Comradeship // Freechat

eBay (sometimes you will order stuff that ends up being purchased from Amazon unfortunately) (also, I typically research the product I am looking for and then find a better deal on eBay), craigslist, Etsy (eBay takes less margin from sellers), ordering from small and local shops (local Asian, Mexican, etc. grocery stores tend to have really good deals), food banks tend to have food available for anyone of any income, going to garage sales and local estate sales, finding cooperatives or "ethical" companies to purchase from (Costco pays their employees a decent wage, Aldi lets their employees sit down and also have better deals than even Walmart), thrift stores (avoid The Salvation Army), farmers' markets, etc.

Also, find a CSA to get food (which you can discover at your local farmers' market, and Europe seems to have many open source tools dedicated to CSAs), and sometimes they will deliver to your place.

When looking for products, I recommend looking for recommendations on reddit, where you will find good advice about a product that people have experience with, especially in hobbyist and professional subreddits. Also buy older things (sometimes this is a bit more nuanced and there's certain models from certain years for a certain product that are better than others) as they tend to not be built with planned obsolescence.

Niche reddit wikis tend to also have links to various products and small online stores that are highly recommended. For example, r/VacuumCleaners and r/MechanicalKeyboards.

There's many good recommendations on r/BuyItForLife.

You can find an online specialized store with better deals and often products not available on Amazon, for example, I have ordered a lot of watercooling equipment from here: https://www.performance-pcs.com/

This is a good place to get hardware for cheap and great quality (I purchased alloy steel screws from here to mount my heavy monitors): https://www.mcmaster.com/

RockAuto is an online store where many mechanics will order parts to repair vehicles, and they have very good prices there if you ever need to fix your vehicle and can't afford a mechanic.

I hope to one day get a classic trackball mouse and headphones from Ploopy.

You can also look for hobbyist and professional YouTubers and see the products they reviewed and recommended, and you will find very good tips and feedback. For example, when I was looking for a soldering iron, I found Louis Rossmann's video that mentioned integrated tips are the way to go. I also decided to get an Atten ST-862D hot air station I found much cheaper on eBay because of Louis Rossmann's comparison video. I am likely going to get this thermal camera someday, plus I plan to get products from NorthridgeFix's store, and often you will find professionals/hobbyists/YouTubers owning their own store that you can purchase from. I came across forums that reiterated these recommendations, which typically means there's a reason why many people buy a certain product.

It's sort of a skill you have to build when ordering things online while avoiding Amazon, and it can be time-consuming and less convenient, but it's worth the time and money saved and waste reduced. I haven't ordered from Amazon for over a few years now, and the last time I did was because I was working at Amazon and decided to use my benefit on Corsair fans for my PC. Before then, I avoided Amazon for another few years. It is possible to do.

Sometimes, I still order computer equipment and electronics from Newegg (has a history of unethical decisions), though. I mostly spend money on eBay, and sometimes Newegg will sell items for a little cheaper there, especially for older, refurbished, or open box items.

Libro.fm as an alternative to Audible

After buying from multiple other stores now, sometimes I look at Amazon and realize they have went to utter doggy doo, and I am glad to never look back. I see many of their products being low quality, and many of their prices are outrageous. The quality of Amazon has greatly sunk.

Many online services/websites use AWS, so you are still not really going to avoid Amazon completely, and AWS is their big money-maker.

There's no ethical consumption under capitalism, but you can still do a lot to mitigate funding the worst offenders' lined pockets and save money in the process.

I could go on and on about recommending stores and methods to avoid Amazon. I hope the resources I have given and suggested help.

BTW, if you want a tip to save money, you can buy discounted gift cards at Raise. I also buy discounted T-Mobile gift cards on eBay to add funds to my Pay-As-You-Go plan on my phone, which I use for emergencies or when I do not have internet to contact people via an internet phone or another messaging service, and I only pay $3 a month for 30 min of calls or 30 text messages or a mix of the two, and $0.10 extra for each minute/msg if I surpass the limit for the month. I usually use public wifi and get by with no data plan so I can spend for more speed for my home internet, which I am lucky to have provided by an awesome local cooperative, which I am a member of and have received checks of $100s back just for being one when they have successful years, which has been nearly every year. Plus I get 400 Mbps Download + Upload, and it has been increased multiple times from 100 Mbps with no additional cost to me. I also am a member of my local grocery store cooperative, and I only had to spend $100 one time, I get wonderful deals (still pricey, but food usually comes from good businesses and is very healthy with many vegan options), and if I were to not need the membership anymore, I will be refunded the entire $100. Cooperatives are absolutely fantastic.