12 Amazon Alternatives That Can Save You Money

Amazon isn’t the most ethical neighbor or affordable option, so consider whether one of these Amazon alternatives might better serve your needs while also saving you money and supporting your local economy.

12 Amazon Alternatives That Can Save You Money

A note before we dive in: I first wrote this post a few years ago, when quitting Amazon felt like a personal values exercise. It was something you did quietly, for your own reasons, when you had the bandwidth.

That still holds true, but something has shifted. A growing number of people across a pretty wide spectrum of backgrounds and politics are arriving at the same conclusion from different directions. Some are frustrated by labor practices. Some are alarmed by the consolidation of economic power in the hands of a few corporations. Some simply did the math and realized they were spending more, not less. Some are part of the growing “economic blackout” movement that’s been making headlines this year.

However you got here: welcome. The good news is that this is one of those situations where doing the right thing and saving money often point in the same direction.

Here’s what I know after years of largely avoiding Amazon: it’s easier than you think, and the alternatives are better than you expect.

I shared more about our decision to avoid Amazon a while back, and you can check my series of posts about Amazon Alternatives for much more on the issue.

First: The Mindset Shift That Makes Everything Easier

Most of us reach for Amazon out of habit, not necessity. The app is on our phones. The muscle memory is there. It feels like the path of least resistance.

But Amazon’s convenience is, in large part, manufactured. Amazon is designed to remove the small friction that might otherwise make you pause and ask: do I actually need this? The one-click buy, the 48-hour delivery promise, and the Prime subscription that makes every purchase feel “free” are features engineered to increase spending, not to serve you.

The real gift of not having an Amazon Prime account is that it creates a natural pause: a moment to think about another way to obtain the item. In that pause, you might realize:

You already own something that works.
Your neighbor has one you can borrow.
Your local Buy Nothing group can help.
You can get it secondhand on a local buy/sell/swap page like Facebook Marketplace
Or that you simply don’t need it right now.

That pause is worth more than any Prime discount.

Before You Buy Anywhere: Two Questions Worth Asking

1. Do you already have it, or can you borrow it? Check what you own. Post in your local Buy Nothing group. Ask a neighbor. The sharing economy around you is more robust than you probably realize. [→ Here’s how to find and use your local Buy Nothing group.]

2. Can you buy it locally? A quick search for the product plus your town name will often surface a local shop you didn’t know carried it. The extra ten minutes is worth it for you (you’ll often get better service and expert advice) and for your community. Local businesses return far more of each dollar to the local economy than national chains or online retailers do.

If the answer to both questions is “no, I really do need to buy this online,” here’s where to look instead.

12 Amazon Alternatives Worth Knowing

For Books

1. Bookshop.org and Libro.fm: I’ve been using Bookshop.org for years and love it. Bookshop.org lets you buy books online and choose a local independent bookstore to receive a portion of the proceeds. Since launching in 2020, it’s raised over $36 million for independent bookstores, real money going to real community institutions that need our support. Prices are comparable to Amazon. The browsing experience is lovely. Libro.fm is a similar audiobook service that supports local bookshops and offers a huge collection that easily rivals Audible. If you haven’t tried either of them, I highly recommend it. I love that I can support my local bookstore from the comfort of my own home when I don’t have time to visit in person.

2. Better World Books: Buy used books (and some new ones) with the added benefit that they donate a portion of profits to global literacy programs and accept used book donations. My go-to for kids’ books, especially when I need several at once. Slower shipping than Amazon, but I’ve found that planning ahead is actually easier than impulse-buying one book at a time. Check out my deep dive into my experiences buying used books from Better World Books.

3. Your local library: I know this feels obvious, but… the library. (I’m slightly obsessed with libraries.) The library offers so much more than physical books. They’ve got audiobooks, e-books, streaming services, museum passes, and more. Most of us are dramatically underusing this free community resource. [→ More on what your library offers that might surprise you in my Libraries are More Than Books series.]

