I’m not sure about ‘online small business’ either. Most of the ones that are not actual corporations are selling via Amazon or eBay or Etsy, so you’re still supporting megacorporations. If you’re lucky, your town still has small businesses you can support with prices you can afford.
And that last part is a big part of the problem. The person above says you might not get very price competitive products. When so many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, you have no choice but to get the most price competitive products.
Consumers should not be shouldering the blame here.
I agree with you. Also, even small local businesses often support the systems that are at the root of the problem. I’m not going out of my way to shop at the local grocery store when the owners are actively harming my community by expressing and supporting all manner of bigotry.
At the farmers’ market in a nearby town, there’s a big to-do because a white supremacist farm opened a stall there and the farmers’ market is allowing it. It even resulted in a second farmers market forming. It’s ridiculous. They should kick the Nazis the fuck out of their farmers’ market.
It’s a really hard concept for some people that by inviting people like Nazis to the table, they are de facto excluding marginalized groups. For people not in one of these groups, I think it takes an effort to understand why that is.
loving this thread here and (most) everything in here! as a tiny ass farmer, that shit doesn’t surprise me. I’ll try to keep this comment specifically focused on an issue we’ve had with “farmer’s” markets:
used to sell at a couple of em before covid, since then, we only sell on-site at our little shop. one of the larger, better markets a few years back starting letting this distributor begin selling at market, masquerading as one of us. they even wore fucking shirts about promoting local blah blah. they weren’t from the area, they buy up bulk stuff (often not in season), then set it out in these pretty baskets like they just got done harvesting it that morning.
people would line up to buy their shit, while the 4-5 actually local ops that are honest and give a shit had to stand by and watch. tried to get the market organizer to care, of course they didn’t. but, hey, people can take pics of their brave treks to the Local Farmers Market to post on the socials, so they can hear how great they are at supporting small businesses.
if I sound bitter, it’s only because I kinda am 😂 carry on, love y’all who look below the surface and go out of your way to build community!
Around here, I feel like if you see someone dressed like they’re Mennonites (they dress like they’re Amish but use technology and the Amish aren’t traveling to downtown farmers’ markets), it’s probably a small farm.
i’m pretty much exclusively ordering stuff from “smaller” online shops that aren’t “mainstream”. i mainly find their products through an amazon link on duckduckgo, but order it on their website. it’s often way cheaper too.
stuff like filament from esun’s store
keychron keyboards on their own website instead of some reseller
and occasionally a reseller, but then it’s usually otto, coolblue, notebooksbilliger, or similar websites. whichever have decent prices.
buying stuff locally is literally impossible in most cases. many stores went insolvent long ago, and the ones still remaining have a 2x markup most of the time. if they even have it in stock.
hobbyist shops might be possible to buy raw materials from, but (my niche of) PC accessories and 3d printing stuff ar hard to come by locally.
I’m not sure about ‘online small business’ either. Most of the ones that are not actual corporations are selling via Amazon or eBay or Etsy, so you’re still supporting megacorporations. If you’re lucky, your town still has small businesses you can support with prices you can afford.
And that last part is a big part of the problem. The person above says you might not get very price competitive products. When so many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, you have no choice but to get the most price competitive products.
Consumers should not be shouldering the blame here.
I agree with you. Also, even small local businesses often support the systems that are at the root of the problem. I’m not going out of my way to shop at the local grocery store when the owners are actively harming my community by expressing and supporting all manner of bigotry.
At the farmers’ market in a nearby town, there’s a big to-do because a white supremacist farm opened a stall there and the farmers’ market is allowing it. It even resulted in a second farmers market forming. It’s ridiculous. They should kick the Nazis the fuck out of their farmers’ market.
It’s a really hard concept for some people that by inviting people like Nazis to the table, they are de facto excluding marginalized groups. For people not in one of these groups, I think it takes an effort to understand why that is.
loving this thread here and (most) everything in here! as a tiny ass farmer, that shit doesn’t surprise me. I’ll try to keep this comment specifically focused on an issue we’ve had with “farmer’s” markets:
used to sell at a couple of em before covid, since then, we only sell on-site at our little shop. one of the larger, better markets a few years back starting letting this distributor begin selling at market, masquerading as one of us. they even wore fucking shirts about promoting local blah blah. they weren’t from the area, they buy up bulk stuff (often not in season), then set it out in these pretty baskets like they just got done harvesting it that morning.
people would line up to buy their shit, while the 4-5 actually local ops that are honest and give a shit had to stand by and watch. tried to get the market organizer to care, of course they didn’t. but, hey, people can take pics of their brave treks to the Local Farmers Market to post on the socials, so they can hear how great they are at supporting small businesses.
if I sound bitter, it’s only because I kinda am 😂 carry on, love y’all who look below the surface and go out of your way to build community!
Around here, I feel like if you see someone dressed like they’re Mennonites (they dress like they’re Amish but use technology and the Amish aren’t traveling to downtown farmers’ markets), it’s probably a small farm.
i’m pretty much exclusively ordering stuff from “smaller” online shops that aren’t “mainstream”. i mainly find their products through an amazon link on duckduckgo, but order it on their website. it’s often way cheaper too.
stuff like filament from esun’s store
keychron keyboards on their own website instead of some reseller
and occasionally a reseller, but then it’s usually otto, coolblue, notebooksbilliger, or similar websites. whichever have decent prices.
buying stuff locally is literally impossible in most cases. many stores went insolvent long ago, and the ones still remaining have a 2x markup most of the time. if they even have it in stock.
hobbyist shops might be possible to buy raw materials from, but (my niche of) PC accessories and 3d printing stuff ar hard to come by locally.