Does Harbor Frieght count?
Just as an FYI, it depends who you buy from on Amazon but you could very well be buying from a small business. There are many individuals who sell through Amazon using their FBA program. Many people buy wholesales, closeouts or private label and use Amazon as their storefront. Sure, Amazon gets a cut but you are helping out a small or midsize business more.
I am buying iPhone XS Max in weeks not months.
Got pretty much everything from Amazon and Walmart. Free shipping is a huge bonus.
Didn’t do any shopping this year or last and hope to do none next year.
With the advent of the online shopping, many of the stores that used to carry things don’t because they would be competing with themselves and paying more to operate than they can save online. No store, no employees, no taxes...nothing but receive an order and ship it from a centralized location. Never meet the consumer, never fight traffic to get there.
We use it more because we can’t find what we need as the stores don’t stock it. I remember three years ago I tried to buy a soft serve ice cream machine for my daughter’s family. I found one all the way across the country in Florida, and got it. Couldn’t find anything in the stores but I could on line and they guaranteed shipping time. So from then on, if I see something advertised at the price I can use local, I may buy. But I don’t go out of my way to look. Just push a few buttons.
rwood
Oh, and I didn’t have to waste any time fighting traffic to get to a store only to find they didn’t have what I was looking for........
I tried buying local, but no one had what my peeps wanted. No one can carry everything.