For Everyday Household Goods

4. Grove Collaborative: For natural cleaning products, personal care items, and household essentials (things like dish soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, and paper goods), Grove curates a strong selection of sustainable brands and ships with carbon-neutral shipping. If you’re trying to reduce plastic in your home and cut down on your Amazon habit, this is a two-for-one.

5. Thrive Market: For pantry staples, healthy snacks, and wellness products at below-retail prices. The membership fee pays for itself quickly if you’re already buying organic or non-GMO products. Health-focused families especially tend to love it. Many who would otherwise shop at Whole Foods (owned by Amazon, worth noting) can find better prices elsewhere.

6. Your local hardware store, pharmacy, or grocery store: This sounds almost too simple to say, but a surprising amount of what we order from Amazon — batteries, cleaning supplies, pantry items, basic tools — is available at local stores, often at comparable prices, with the added benefit of zero shipping wait and direct support for a local business. Before opening the Amazon app, check if your local hardware store or pharmacy carries it. Often, they do.

For Specialty and Sustainable Products

7. Etsy: This platform has grown significantly beyond handmade crafts and vintage finds. You can now find an enormous range of products — home goods, kids’ items, personal care, pet supplies, gifts — from small independent makers who genuinely depend on your purchase in a way that Jeff Bezos does not. The quality tends to be higher and the buying experience more human. Worth checking before defaulting to Amazon for anything that doesn’t need to be a commodity.

8. Minocqua Marketplace: This one is a new online market that’s just starting as a pro-democracy marketplace with funding on Kickstarter. We will see where it goes, but it’s worth keeping an eye on for now.

For Electronics and Tech

9. Your local electronics or camera store: I can’t say enough about this one from personal experience: when I needed a new lens a few years ago, I went to a local camera store instead of Amazon. The person I talked to knew more about the products than any Amazon review could tell me, asked the right questions about what I was actually trying to do, and steered me toward a better lens than the one I’d had in my cart. I spent the same amount of money and got a better outcome. Expertise is worth something.

10. Newegg: For computer components, tech accessories, and electronics, Newegg offers competitive pricing and — crucially — detailed specs and reviews from actual tech enthusiasts rather than Amazon’s often-unreliable review ecosystem.

11. Back Market: For refurbished phones, laptops, and electronics. Products come with a warranty and free returns within 30 days. This is a great first stop when you need to replace a device. Buying refurbished electronics is one of the highest-impact ways to reduce e-waste, and Back Market makes it easy and low-risk.

For Just About Anything Else

12. Search engines (used intentionally): This sounds almost too basic, but it’s genuinely the move: when you need something, search for it on Google or Ecosia before opening the Amazon app. Amazon will appear in the results; bypass it and look at what else is there. You may have to scroll to the second page. You will find alternatives. Local shops, specialty retailers, and brand websites often sell at better prices. They just require the extra thirty seconds to find.

A Note on Amazon Prime

If you have a Prime subscription, do the math before you renew. The annual fee has increased significantly over the years, and “free shipping” is really just pre-paid shipping — you’ve already paid for it whether you use it or not. If you’re spending less on Amazon (which tends to happen naturally as you build alternative habits), the Prime fee often stops making financial sense.

Canceling Prime is also one of the most effective ways to reduce impulse purchases. The friction of calculating shipping costs for individual orders gives pause to consider alternatives, reflect on the real cost of purchasing and shipping, and decide whether you have another method that will be better than Amazon.

What This Is Really About

Switching away from Amazon won’t fix everything. The problems with economic consolidation, with how we treat workers, with how much we consume — these are bigger than any individual purchasing decision.

But individual purchasing decisions aren’t nothing. They’re a vote. And right now, many people are thinking hard about where they want their money to go and what kind of economy they want to live in.

Buying from a local bookstore keeps a community institution alive. Buying from an independent maker on Etsy keeps a small business running. Buying used from Better World Books keeps a book out of the landfill and funds a literacy program somewhere in the world. These things compound.

And maybe, most importantly, building the habit of pausing before you buy changes your relationship with consumption in ways that go well beyond Amazon. That pause is where a lot of good things happen.

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