10 Reasons to Stop Buying on Amazon

Taxes, 'monopolistic' behavior top the list
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2012 4:07 PM CDT
10 Reasons to Stop Buying on Amazon
In this Sept. 28, 2011 file photo, Jeff Bezos, Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com, introduces the Kindle Fire at a news conference, in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Amazon: the evil empire? The Nation seems to think so, warning that Amazon is "well positioned to overpower its rivals" as publishers turn to digital books and the mega-site sells more Kindle books than hardcovers. The lefty mag lists 10 reasons not to do business with Amazon:

  1. Amazon avoids paying taxes. Amazon's tax rate is a shockingly low 3.5%, and what's more, the company gives paltry sums to charities.

  1. Amazon is monopolistic. As the world's biggest bookseller, Amazon has insisted on more discounts from distributors—but that's illegal under anti-trust law that forbids companies from selling the same product at different prices to different buyers.
  2. Amazon kills small businesses. Its practice of selling bestsellers at a loss means small bookstores can't compete.
  3. Amazon gathers your info. A class-action lawsuit has accused Amazon of dodging customer privacy settings, and critics say Kindle Fire's web browser could help Amazon track all our surfing.
  4. Amazon dissed Wikileaks. Facing political pressure, Amazon kicked Wikileaks off its cloud server two years ago.

Click for the whole list. Or read about a small bookstore that outwitted Amazon. (More Amazon stories.)

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