19 Great Alternatives to Amazon for all your Buying and Selling Needs
We all love the convenience of Amazon. If you need something, you can order it in one click and have it delivered to your door as early as the next day. Amazon’s efficiency is second to none, which is why it’s hard for so many of us to ditch the service. However, there are some alternatives to Amazon that you can use.
Why Do I Need an Alternative to Amazon?
Although Amazon is efficient and convenient, it has a reputation for treating its employees poorly. Low wages, long hours, and high stress are par for the course for most employees. It’s understandable to want to vote with your money and not support a company that operates this way.
It’s also understandable to continue using Amazon. They are the best in the business for a reason. You can buy nearly anything on the eCommerce giant and get it delivered the next day with Amazon Prime. There are many reasons to keep shopping at Amazon, from the free standard shipping to the one-stop convenience, but there are just as many reasons to explore alternatives.
What is the Best Alternative to Amazon?
Amazon is the best if you need a place to buy anything you can think of in one spot. However, there are a lot of great alternatives to Amazon if you are looking for specific items. There are thousands of great places to buy stuff online, and many of them allow you to support small businesses or individuals trying to make a living selling online. It’s best to support the little guy over the huge conglomerate when you can!
Although there’s no one “best” alternative, there are many options. Whether you are a buyer or a seller looking for everyday items or niche handcrafted goods, there is an alternative that is perfect for you.
Here are the best alternatives to Amazon for everything that you might need.
Alternatives to Amazon for Everyday Essentials
A great thing about Amazon is that it has nearly everything you could need. It’s a one-stop shop for everything from groceries to clothing to household items. However, it’s not the only game in town selling these products.
There are other online shops you can head to for the same great deals on household essentials. These online retailers cover home décor, apparel, household goods, and anything you need for your home.
Overstock.com
Overstock is an online retailer that sells a variety of household items. They offer furniture, home goods, jewelry, and all types of home décor. One limitation of Overstock is that they don’t have a clothing and apparel product category, so if you are shopping online for new clothes, this isn’t the best option.
Overstock offers free standard shipping on most items to the continental US. They deliver most products in one to two days.
Target
Target is the best option for household items. They have everything you might need, from groceries, personal care items, household necessities, and clothing. The great thing about shopping online at Target is that you are less likely to buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need.
Target offers free two-day shipping, but another advantage is that you can pick up the item in the store if you need it right away.
Brick and Mortar Online Stores
Most brick-and-mortar retailers have online stores as well. If you can’t find what you need at Target’s online store, check Walmart or Bed Bath & Beyond.
These online retailers have everything that you need for your home, and prices are comparable to Amazon. Most of them also offer free shipping to remain competitive with Amazon in the online retail space.
Alternatives to Amazon for Books
Amazon started as a bookstore, so it makes sense that many people still use it to shop for books. However, there are three excellent alternatives to amazon for books, most of which are far more socially conscious than Amazon is.
Bookshop.org
The best place to buy books online is Bookshop.org. Its mission is to support local, independent bookshops. Bookshop.org has built a network of independent retailers and splits profits among them to help keep them in business. It’s a breath of fresh air against Amazon’s profit above all else ideal and has been a significant player in helping keep indie booksellers afloat.
Better World Books
Better World Books is another option for ethical book consumption. This online book store donates books to people in need and has made it their mission to fight for literacy. They’ve donated over 28 million dollars to literacy non-profits such as libraries across the nation.
In addition, Better World Books also tries to be environmentally conscious. They recycle and reuse old, worn-out books whenever possible and offer 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 them with your online purchases will help ensure that the stores stay open.
Alternatives to Amazon Prime TV
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, there are plenty of other streaming services available, and most of them are better than Amazon Prime TV.
Hulu
Hulu has options for both live television and streaming your favorite shows. It has also partnered with Disney+ to give you even more viewing options. It offers a wider variety of shows than Amazon does, and the option for live tv blows Amazon out of the water.
Netflix
Netflix is the grandfather of all streaming services. It offers a ton of your favorite shows but is also an excellent choice for original content. Shows like Stranger Things and Cursed are only available on Netflix.
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.
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. Amazon isn’t the only game in town, though.
