Jeff Bezos got even richer during the pandemic because we were so reliant on online shopping, namely shopping with Amazon. It's time to spread that wealth by shopping directly with small online businesses and local stores. Cynthia Nielson is a seller on Amazon, which is necessary for small businesses to compete and find customers. Keep in mind that Amazon isn't like shopping at a retail store where the store buys its merchandise wholesale and basically owns it/can do whatever it wants with it as long as it brings in a profit. Amazon is more of a pass-through where you come to shop at their "store", but end up buying from another merchant. That merchant is likely a small business struggling to survive. No only does Amazon charge fees for merchants to be there, they make the rules, especially when it comes to returns (which costs the merchants dearly). Not only that, just when a merchant is seeing success, Amazon will change the algorithm killing that organic success. Merchants feel forced to buy ads, which Amazon profits from. We take advantage of the lax return policy without realizing how much that costs the merchants, especially if you choose "wrong website description" or "wrong item sent" (instead, choose "no longer need" since "I made a mistake" isn't on offer). Consumers have the power to change this. Think not only about the price you are paying, but the cost of that choice and the value of where you are buying from. Choosing to purchase directly from that merchant helps greatly. Buying locally keeps that money in your community. Use Amazon as your search engine and then buy elsewhere (directly from merchant or a local store...or even another online store). Amazon has a reputation for their allegedly poor treatment of their employees. Think about that when you shop there. Amazon has the power to change that now, and haven't. Because what they are doing is working for them. And we, the consumers, are agreeing to that culture every time we "Buy Now". Amazon continues to buy companies. We are ending up with fewer and fewer choices. We need to stop relying on one corporation for the majority of our shopping. Maybe it's time to choose our conscience over our convenience.

Episode recorded on 04/30/21

Episode released on 06/09/21

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Music: Shower Beer by GG Riggs