sports bras for overly-endowed women.) Amazon usually has the best price. If not, I'll order it from elsewhere.

[JanMichael]

59. Costco isn't Magat but the selection is limited.

Be nice if they start to try to move into Amazon space.

[Chakaconcarne]

79. I shop at Amazon and I have prime...

If I run across an item that is more expensive, the free shipping for me and usually 1-2 day arrival will put it over the finish.

I still shop local, small business even if prices are higher... Usually all balances out.

[JI7]

75. I find Amazon to be more expensive a lot of times

And quality can be crap.

It depends on what you are getting. Target seems cheaper more times and quality seems better.

Because of questionable sellers on Amazon I don't buy certain higher end brand and some high cost things from Amazon unless it's from the company account.

I understand it's convenient but I think just on value and quality it's not that great.

But if you are satisfied with what you recieve then it's hard to beat the convenience.

[Torchlight]

80. We were bitten by the Amazon bug abut ten years ago and yused them until recently.

After realizing what they are, we decided just to schedule in exra time during our day trips into the city on the weekends for extras and sundries we'd otherwise get off Amazon. But I get it, the convenience can quickly and easily outweigh most other factors.