You are welcome to disagree with me, but you will not sway my opinion. Amazon.com is my favorite place to shop.

Don’t get me wrong. I love bookstores. I love to browse. And I can get lost in libraries.

But I’ve also been in an on and off romance with Kindle technology as well. I love having several books right at my fingertips on my phone at all times. So, any down-time can be productive and stimulating. But sometimes, I need a real-life paper book. If there are pictures or illustrations, I love a book. And in general, I like to have books especially if they are something I’ll reference and go back to. But then again, there is that having it at your fingertips (and searchable) any time.

You could teach an entire college course on Amazon. You could study marketing, demographics, gender & race studies, automation, and a whole host of other categories. Sometimes, the efficiency scares me. Its almost like Amazon knows what I want before I buy it and, the next thing you know, I get a text that it was delivered at my doorstep. I compare prices. Sometimes I look at a price and then go locally to see if they can beat it somewhere. I can get a used item. And the best of all: Reviews!! I know these can be falsified, but that’s another study unto itself. I write a lot of reviews myself and I am very honest about my feelings. So I assume at least a few good reviews will help me guide my purchase.

I use wish lists. I buy people stuff from their wedding & birthday lists. I prioritize what I want. And then I let it sit and may change it to a lesser priority. It makes me thrifty.

Now, to the politics of economics. I’m a firm believer in capitalism. The poor sellers, poor products, poor reviews, end up being the places and products we don’t buy. But the Best Sellers and best reviews are what wins. And in turn, volume sells and you get a better price. It is the ultimate economic model for capitalism. The market tells you what to get. Competition wins out. Often, if you find something with only one seller and the price is too high, it usually won’t sell. And I won’t buy it. Monopolies don’t work on Amazon.

The fortunate and unfortunate aspect of efficiency is in product sourcing. I’ll admit that I buy a lot of things that take 1-2 months to arrive on a slow boat from China. But when someone sells something for 99 cents or $4.99, I can’t lose. Most of the time, I don’t know its origin. I just know its probably a long way from home if it takes a long time to ship. But if it is a good product, I’ll quickly buy it again. This is the rule of global competition.

Lastly, I’ll tell you a short story. The big hardware stores near me are all the way across town. I had a hardware store closer that I would go to when I needed something fast. But my experience was always terrible. An old guy with an apron would be wandering the aisles. He was supposed to be helpful, but it seemed more like he was assuming you’d steal something. When he asked if he could help you, you would tell him. Then, he would belittle you and make you feel stupid for not knowing what he knew. A bolt that would cost 49 cents at Lowes ended up being $3.99 at the Mom & Pop. And don’t get me started with the camping store. I haven’t set foot in there for years. They would assume you were a thief before considering you as a patron. And the prices were marked up like 400%. I was at a bike shop once and had a nice conversation with the clerk. I browsed and walked out having not bought anything. The next thing you know, the clerk is knocking on the window of my truck asking me to open my jacket so she could see what I stole!! OMG! I didn’t steal anything. She didn’t even apologize. Yep, haven’t been back, and its closed anyway.

So for me, Amazon is a judgement-free zone. I get to shop on my terms. I shop in my short-shorts with a cup of coffee by my side. And with 2-day free shipping for Amazon Prime, I’m always the happiest camper around.