Escaping The Amazon
TL;DR
- I am reducing most, if not all, reliance on Amazon and their services by end of 2021.
- This is not going to be easy. Maybe this can help someone else should they decide to put a little more space between them and Amazon.
- This post will be continually updated throughout 2021 as progress is made.
Ground Rules:
- Nothing in life is 100%. If I buy something from Amazon in the future, the world will not implode.
- As they (Amazon) will surely acquire and ruin other companies/services I use, each new acquisition will have to be reviewed as it happens.
It's not exactly new information that Amazon may not be the best world citizen, but sometimes it takes us all different amounts of time to get to the same conclusion. For me, this conclusion has finally set in. Amazon is not a company I want rely on so heavily and I wish to move that reliance to smaller more local based organizations.
Amazon has had their share of issues and scandals not unlike other massive corporations. Their leader has his hang ups for sure as well. This really comes down to a personal decision, however.
Their blatant disregard for good doesn't seem to be slowing..
(Yes, each of those words is linked to a different article.)
On to the personal note
The ease of access to a seemingly limitless amount of goods that Amazon provides has lessened the value of stuff for me and become more of a mouse clicking drug than a positive impact service for acquiring goods.
For Context, here are the stats that I was able to pull from my Amazon account:
Amazon user since 2002
Prime subscriber since 2010
(I am attempting to get an "Order History Report" but their system keeps failing to produce the report. This has data such as total orders, money spent, etc.)
Status Updated: October 29, 2022 @1:00pm Pacific_
Here are all the Amazon services that I am currently using, or have used in the past, along with the plan of action for each.
- Amazon Web Services
- Amazon S3 Storage >> Wasabi
- Amazon Static Websites >> Carrd
- Amazon EC2 >> Linode & Digital Ocean
- AWS account is now closed.
- Amazon.com
- Other online retailers with a focus on local stores to our area.
- Amazon Kindle
- I downloaded all my .azw3 kindle books from Amazon and converted them to DRM-free ePub using Calibre and DeDRM_tools.
- I sold my Kindle Oasis.
- Physical books will come from Powells.
- eBooks will come from the local library and Apple Books.
- Amazon Fresh
- We are using Imperfect Foods now instead.
- Twitch
- Will continue to use until they do something dumb like force Amazon logins.
- Whole Foods
- Replacing this with a local store New Seasons Market.
- Audible
- I downloaded all of my purchased audiobooks (35) and converted them to MP3 using the OpenAudible app which I purchased for $12.
- A couple suggestions for playback of audiobooks: BookPlayer & Prologue.
- All new audiobooks will now come from the local library.
- Amazon Prime Video
- Never really used this so this was an easy one.
- Amazon VISA
- No point in having this card anymore given its main use was shopping with Amazon. Not cancelling yet (credit reports are weird), but won't be using going forward. Account Closed!
- Amazon Wish List
- I am going through every item and either deleting it or making a note of it in Notes / Reminders. Wishlist is now empty.
- Amazon Photos
- Although I haven't used this service in some time, there were some photos there that I have removed.
- eero WiFi
- Replaced system with Ubiquiti Amplifi ALIEN
- GoodReads
- Will use my blog and Micro.blog as a way to track and chat about books.
- Deleted account.
- Zappos
- Haven't made a purchase here since 2016, so I think we're good here.
- Woot!
- Haven't made a purchase here since 2015, so I think we're good here.
- Seller Central Account
- Forgot I had this. This account has been closed.
I am much further along than I thought I would be given I just decided to do this. The biggest line item really is the Amazon.com shopping.
Updated: April 2, 2021 More Links to Amazon being Amazon..
- Want to borrow that e-book from the library? Sorry, Amazon won’t let you.
- This is fascinating! Wealth, shown to scale.
- Amazon is a disaster for workers. Nomadland glosses over that
- Amazon Delivery Drivers Forced to Sign ‘Biometric Consent’ Form or Lose Job
- DOCUMENTS SHOW AMAZON IS AWARE DRIVERS PEE IN BOTTLES AND EVEN DEFECATE EN ROUTE, DESPITE COMPANY DENIAL
- 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter
- Too. Damn. Many. To. Count. If I kept this up it would be my entire life..