Why you should try to avoid shopping at Amazon

[Barrel of Fun]

I know it is an idealistic view, but it would be nice for some to say...

I don't need a billion. I'm never going to spend it. I may have founded the company, but it wasn't all down to me. I know what, I am going to be generous and share the wealth.

Why does someone need million or billions?

Does the globe have a surplus or are we in a net debt (if that works?). Does the final sum = 0?

I visited a blind school in Malawi and most of the pupils lost their sight through conjunctivitis. Something that can be easily fixed, just not the means. For the sake of an example, MP Lansbury and his claims could have saved the sight of 4000 people. (He's not the worst offender, but he is an offender)

We're all in it together, aren't we?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

why do family come into it? where does this assumption come from?

I'm assuming that people with a family work 80 hours a week, I'm sure that is not an outlandish assumption.

 

[1066familyman]

Seems to me that if we are getting stuff cheap then somebody somewhere is suffering for it. The cheaper it is the more they suffer. The problem being that because of low wages we cannot afford to buy anything but the cheap shit that causes suffering.

Grim vicious cycle really.

My plan is to buy less stuff this Christmas, and do without the shite I don't need.

Exactly this.

 

[BadFish]

While i agree, the solution is the same. We need to shop responsibly

 

[GreersElbow]

The government should increase minimum wage. It is nowhere in line with the cost of living. Everyone over 25 should be earning at least £10/hour.

Amazon are just playing by the rules, the government are to blame for allowing it to happen.

Are you Ed Balls in disguise?

 

[Beach Hut]

I know it is an idealistic view, but it would be nice for some to say...

I don't need a billion. I'm never going to spend it. I may have founded the company, but it wasn't all down to me. I know what, I am going to be generous and share the wealth.

Why does someone need million or billions?

Does the globe have a surplus or are we in a net debt (if that works?). Does the final sum = 0?

I visited a blind school in Malawi and most of the pupils lost their sight through conjunctivitis. Something that can be easily fixed, just not the means. For the sake of an example, MP Lansbury and his claims could have saved the sight of 4000 people. (He's not the worst offender, but he is an offender)

We're all in it together, aren't we?

Plenty have, never heard of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation ?

 

[jakarta]

At the risk of being howled down can I just point out that if you are working in an Amazon Warehouse for minimum wage then your qualifications and experience are almost certainly not of the highest and perhaps you should be looking at retraining?

I'm afraid that an 'average wage' for a very low skilled job such as picking products & warehousing is totally unrealistic.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

It appears there is very few business people frequenting this thread. Or economists come to that.

I run my own business and also have a qualification in economics and a degree in business studies.

I find it comical that some of the ideas raised on here are done so with such confidence and certainty.
Clearly if there was a political party with Nibble as PM they would be running the country after the next general election with promises like his £10 p/h min wage policy to provide £250 per week [that's £13k a year] to spunk on luxuries.

Wonder why no one else has thought of it?

 

[Ninja Elephant]

At the risk of being howled down can I just point out that if you are working in an Amazon Warehouse for minimum wage then your qualifications and experience are almost certainly not of the highest and perhaps you should be looking at retraining?

I'm afraid that an 'average wage' for a very low skilled job such as picking products & warehousing is totally unrealistic.

I agree with this.

You start bottom rung and work up. That is how it should be, you work hard with your head down and do what you have to to better your position. Why should you be handed everything on a plate? Get off your backside and work harder to do better.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

why do family come into it? where does this assumption come from?



first, things dont necessarily cost less on Amazon, and often when they are they are through third parties. i've brought things through Amazon that are a quid or two more than elsewhere for the convenience. secondly, are you really going to hold up multibillion $ Barnes and Noble as the example of the poor done by competitors? given prices for other tablet devices, i reckon you'll find Nook is break even/minimal margin as they are mimicking the same business model.

I'm not saying Barnes and Noble are paupers. Merely suggesting that Amazon's practices are stymying healthy competition and potential jobs, as they are able to hang around longer without having to make a profit.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

At the risk of being howled down can I just point out that if you are working in an Amazon Warehouse for minimum wage then your qualifications and experience are almost certainly not of the highest and perhaps you should be looking at retraining?

I'm afraid that an 'average wage' for a very low skilled job such as picking products & warehousing is totally unrealistic.

