I never understood why it’s looked down upon to purchase goods from online retailers and big department stores, especially if it’s significantly cheaper. Local businesses up charge their goods like crazy to stay afloat, but I’m not a rich man. Why in the world should I pay more from my own pocket to help support your local business?
If you own a bookstore, coffee shop (and sell an $8 cold brew because it’s “organic and home made”), record store, clothing store (selling name brands) and you decide to up charge because you need to stay afloat, I am 100% without shame going to find the best price, and if it’s Amazon, then praise Amazon. Your business can go out of business for all I care. Owning a local business for the sake of having a local business when there are department stores and online retailers selling for nearly half of the price you’re selling, that is an incredibly stupid investment.
Bookstores especially are the absolute worst. I’m not paying 39.99 full cover price of the latest Stephen King book at your local business when Amazon is selling it for 18.99.
The question is do you want that business to remain around? I buy things from the local hardware store because they have weird things in stock that I can get in 15 minutes if I need it. I want that business to stay around so I will pay a little extra even if I don’t need today’s thing now. As a kid I remember cheering when WalMart came in and ran several local business out of town - the ones that combined high prices with worse customer service (worse customer service than WalMart!) I say good riddance to.