What is 'The 24-hour Economic Blackout?' What to know about Feb. 28 national...

News for Ecomm Sellers
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I know it says February 28, but they boycotted Amazon around Christmas, and there are tons of people cancelling Prime. I feel like my type of customers are the ones who would join this boycott and I have been feeling the effects. It’s not just the 28th, it’s a hatred of all things Amazon.

Weekends are when I usually sell to consumers. Today, I made one sale, the slowest ever in years - probably because of the 50 states protest tomorrow. Weekdays are usually a little better, because businesses don’t participate in boycotts. Have you felt this in your sales?

They are trying to hurt Amazon, but they are hurting a lot of small sellers. Collateral damage, I guess.

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A boycott won’t affect me, but the shoppers who would boycott Amazon are likely the same ones who would refuse to pay higher prices for quality or handmade goods. It is not possible to make these people happy.

Marilyn

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I try to make mention of this at a lot of local group meetings but the message is n’t being received well.
Most buyers - unless they are also sellers or know someone who is - have no idea how Amazon works. They think they are buying directly from an Amazon warehouse, aka Jeff Bezos. One would think all of those commercials Amazon ran about “supporting small business sellers” had little or no impact.
Frustrating to say the very least.

Big uptick at ebay the past month or so. Interesting how they are able to stay under the radar.
Many are boycotting Walmart as a whole. Since this is our first whole year there we don’t have comparison numbers but can’t believe there was much growth if any at all.

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This, All day this

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I read the (poorly written) article, It is focused on company’s that no longer support DEI programs. However, we can not talk about that here.

I do find it odd, since our founding we have been a company of inclusion as long as you fit the company, and fit the company mission. Family first, education second, extracurricular activities then work. In that order, interns and full time team members. We do look for bright, smart, and for some jobs strong people. I have always judged everyone by the content of their character and the abilities they have.

The People’s Union says to only shop local small businesses during that time, if necessary.

They have no clue, but I get it. I have had family members that beat on Amazon all the time. They have no clue, it is made up of small businesses like all of us. I do try to explain to them that the team members in our family company get to buy food from what we make.

From Newsweek magazine; (Yes I did not know they exist, but they are on the internet so it must be true. /s)

Called the People’s Union, the grassroots organization is looking to fight back against corporate rollback of DEI initiatives by holding back consumer purchasing…

… The People’s Union economic blackout is on February 28, and the group is also staging an Amazon boycott from March 7 to 14. During the economic blackout, participants are pledging to not make any purchases, either online or at brick-and-mortar stores.

I guess I should think about closing, and eliminating our small team that has been with us for 19-34 years.

In my last real job, I had a team of over 200 people. I hired the best I could find. They were a broad range of people from handicapped, special needs adults, white, brown, black, asian, young, old, but all smart. Many on my senior team I paid more than I made. All this is the right thing to do.

Simple as that.

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I have heard a lot of people say small sellers have shops outside of Amazon, so look for their shop oof Amazon and shop there. Well, we don’t maintain one because it’s just me, and I don’t have the time and energy to maintain a whole separate site.

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I already had a request for time off just to give myself a nice 3 day weekend and since it is winter, I will probably just stay at home. So I guess I’ll be participating in the blackout, albeit unintentionally.

I don’t think this would impact the company I work for given that things don’t start picking up for us in terms of volume for another month or so. If this was done a few months later and our customers actually participated it could be devastating as we’re a highly seasonal business.

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Seeing we haven’t had an order in 48 hours This doesn’t scare me much.

Now if they continued it on Feb 29. 30 and 31 we would really be in troublem :joy:

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Of course, the problem is that people will just go to that store on the 27th so that they boycott them on the 28th, and think that they are doing something.
The people who really care in any sort of protest don’t shop there at all, or only when there is no alternative.

We saw the same thing a few years back when there was a gas protest; no one buy gas on a certain day. So cars were backed up into the street the day before. No impact whatsoever on the total gas sold, just maybe a slight inconvenience for scheduling workers for the busier day.

Of course, my biggest concern about any sort of “blackout” is that I won’t even notice! Lately, a “zero” day is well within the range of sales I’m having.

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Well, lots of people are completely boycotting Amazon, as in unsubscribed from Prime and shopping elsewhere, so I don’t think it’s a temporary lull for many.

