Post ArCycnrzyOFr3YCMAS by TomSwirly@toot.community
(DIR) More posts by TomSwirly@toot.community
(DIR) Post #ArCx7Puctg2Xp0thPU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:23:02Z
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Do you shop on Amazon?This is about individual shopping. If your job uses Amazon, phasing them out at your work is another way to have a big impact. I was worried it would be more expensive, but since I quit using Amazon I've been saving a LOT of money. Mostly, because I just don't buy as many things, but the things I do buy are generally the same price or less expensive. This poll is about your personal shopping:
(DIR) Post #ArCxMFQIB6QJdLmSrA by nazokiyoubinbou@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T11:25:41Z
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@futurebird I hate that I still have to. Unfortunately, with a negative bank account and money really hard to come by for me right now, it's usually the cheapest option for the stuff I need. (Of course it depends on the thing. I don't buy, for example, groceries from there, but then it isn't as if the grocery stores I do buy from are better I guess.)God I wish I could just switch to the alpha timeline where everything isn't evil by default.
(DIR) Post #ArCxTZmesM4aoBjjkW by promovicz@chaos.social
2025-02-17T11:27:00Z
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@futurebird I don't even have an account. Way too much stuff depends on them, and I don't want to add to it.
(DIR) Post #ArCxVm9jqZLNl9a5bc by david_chisnall@infosec.exchange
2025-02-17T11:27:25Z
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@futurebird I mostly stopped about ten years ago. Poor treatment if workers was the main reason at the time but I found that they were rarely the cheapest option even then and it's got worse. I sometimes use them to find the thing that I'll buy elsewhere.For books, they're usually the most expensive option now.
(DIR) Post #ArCxWbkM2Bw7lU6YG8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:27:27Z
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Does your work use amazon?(If your job isn't one where buying things from amazon would make sense for what you do choose the third or fourth option. Only choose the second option if you COULD use amazon at your job but do not for some reason. That reason could be cost, moral concerns, quality, anything. )
(DIR) Post #ArCxeH9cTrNoDOZw5Q by katzenberger@mastodon.de
2025-02-17T11:28:54Z
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@futurebird Other: I keep my account with Amazon, to read product reviews. Then, I buy elsewhere. In short: Treating Amazon like they treated local shops.
(DIR) Post #ArCxg3ffa6NcyeQ5JY by flying_saucers@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T11:29:17Z
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@futurebird I assume this includes selling on Amazon?
(DIR) Post #ArCxgu8WW4MFhCJrVY by toni@zug.network
2025-02-17T11:29:20Z
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@futurebird Does AWS count? If yes, then work uses Amazon *a lot*. If it doesn’t, then not at all.
(DIR) Post #ArCxjwsQmemn41FBAG by jannem@fosstodon.org
2025-02-17T11:29:59Z
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@futurebird I occasionally do so when I have no ready alternative. Normally I use local shops or an online store in my country, but now and again I need something that's not locally available, and the option is generally Amazon or Alibaba.
(DIR) Post #ArCxmt5rJ5fUCMvTMW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:30:31Z
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@promovicz I wish I had done this. I remember when they only sold books and how magical and futuristic it seemed to order a book I couldn't find for ages online back in 1999. I was delighted and had a very positive view of the whole service. But, then I realized what it was doing to the little book stores which are my natural habitat. (Much like carpenter ants are found in rotting logs, I am found in the bookstore)
(DIR) Post #ArCxwUWLWTOUsotWkq by jt_rebelo@ciberlandia.pt
2025-02-17T11:32:13Z
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@futurebird although I have a valid subscription (through my telecom provider, so I'm unfortunately tied to it for the foreseeable future) I just use it to add free (and DRM-free) games to my GoG account (with Prime Gaming) and to "donate" a monthly subscription for artists in need on Twitch (also Prime Gaming). I don't buy anything from Amazon, nor do I watch movies/TV series on Prime Video (and in my country other "perks", like free Music and Kindle access aren't available - wouldn't use them even if they were).
(DIR) Post #ArCyMRPDj6jYkew3X6 by bovaz@mastodon.online
2025-02-17T11:36:45Z
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@futurebird does AWS count?
