I bought a copy of Iain M. Banks’ The Player of Games from Porter Square Books in Cambridge last week. I paid $3.43 more to buy it from them instead of Amazon. The cost of supporting a vital local business came out to less than a takeout coffee or an ice cream cone.
I order from Amazon without any meaningful thought about getting the item locally. My recent orders include USB cables, a frying pan, Hario coffee filters, birthday presents, a pair of pants, and a bike tool. Buying them from Amazon avoided driving and parking, or waiting for the bus/train, and paying a third more (typically) at a retail store. The convenience is hard to resist and the savings are not trivial.
Get Dan Reiner’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
I don’t like Amazon’s business practices or the way it treats its employees. I especially don’t like the uneasy feeling that they’re putting good stores out of business, stores with knowledgeable people who curate the store’s offerings and can answer questions.
But the convenience and cost savings mean I’m unlikely to give them up completely. But after my Iain M. Banks moment, I’ll be a little more selective. Hario filters? Amazon, because I can’t find them locally. Books? The local bookstore, because they are vital.
