Amazon mastered efficiency. It’s one of the easiest, most convenient shopping platforms, offering nearly everything you can imagine for bargain basement prices.
The one-click ordering, fast delivery, and simple interface made it a household staple, as more and more shoppers turned to the service for all their shopping needs.
It’s time to end the love affair. Use these fantastic alternatives to Amazon instead.
Why Do I Need an Alternative to Amazon?
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Amazon’s efficiency and convenience come with a massive cost. The company is notorious for treating employees poorly, offering long hours and high stress for low wages. In addition, Amazon’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, also owns the Washington Post. He used his power and influence to disrupt the free press.
His fortune came from us – the Amazon users who flocked to the marketplace in the past decade. We can vote with our dollars, refusing to support a company and a man without morals.
However, there’s no shame or judgment for continuing to use the service. It’s cheap and easy, and although our Amazon alternatives offer many of the same items, they’re not all in the same place, and sometimes they come with higher price tags.
But if you’re willing to make the switch, consider these great alternatives to Amazon.
The Best Alternative to Amazon
Amazon’s marketplace provides easy access to goods across all niches. No other platform compares to the quantity of merchandise you can find on Amazon.
But don’t despair. There are thousands of great places to buy stuff online. Rather than use one platform, you might use 2 3 to get what you need, but you’ll also support small businesses and independent creators. You’ll be choosing real people over giant corporations, which is always a win.
There may not be one “best alternative to Amazon” but there are loads of great options for buyers and sellers alike..
Discover the best options for ditching Amazon!
Alternatives to Amazon for Everyday Essentials
Amazon is a one-stop shop for everything from groceries to clothing to household items. It has everything you need on one convenient platform.
But it’s not the only game in town.
If you rely on Amazon for household essentials, check out these awesome online retailers offering home decor, apparel, household goods, and more.
Overstock.com
You can find nearly anything you need for your home at Overstock. The online retailer features furniture, home goods, light fixtures, clothing, jewelry, and more. Grab your dinnerware, bedding, towels, rugs, and more on the platform.
Overstock offers free standard shipping on most items to the continental US. They deliver most products in one to two days.
Ikea
If you love Amazon for the bargains, shop Ikea online instead. Ikea has almost everything you need for your house at some of the lowest prices imaginable.
Ikea’s only limitation is the shipping times. If you’re used to same or next-day delivery from Amazon, you may be shocked that you must wait a week or two to get your item. I think that’s a benefit – we’ve been spoiled by Amazon’s instant gratification, and it wouldn’t hurt to instill a bit of patience.
Costco
Did you know your favorite warehouse store delivers? You can get nearly everything you need from the wholesale giant, shipped directly to your door.
Costco offers household necessities like toothpaste and laundry detergent, but also has a wide variety of products you need for the home. You can find cookware, bedding, office supplies, luggage, computers, and more on the platform.
Costco also partners with Instacart for grocery delivery, but you must live near a warehouse to access this service.
Since Costco is a membership-based warehouse store, you need to pay a monthly fee to access the products both online and in-store.
Brick and Mortar Online Stores
Every big retailer offers online shopping. Why buy on Amazon when you can shop at Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, or even Walmart?
Though I’d rather not shop at any giant corporation, sometimes you need something and you can only find it at well-known retailers. They also offer competitive pricing and free shipping (depending on what you buy), so they’re good alternatives to Amazon for people on a budget.
Alternatives to Amazon for Books
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Amazon started as a bookstore and a lot of customers still use it to find great deals on books.
Head to these online bookstores instead. They offer great deals while supporting small businesses and freedom of speech (by refusing to ban books!).
Bookshop.org
I love Bookshop.org. Its mission is to support local, independent bookshops. The platform built a network of independent retailers, splitting profits among them to help them all stay in business.
It’s a breath of fresh air against Amazon’s profit above-all-else mantral and has been a significant player in helping keep indie booksellers afloat.
Better World Books
Better World Books donates books to people in need. One of their primary missions is improving literacy, nearly over 40 million books, and raising upwards of 35 million dollars to support libraries and literacy non-profits across the nation.
Better World Books also promotes environmental awareness. The company recycles or reuses old, worn-out books whenever possible and offers carbon-reduced shipping options.
Barnes & Noble
If you can’t find what you need at the two socially conscious online booksellers, Barnes & Noble is the next best thing.
It’s the largest brick-and-mortar book retailer in the country, and supporting it with your online purchases will help ensure that the stores stay open.
Alternatives to Amazon Prime TV
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Amazon is trying to take over the streaming industry in addition to the retail sector. Amazon Prime TV has a wide variety of hit shows, and it makes streaming easy. Prime members don’t even have to pay anything extra for this service.
However, most of the other streaming platforms are far superior to Amazon. Check out these ones instead.
Hulu
Hulu lets you watch live television and stream your favorite shows. It partners with Disney+ to give users the most robust viewing options in the industry.
The combined service offers a larger variety of shows than Amazon, and the option for live TV blows Amazon out of the water.
Netflix
Netflix is the grandfather of all streaming services. The platform hosts many of your favorite shows in addition to original content, like Stranger Things and Cursed.
More Streaming Alternatives
Although Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon are the giants of streaming services, many other options exist. Some are more niche, and others offer alternatives to basic cable.