(DIR) Post #ArCyO9BkQewMpZRnFY by chris_evelyn@troet.cafe
2025-02-17T11:36:45Z
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@futurebird I‘m trying to phase Amazon out, but for some things there are no workable alternatives right now.I manage to get *most* physical books, CDs, and music downloads from other services and *some* ebooks.Sadly, German retail is still not very into this „online“ and „customer service“ stuff. :/
(DIR) Post #ArCycnrzyOFr3YCMAS by TomSwirly@toot.community
2025-02-17T11:39:51Z
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@futurebird Interesting question which I am not sure I gave an accurate answer to!At the company I work at, I am not aware of any AWS servers, and there are a couple of cloud providers who don't appear to be them, but we do consulting, other groups could be doing all sorts of things.I do like the company, Quansight, because all the work is on free, open-source software. So even though my work is paid for by big evil companies, the results are free for all to use.
(DIR) Post #ArCyol54AXzrsf0kue by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:42:00Z
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@Kuniti_shino Have you tried aliexpress? I need that kind of stuff all of the time for projects. If you are in the US the shipping takes some time but I have found aliexpress to be more reliable that amazon in the past 3 years, provided I don't need the object in 2 weeks.I've gotten better at just finding other options. Amazon gets a LOT of business by keeping you logged in and not needing to do the drudgery of entering payment details. Once you log out? Suddenly they are not so attractive.
(DIR) Post #ArCz1Rw4f3QSGfrBey by TomSwirly@toot.community
2025-02-17T11:36:55Z
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@toni @futurebird Sadly, AWS counts: it's about 60% of Amazon's profits, it seems: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/31/amazons-cloud-unit-records-highest-profit-margin-in-at-least-a-decade.htmlI personally use Linode precisely because I detest Amazon so much.
(DIR) Post #ArCz5AKU3xc4oz2vdg by Oyvindbs@nerdculture.de
2025-02-17T11:44:59Z
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@futurebird I try not to but a few e-books are somehow not available for Europe (?) at least not from the sellers I’ve tried. For those books Kindle’s the only option. Now that they’re removing the ability to download (and de drm) the books I’m unsure what I’ll do. But I guess I’m free of Amazon at last
(DIR) Post #ArCz87yXGtO0OCBzyS by nazokiyoubinbou@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T11:45:33Z
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@futurebird @Kuniti_shino That might be tricky for things where you need more qualitative brands and parts. Batteries are likely a good example of that. The various "*Fire" brands you can get from China are cheap, but far too few cycles and far too little capacity (bear in mind they multiply the actual capacity by 4-10x and there seems to be no control whatsoever on those brands, so the lie number is still going up...)
(DIR) Post #ArCznmxRnwHzMoY6O8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:53:00Z
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@Kuniti_shino Sadly aliexpress has been making their website worse, mostly to try to be more like amazon and temu. But, the notion that aliexpress sends fake products and you can't get a refund? Amazon does that too. They used to provide a better "consumer experience" but no longer... so why pay for it? Just buy it from the factory and wait.
(DIR) Post #ArD081q4Bf5HJLkQca by cpsask@techhub.social
2025-02-17T11:56:44Z
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@futurebird @promovicz i do everything I can to avoid shopping on Amazon, but my husband sometimes does. So I had to answer other.
(DIR) Post #ArD0IKN68aavgY6ogS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:58:37Z
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@cpsask @promovicz Tell him people online think he's uncool LMAO... doubt that will work... but you never know such things worked on my husband. He volunteered to buy the cat litter which is very heavy and I struggle with it so had used amazon mostly because carrying it caused me so many problems. Now he takes care of that problem since he knows it makes him "cool"
(DIR) Post #ArD16cJLiGFznqKqjA by LaurentB45@mamot.fr
2025-02-17T12:07:40Z
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@futurebird I also remove the work related stuff, even if it's little impact.
(DIR) Post #ArD38eeSBM53Y6J2Tg by Xanadu@glammr.us
2025-02-17T12:30:24Z
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@futurebird years ago we decided not to buy from Amazon. At first it was a quality issue - there was no good way to guess the quality of something given all the different listings. Now it's a matter of principle - we don't need to buy everything we can imagine wanting.
(DIR) Post #ArD5EGMZbAd1rjkEHg by virtulis@loud.computer
2025-02-17T12:53:50Z
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@futurebird there never was a "local" amazon version, I would buy somehing from .co.uk or .de once in a few years, certainly won't anymore.I certainly do try to buy local when that's an option, but if I need some electronics or cheap trinkets, I always buy brand name stuff.By which I mean, stuff branded by the actual Chinese manufacturer, from their official store, on AliExpress.(remember when AliExpress was "the shady place"? lol.)
(DIR) Post #ArD5Uu6dbR4tlAE4iu by jorny@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T12:56:44Z
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@futurebird I do not shop on amazon. However.Since I live in Sweden, Amazon isn't as dominant in online shopping as (it seems at least) in the US. Their site is also terrible and you never find what you are looking for. When they launched amazon.se their machine translations were good for a laugh or two though.
