Anti-Amazon?

I am one of those kids who grew up in an anti-Wal-Mart family.

I’m not sure if this is a city phenomenon, or a mere Minnesota phenomenon (because we have Targets a-plenty), but I had literally never stepped foot in a Wal-Mart until senior year of high school when my Crazy Guy Friend and I decided to go because we had both never been in one and wondered what it looked like. (It was dirty.)

I also, ashamedly, bought a planner from a Wal-Mart before first semester sophomore year of college began because Target was out of them. And I need day planners to function in life.

I fully recognize that this anti-Wal-Mart trait of mine, which I am carrying into my young adult life, is primarily formed because of my upbringing and my parents’ opinions. The most research I’ve really done into how Wal-Mart treats its employees, how it brings independent stores down, etc. is basically reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, which I read when I was twelve.

A few weeks ago, I began coming across information online that was making me question my constant usage of Amazon. It’s surprising, actually, that I didn’t come across the accusation of Amazon “being the Wal-Mart of books” sooner.

There are two parts to the Amazon equals Wal-Mart deal. First, and most primarily, there is the way Amazon has taken over the market with slashed prices and contribution to the death of independent bookstores and even, arguably, that of Borders. Second, there are recent allegations of poor working conditions in the Amazon warehouses.

A third aspect I’d like to point out, that is perhaps not in-line with Wal-Mart per say, but is just slimy, is the questionable treatment of writers who want to be self-published through Amazon.

The main issue with Amazon is the huge discounts it offers on best-sellers, including discounts when one pre-orders a book (which I’ll admit I totally did for Stephen King and Arthur Machen), which is pretty much exactly what Wal-Mart and, as much as I hate to admit it, Target do as well. For the past three years or so, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Target have been in price wars over hardcover books, ultimately selling many bestselling hardcovers for $9.00 or less around the holiday season. In fact, this blog post from Open Page predicts the fall of Borders as a result of this pricing.

With the rise of Amazon Singles, CreateSpace, and now Amazon Publishing/Amazon Encore, the company is covering even more of the literary industry than ever before. Amazon Singles are essentially eArticles and eShort Stories, the sale of which could potentially affect the literary journal market if they rise in popularity. CreateSpace has been wildly controversial, being accused of not only manipulating writers but also taking jobs away from publishing houses, literary agents, literary marketers, etc. as well as arguably bringing down the public’s literary standards.

Even with all that, I really only began questioning my own support of Amazon when I first read The Morning Call’s report on the poor working conditions in Amazon factories. It has been reported that the warehouses are overheated, managers are threatening, and that employees had to expect to work overtime and constantly be attached to a pager. That, coupled with the information I already had about how Amazon is affecting publishers and book sellers, was enough for me to send an email to parents stating: “Don’t buy books from Amazon!”

That said, only a few days later, the website Glassdoor.com reported that Amazon gets a 3.2 out of 5 rating as a place to work, and that overall, while there are some bad experiences, there are also some decent ones. I also feel a bit better about Amazon after hearing that they plan to allow Kindle users to borrow eBooks from libraries. That said, the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I feel continuing to give Amazon my business.

Of course, like anything, the issue isn’t black and white. There are arguments pro- and anti- Amazon, self-publishing, etc. , and I’ll never feel like I have all the answers or even all the information. The problem that arises for me, personally, is simply that Amazon is cheap, and Amazon is convenient. (There’s a reason that they have been so successful.) And I am broke and for most of the year I have no means of transportation. My financial situation is generally that in which I cannot afford to spend money on anything that is not necessary, which unfortunately also applies to books—especially hardcover, just released, over-$20 books. I was able to get around this for awhile by reviewing books for my school newspaper and then being reimbursed for them, but then they realized how expensive books were.

(“How are these books so expensive?”

“Well, I got them as cheap as possible.”

“Did you have to get two-day shipping?”

“Well, even with two-day shipping, I still only had two or three days to read and review them if I was lucky… and anyway, I got a discount on all these books through Amazon, so even with the shipping cost it turned out to be exactly what it’d be at Barnes & Noble.”

“Can’t you find them used?”

“Uh, no… you require the reviews to be of newly-released books, and those are generally hardcover and between $20-$30… and they’re hard to find used because they’ve just been released…”

“Well, we’ll have to figure something else out for next semester. Those prices are ridiculous.”

Uh. Sorry?)

Long story short, I still haven’t read Freedom, and that came out what? Two years ago now?

Second, the great thing about Amazon is that you can find any old obscure book and have it shipped directly to you. Barnes & Noble doesn’t have that, and I’m pretty sure my used bookshop down the street in St. Paul doesn’t have that either. This works to my advantage because I generally like obscure books, and I also generally don’t have a means of transportation. Not only do I not have access to a car during the school year, I don’t even know where the nearest independent bookstore is. There may not be one in Claremont, for that matter, which is depressing.

What’s a nerdy college kid to do?

One last note, that is mildly related but not really, is that I do find it interesting and cool how much the literary public rallied around Borders and continues to support Barnes & Noble. It’s not just indies versus chains, but more so the whole of the literary scene versus those are that really just trying to rip of us and could care less about books and writers (cough Amazon cough). One thing I’ve learned since getting more involved in and reading more about the literary scene today is that there is still a hardcore group of people out there who truly care about literature.