Chewy
Chewy is the best alternative to Amazon for all of your pet’s needs. Not only do they have all the food, litter, and toys that you could need, but they offer reoccurring shipments for perishable items as well. All you have to do is order what you need, set up your reoccurring 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 a great place for one-stop gift shopping. The fact that you can ship directly to your recipient easily makes Amazon one of the go-to places for buying gifts.
However, when you shop for gifts on Amazon, you are limited to the commercial products available. There are much better options for getting unique or handcrafted gifts that show how much you care.
Etsy
Etsy is the best place to find unique items for gifts. You can find handcrafted jewelry, antiques, and many digital products, from writing prompts to planners to drawing ideas on this platform. That is a great place to find the perfect gift for friends and family members who have unique tastes or want something that speaks to them.
TeePublic
Teepublic is an alternative to Amazon Merch. With Teepublic, you can buy t-shirts, mugs, binders, blankets, and various other items with attractive graphics on them.
Another great reason for shopping on Etsy and Teepublic is that you are generally supporting individual creators. Although the platform always gets a cut, it’s better to support individual artists and content creators whenever possible.
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 got into the grocery delivery space, and it’s been tough to compete with. 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 shoppers who are health conscious and 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. They are a great alternative to Whole Foods for your healthy and organic shopping needs.
Hive Brands
Hive is an online grocery that specializes in sustainable groceries. They source locally as much as possible, pride themselves on keeping their carbon footprint as small as possible, and use recycled packaging to the greatest extent possible.
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 Everything
One of Amazon’s best features is that it has everything you need in one spot. Amazon warehouses have everything from food to pet goods to books to clothing. You only need to fill one online cart, only need to checkout once, and you can expect your shipment in a day or two.
There’s only one online retailer that can match the convenience and product categories offered by Amazon.
Google Shopping
Google Shopping is a relatively new feature of Google. Although it does have some of its product offerings, that’s not the main point of it. Google Shopping allows you to compare items from online retailers across the internet. It showcases items from other sites in one location. Google shopping can also show you local retailers to pick up the item you need on the same day.
The disadvantage is that you still need to go to the specific retailer to complete your purchase, but it’s nice to see all items in one spot. Google is ever-evolving, so one day, they might launch a cart middleman feature, positioning it to better compete with Amazon.
Alternatives to Amazon for Professional Sellers
Amazon is a behemoth partly because of its independent network of sellers. Millions of people and small companies have created their storefront on Amazon and utilize its fulfillment centers to sell their products to the public. Amazon is not the only game in town for sellers; there are tons of other options for selling things online.
eBay
Opening an eBay store is one of the best alternatives to Amazon for sellers. With millions of shoppers on the platform every day, it’s one of the top places to buy and sell goods online. There are thousands of product categories available on eBay. You can sell anything from antiques to clothing, collectibles to computers, household items to automobile parts.
Another great thing about eBay is that sellers have control of their shops. You can set your price at whatever you want it to be, and products are sold with either auctions or the set price “buy it now” option. Thousands of people have one or two items they want to sell on eBay, so it’s also the best option for those with just a few extra things laying around as well.
Etsy
Etsy is an excellent option for both buyers and sellers. It’s the best-selling channel for handmade goods, such as jewelry, arts and crafts, needle works, and even digital products. There’s a market for almost anything you can conceive of making on Etsy, and it’s a much better platform than Amazon for selling these types of items.
You can create a shop on Etsy for free. A great thing about the platform is that you can manage your items, decide your prices, and market your shop however you see fit. The hardest part is deciding what to sell, but in my opinion, digital products are best because there is no shipping involved.
Create a DropShipping Website
A great way to avoid Amazon as a seller is to create your website. Dropshipping allows you to sell products on your website that are 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 come to your site for shopping and checkout, but the item will ship from the source.
The easiest way to start a dropshipping website is with Shopify. It’s the number one eCommerce platform for drop shippers. They have several themes available to help you build your site, and they have easy options to help you find and source products 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.
Lots of Alternatives to Amazon
Whether you are a buyer or a seller, there are many ways for you to replace Amazon in your daily life. These alternatives may not be as well-known as Amazon. Still, they offer ethical consumption, free shipping, a myriad of products, competitive pricing, and almost as much convenience as the internet giant.
This article is originally on Wealth of Geeks.
