Better World Books: An Experience and a Dabble
Bowing to the ubiquitous presence of corporate, surveillance capitalism-based fiends of the business world can seem like an inevitable future that some see no alternative to. There is a light in the dark, actually a whole bunch of them, actually. I hvae been migrating my digital world away from places like Facebook, Google (yep, Android can be run with minimal data going to them and Google Play Services denied all permissions) and Twitter. The latest victim of my corporate purge: Amazon.
Amazon are well-known for treating their workers like utter crap (the strike on Prime Day was a good thing [https://anon.to/oU8SOj]). They have also contributed to the demise of a number of independent and local sellers, along with buying up just about any online book resource they can get their filthy hands on (Goodreads was a good place...not now, along with shares in Book Depository and LibraryThing). All in all, one might be forgiven for thinking Amazon is something akin to a virulent anal infection.
I have just made my first order from Better World Books (https://www.betterworldbooks.com/), a company whose very business model is making a difference in the lives of under-privileged and poorer groups. For each book purchased, Better World Books donates a book to aid organisations and more. With free shipping globally, used and new books are sold with very clear descriptions of the conditions that you can expect them to be in.
While the website might not have the polish of Amazon's, it is a hell of a lot better than Book Depository's and that without the nausea of knowing that you have just added a bit of profit to those A-Level pricks. The website is well designed and is easily used. From the relative simplicity of it, the website offers a very smooth on-boarding and shopping experience.
The more observant might see that the reviews are sourced from Goodreads and Better World does sell via Amazon. However, they are not part of Amazon and no profit goes to that company from your purchases. This was a huge plus on my part, as I am loathe to even have Amazon track me across the web.
For a shopping experience, Better World Books is awesome and they are very responsive to enquiries. I was definitely impressed with their level of service. Now, I am just waiting for the delivery time and the books themselves. I may actually remember to post an update when the books arrive.