This is from the USA, but can easily be applied just about anywhere.
The first is a call for https://www.newsweek.com/will-nationwide-economic-blackout-w... February 28th [1]
The second concerns Target 'rolling over' on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI); also Amazon, Disney, PBS: [4]
https://www.newsweek.com/target-boycott-march-5-40-day-fast-... [2]
Third, a call for https://www.newsweek.com/what-shutdown315-nationwide-plan-sh... [3]
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Do what rich people do. Get money and keep it. Spend it only on what you need; or what will truly make your life happier and better.
The net is saturated, your library is 'full' of ways to save money
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[1]
Just one day 'black-out'?
The bean counters will hardly notice.
And whatever you are not buying on March 15 ... Buying it the day before or the day after really defeats the whole point.
Better: Do you really need one more (expensive) do-whicky cluttering up your life? Instead, use what you already have. A lot of things you already have will serve. A lot of things you are itching to replace ... most will last a few more days, weeks or months.
Take the money don't spend, and pay down your credit cards. Pay down your mortgage. Put it in your "rainy day" fund.
[2] (target) Again, just one day?
Such a mild response.
I just removed target from my shopping list spreadsheets. Likewise I have some of my 'standard' shopping routes saved in my GPS. I will remove target.
What target offers, I can and will get elsewhere.
[3] (Shutdown 315) See [1] above.
[4] Disney and PBS are outside of my circle of influence (Covey, Seven Habits). I will be more circumspect with Amazon, using it more for reference, and as a pointer to direct vendors.
Comments
Short Form: Do Not Feed The Beast.
Do Not Feed The Beast.
Boycotts do work……
But to your point, a one day boycott is pointless. Yes, a retailer like Target might notice reduced sales on one day - but having spent multiple years working in supply chain for several major retailers, we did not measure trends in volume or sales by the day. We measured by the week, the month, and the year. As has been pointed out, if you boycott a company for one day, but buy on the day before, the day after, even the week after, it will have zero real impact.
In order to work, a boycott has to last long term; weeks, even months, before it will have the desired impact. It has to last long enough to be more than just a minor blip in daily sales numbers.
Boycotts can work - a recent case in point would be the boycott of Bud Light by the thousands of bigots in this country who objected to the fact that the company ran a social media campaign with Dylan Mulvaney. The company reportedly lost as much as $1.4 billion - which is obviously enough to make the company take notice and change.
If a bunch of redneck assholes can do this, surely it can be done by others. But the point is that one day will not do the job.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
One day...
A one day boycott is a publicity stunt and a shot across the bows. It gets headlines. It needs to be used with other actions and with a threat of escalation. Unions have used one day walk-outs effectively.
Amazon Kindle is about 1/3 of our budget here. Please don't stop buying our books. We are working on developing other markets.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Monopoly
My impression is that, at least in the USofA, Amazon has effectively become the monopoly for only retail. Where basically anything and everything is being purchased via Amazon, from books to ready meals via electronics, clothing, furniture, hardware, building materials and groceries. That kind of ubiquity can not be healthy for the economy.
The main challenge to that market domination seems to come from the likes AliExpress, Shein and Temu, who are all based in China and seem to rely on stealing designs, slave labor and shoddy workmanship to underbid other established players. Add to that their established practice of tax evasion and ignoring of consumer protections laws in the target countries.
Here in Europe both Shein and Temu have already been placed on the black list for a multitude of legal infractions, including slave labor, tax evasion and consumer fraud.
On the other hand, we enjoy some healthy competition on the online retail market. There is even a competition between comparison portals that will show the price history of various retailers and shop around for price and customer service.
As for books through Amazon: The Kindle e-book format is proprietary and locks you in with a single vendor. I much prefer the open ePub format. There are many readers from different “vendors” available for ePub, but to read a Kindle e-book, you have to pay Amazon for the privilege of reading a book you own.
My point here
My point is that if people here stop buying ebooks from our links before we diversify our markets, we will be unable to keep the site up. We are doing something about that, but it will take time.
Amazon is clearly an illegal monopoly by US law, and they will be called to account for that... someday, but not soon.
However, one thing you said, that Amazon ebooks can only be read on a Kindle, is not true. We have half a dozen devices in the house that can read Kindle files, which are simply compressed text with a header. And programs like Calibre can convert Kindle files to almost any format you like.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.