(DIR) Post #ArD5vkt3zEX8zDgFE0 by Kierkegaanks@beige.party
2025-02-17T13:01:44Z
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@futurebird open borders union be damned, there are still things that can only be acquired through amazon here. But it’s not my first choice
(DIR) Post #ArD7fVreH08RfXOx4i by james@jamesgallagher.social
2025-02-17T13:21:12Z
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@futurebird @clickhere I shop at Amazon as a last resort - if I can’t find what I need elsewhere. So I’m down to 2-3 purchases per year max .. 0 would be nice but not there yet
(DIR) Post #ArD8QV5AzuoGr38O5Q by nCrazed@fd00.space
2025-02-17T13:29:41Z
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@futurebird I try to look for alternatives, but some vendors make it hard to justify not using AmazonE.g. kibble that I buy for my dog:The brand has their own site where they sell all of their products directly, but they also sell trough Amazon. Their site regularly has discounts, but even when the specific item I want is in stock, the discounted price is still noticeably higher than the "normal" Amazon price 🤷🏻♂️
(DIR) Post #ArDA9mEMBj3r1Xa8Ho by wcbdata@vis.social
2025-02-17T13:49:04Z
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@futurebird I shop Amazon only when I have no other choice. I have a similar rule for Walmart, where I only buy from them when I can be reasonably sure they are losing money on the deal...
(DIR) Post #ArDFx8DfiotpBKcBSS by JoshuaACNewman@xeno.glyphpress.com
2025-02-17T14:54:00Z
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@futurebirdThis is the difficult thing about trying to resource a school. Occasionally people have helpfully demanded that we use something else, and then don’t offer the additional logistical or financial resources to do it.
(DIR) Post #ArDGdNzPToFWFo5myW by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2025-02-17T15:01:41Z
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@futurebird Do you think that Ali Express is better than Amazon? 🙄 Feels like Scylla & Charybdis. 😉 @Kuniti_shino
(DIR) Post #ArDGuj1MXRYcPAH1lY by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2025-02-17T15:04:48Z
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@futurebird I only shop with Amazon when people give me gift cards tied to the company; because otherwise it is getting that money for nothing.
(DIR) Post #ArDH7LnyAN5aAN1t68 by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2025-02-17T15:07:06Z
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@futurebirdMy work uses AWS sometimes. But even there; IT is constantly cross-comparing with Azure and Google Cloud to avoid over-spending from the cloud computing budget.
(DIR) Post #ArDHPixwnEqPD9SRHc by AriadneBlasterbolt@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T15:10:24Z
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@futurebird I’ve almost completely dumped Amazon. I canceled Prime over a year ago, and I’d been a prime subscriber since the program started. Bookshop.org just released a reading app, so that was the final major hurdle. But very occasionally I need something that I can’t get elsewhere, because Amazon has been v good at locking in retailers. So, from multiple per month to 1ce per year Amazon orders
(DIR) Post #ArDL1o5QVEnvxWo5Gy by cpm@spore.social
2025-02-17T15:50:50Z
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@futurebirdvendor of last resort
(DIR) Post #ArDSP3lp3YCGwPfjgO by rehana@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T17:13:30Z
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@futurebird I don't shop *anywhere* every week, except buying groceries. And I try to find things elsewhere first, but will use Amazon as a last resort.
(DIR) Post #ArDZjSt25ErsJCinoW by timjan@social.linux.pizza
2025-02-17T18:35:39Z
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@futurebird We barely shop, period, and while we haven't closed our Amazon accounts, I doubt we have even placed 10 orders in total over the last 5 years. It's like Facebook. I haven't closed the account, but I haven't accessed it in over a year.
(DIR) Post #ArDk88dRVvs8HUpjk0 by LuciaG@wandering.shop
2025-02-17T20:31:58Z
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@futurebird We cancelled our Prime membership, so we don’t go to Anazon first. We live in a tiny, rural town that is a couple hours from a town of any size, so we end up having to order online fairly often. Unfortunately I’ve had to resort to Amazon a couple of times, but they are getting far less from us than they used to. Now that we aren’t paying the subscription we do a lot better trying to track back to the source.
(DIR) Post #ArFtPlbZANnvyDM9dA by stalbaum@mastodon.social
2025-02-18T21:25:37Z
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@futurebird I hope this reflects the people of Mastodon, but the better question is, have you closed your account? And do you still jump on and buy things when you need to - perhaps from time to time - while you tell us and maybe yourself that you have quit them? But I do really want to believe!