You could also cancel the streaming services altogether and find more productive ways to use your time. I recently canceled all of them (Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix) and spend my evenings reading, studying, or playing with my cats instead. I don’t miss it.
Alternatives to Amazon for Pet Goods
Our pets are important to us. You can easily get most of your pet’s needs at Amazon, and as a bonus, you can set up reoccurring shipments for perishable items like food and litter.
But you can do the same on other platforms.
Chewy
Chewy is the best alternative to Amazon for all your pet’s needs. Not only do they have all the food, litter, and toys you could need, but they offer reoccurring shipments of perishable items.
All you have to do is order what you need, set up your recurring shipments, and forget about it, having your items shipped directly to you exactly when you need them.
Chewy offers free shipping on orders over $49, so it’s best to get everything you need at one time.
Alternatives to Amazon for Gifts
Amazon is so easy for one-stop gift shopping. The platform allows you to ship items anywhere in the US, making it easy to shop for friends and family across the country.
But when you shop for gifts on Amazon, you’re limited to the mass-produced commercial products the platform offers.
Why not get your loved ones unique or handcrafted gifts that show how much you care instead?
Use these platforms as alternatives to Amazon for all your gifting needs.
Etsy
Get your friends one-of-a-kind handcrafted treasures on Etsy. You can find handcrafted jewelry, antiques, and many digital products, from writing prompts to planners to drawing ideas on this platform.
My aunt is obsessed with the show Supernatural, so I found her a hand-drawn map showing all the places the characters visited in the first five seasons on Etsy. It’s a far better gift than any coffee pot or candle holder I could find on Amazon.
Etsy is the best platform for finding that perfect gift for everyone in your life, and as a bonus, you’re supporting independent creators whenever you buy something.
TeePublic
Ditch Amazon Merch and shop Teepublic instead. The popular print-on-demand site allows independent artists to upload their designs, where users can place them on all sorts of items from t-shirts to blankets.
You get a cool item with a unique design, while the artist earns money for their work. It’s way better than giving more money to a giant corporation for mass-produced junk.
Alternatives to Amazon’s Whole Foods and Grocery Delivery
Amazon is taking over every aspect of our lives. With its acquisition of Whole Foods, it entered the grocery delivery space, making it even more ubiquitous.
However, there are many other online marketplaces, so you don’t need to rely on Amazon for grocery delivery.
Instacart
Instacart is the best alternative to Amazon for groceries because you can shop at your local grocery stores and pay a local, independent contractor for delivery.
The problem with Instacart is the cost. It is more expensive than the other services because you pay someone to do your grocery shopping for you.
However, if you have the money, using Instacart is a great boon to the local economy.
Thrive Market
Thrive Market is an online retailer of healthy foods. They offer a wide range of natural, organic, and non-GMO items for health-conscious shoppers concerned about what is in our food.
Thrive Market offers automatic delivery of your favorite staples, so you will never run out of a much-needed pantry product.
It’s the best alternative to Amazon’s Whole Foods for healthy and organic shopping.
Hive Brands
Hive specializes in sustainable groceries. They source locally as much as possible, pride themselves on keeping their carbon footprint small, and use recycled packaging whenever they can.
Hive is the best option for the socially and environmentally conscious. Hive has product lines that align with a variety of causes, from animal rights to community development. It’s the best choice if you’re looking for an ethical online retailer.
Alternatives to Amazon for Professional Sellers
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Amazon is a behemoth partly because of its independent network of sellers. Millions of people and small companies have created their storefronts on Amazon and utilize its fulfillment centers to sell their products to the public.
But as Amazon grows, it offers worse deals for people relying on the platform to make a living. Sellers can explore these alternatives to sell their wares online.
eBay
With millions of people searching eBay for great deals on niche products every day, it’s one of the best alternatives to Amazon for sellers. The platform hosts a wide range of product categories, from antiques to vehicles and everything in between.
On eBay, sellers have control over their shops. As a seller, you can set your price and shipping details, set “buy it now” prices and reserves and relist your products as often as you want.
Etsy
Buyers and sellers alike can choose Etsy over Amazon. The platform offers a marketplace for nearly anything you can imagine.
Sellers can create a shop for free but must pay a listing fee to post anything for sale. However, you get to decide your prices and manage your own inventory.
Create a DropShipping Website
Dropshipping allows you to sell products on your website sourced from a third party. All you have to do is build the website, set up your WooCommerce account, and source your products.
Buyers will shop and checkout on your website, but the item ships from the source.
The easiest way to start a dropshipping website is with Shopify, the number one eCommerce platform for drop shippers. The platform features several themes to help you build your site, and easy options to help you find and source products you want to sell.
To be successful with dropshipping, you need to create a great customer experience on your website and be conscious of prices. Since the items are sourced from a third party, customers need to buy through you instead of from somewhere else.
The disadvantage to creating your own website is that you have to do all the marketing. It’s a lot of work, but worth the effort to control your own business.
Lots of Amazon Alternatives
Though we mostly covered the big sites serving as great alternatives to Amazon, thousands of smaller, niche sites exist across the web.
Explore the options. Stop clicking the first link on Google, and look into pages 3-4 to find the small businesses that can’t afford to buy placement.
It may not be as convenient, but shopping smarter will help the greater economy and support independent people just like you, who are trying to make a living, over the massive corporations that run our lives.
That’s a bargain I’m willing to make – are you?