We are discussing a living wage, not the average wage. Adults should be paid a wage they can live on.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Plenty have, never heard of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation ?

Yes I have. Give me some more examples and don't Google.

 

[CheeseRolls]

I don't really agree with the tone of this article in so any ways.

1 Seasonal workers in a distribution warehouse, are low paid, vastly outnumber the permanent employees and are expected to work bloody hard for a short period. Pretty much what you can expect if you go and work for Santa at this time of year. Apologies if this comes across as flippant, but, faced with the choice I would happily walk miles per day in a warehouse, rather than say, wipe backsides in a care home for a pittance.

2 One of the main reasons Amazon makes no money today, is that they invest EVERYTHING in the business. The cloud technology platform they have built and which is still evolving is world class and vast. If you are anti big business still take a look the scale is phenomenal http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-aws-market-share-and-revenues-2013-8


3 Internet shopping has killed traditional mail order, you know the ones with 28 day delivery lead times and seriously uncompetitive pricing. I am not shedding any tears here.

4 Amazon is responsible for the decline of the high street? please do me a favour. We still pretend British retailing is somehow world class, when in reality it is rotten to the core. Contrast the Amazon business investment model, with the pocket lining antics of "Sir" Philip Green. Anyone want to bet me that most if not all of the Arcadia brands will have disappeared in the next decade ? Not because of Internet shopping, but because of a lack of investment in the business model and a parochial view that fails to extend beyond the UK. HMV went down when a large Venture Capital gamble failed to pay off. None of which is anyway related to good retailing or customer service.

5 The lack of union recognition, is probably the first thing I would like to see changed. Maybe because I have spent all of last week working in Germany and can see the benefits in worker representation.

 

[drew]

At the risk of being howled down can I just point out that if you are working in an Amazon Warehouse for minimum wage then your qualifications and experience are almost certainly not of the highest and perhaps you should be looking at retraining?

I'm afraid that an 'average wage' for a very low skilled job such as picking products & warehousing is totally unrealistic.

I'll howl you down. Don't you read the news? There are plenty of well qualified people who have studied hard but still can't get a job to match their qualifications and aspirations and that might be why some have to take jobs in supermarkets and places like Amazon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23247176

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I agree with this.

You start bottom rung and work up. That is how it should be, you work hard with your head down and do what you have to to better your position. Why should you be handed everything on a plate? Get off your backside and work harder to do better.

You are missing the point spectacularly.

 

[Beach Hut]

Yes I have. Give me some more examples and don't Google.

I can't but I suspect there are and have been thousands of people who have given away millions to aid others, Elton John ?

 

[EDS]

Why does someone need million or billions?

Nobody needs billions, but without rich people you have no poor people and without them you have nobody to do the menial tasks that need doing. Not to mention money is as much about control as anything else.

 

[EDS]

Yes I have. Give me some more examples and don't Google.

Warren Buffet and that whole group have agreed to give so many billions away. Its all just smoke and mirrors

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I can't but I suspect there are and have been thousands of people who have given away millions to aid others, Elton John ?

There have, but whose millions are they giving away?

Nobody needs billions, but without rich people you have no poor people and without them you have nobody to do the menial tasks that need doing. Not to mention money is as much about control as anything else.

That's a fallacy. You can have rich people who pay a sustainable wage. I'm talking about the primary worker who receives very little.

I'm still amazed that workers of big, profitable multinationals still give birth in the fields collecting what-have-you, but entirely understandable. They want a bigger house and or a bigger car.

 

[jakarta]

I'll howl you down. Don't you read the news? There are plenty of well qualified people who have studied hard but still can't get a job to match their qualifications and aspirations and that might be why some have to take jobs in supermarkets and places like Amazon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23247176

Thanks for the link, I'm afraid many of these 'well qualified' people have degrees in subjects that are absolutely useless for the work environment of 2013.

I do specialist Scientific/Engineering Consultancy work and interact with Private Sector Industrial and Manufacturing Clients. I'm afraid the lady in the BBC link with a degree in History and Politics is of no use to me as a potential employer - sorry but that is a fact.

The fact she chose the wrong subject to study is, I am afraid, her fault and if she does end up stacking shelves perhaps she can reflect upon this (before she decides to retrain in an area where she will be employable in a job that matches her aspirations)