Though you are right about one day not being a big enough hit (because they can shop before or after) I think it’s more to show how much support they have for the cause, and also a way to get more people involved. It’s known that to get people to do big things, you have to start small. If you can get someone to hang a sign on their lawn, you can more easily persuade them to write a protest letter. If you can get them to write a letter, you are more likely to get them to march in a protest, and so on and so forth.

The small here is to stop buying for a day.

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As a bookseller, I am well aware of this. Many book sites encourage people to avoid Amazon, and support local independent bookstores. Which is not a bad thing, but overlooks the fact that Amazon is chock full of small independent bookstores, something I try to educate people on whenever I can.

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Just a couple of weeks back USA Today was singing the praises and touting the success of Prime.

Could there be a division among the usual segment of politically homogeneous Prime fans.

Or which set of PR flacks are spreading misinformation?

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For decades both Antiquarian Booksellers and Independent bookstores have actively made their loathing of Amazon obvious, and it failed to affect Amazon’s growth and success.

Given the increased laziness of the population, the success of Kindle and the increased costs of fulfillment and transportation, educating buyers is mostly a chance to satisfy our own sense of virtue.

IMO the most vehement Amazon haters sell on Amazon.

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Just to be clear, the Feb 28 event is a complete shopping blackout, while the March dates are Amazon-specific.

So theoretically, no retailer can escape the 28th, whether online or b&m–but Amazon Sellers have a bit of time to find a workaround for their Amazon shoppers in March (while also still being available for the folks who don’t boycott).

I’m not certain that the actual point is to stop buying completely or for consumers to embrace minimalism, but more to demonstrate the power that an organized act can have.

I know that in my personal conversations about AMAZON versus 3P Sellers on Amazon, the usual comeback (from admittedly educated consumers) is that, “But Amazon makes money on every sale, right?” Well, yes… :grimacing: The most passionate seem willing to hurt 3Ps collaterally if Amazon might also lose a chance to collect a fee. I’m not very certain that educating them more about this would change that.

As far as eBay flying under the radar, I suspect that it’s because two things: (1) eBay is not also a retailer, squeezing every last bit of profit out of Vendors, underselling a brand, or using unethical practices to compete with their own 3Ps; and (2) eBay does not manage fulfillment for 3Ps, no FBA, so there’s less confusion about 3Ps.

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Agreed. One couple I know, and run into at times while scouting, the husband has been in the biz for over 20 years, and hates Amazon; refuses to sell there. So the wife takes care of the Amazon part of the business.
Cognitive dissonance at its best.

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One of the services I seem to keep busy with is finding books for folks who for various reasons don’t know how/where or just would rather not be bothered, to find books on line, and buying on their behalf, adding a few bucks for my time. They tell me they wish to support a local (me) rather than that awful Amazon. But they’d like the cheapest copy I can find please. I don’t tell them that most of the time, Amazon has it new for less than 3P’s have to charge for used.

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Sellers, what are some quick pivots you can make for your shoppers to ease any of the squeeze?

I can’t really see a way around the blackout on the 28th for consumers who choose to participate, but for March, some alternative (non-Amazon) options are:

  • Pop up shop locally
  • Offer shopping deals via social media (e.g., both Instagram and Facebook offer integrated direct selling)
  • Set up your own website or order hotline
  • Partner online or in person with another retailer for sales (expect to give them a cut)
  • Run a pre-boycott special so that you have “extra” orders to carry you through the week
  • Add a new sales channel (e.g., eBay)
  • “Sidewalk sale” event at your warehouse
  • Offer free shipping (even a steadfast boycotter might not resist a good deal)

Obviously, if you are Amazon-only and not able to pivot, you could consider going on vacation, focusing on inventory management and cleaning up listings, make that a production-only week, market research, etc–all the backstage things that are part of ecommerce.

Either way, now is the time to plan so that your business harm is minimized.

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I’m uncertain how impactful these protests will end up.

Skipping an entire day of shopping will certainly hit companies on that day, but if consumers are just postponing their purchases to March 1st, I don’t think I care.

As for a more sustained boycott of Amazon, again I am skeptical. Amazon has been highly successful in altering consumers’ purchasing habits. Refusing to shop on Amazon would require consumers to either pay more, wait longer, or put in the time and effort to shop around instead of just logging into their Prime account. If buyers were willing to do that in the first place, Amazon would not have such a death grip on their marketshare.

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Yep!

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I’m definitely interested to see any data from Feb 27-March 1. That might determine any actions I personally take for March 7-14.

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