Even though now I am 100% Amazon-free in terms of spending habits business or not- I felt like the commitment to it was far overdue. What’s great is that an insane majority of the alternative market purchases have either been higher quality or less expensive OR BOTH. This isn’t something that greatly surprised me but was satisfying to say the least.
The key thing in being successful in refusing Amazon is time management.
That and like… the ability to endure web-research. It’s an invaluable skill to have in the current state of the net.
I’m a tad tired of seeing reels that start with “I don’t gatekeep” and end with an Amazon link with a kickback for things as basic as mailers and packaging. So I’ll start there.
Packaging – 3 / 20 / 26
I always end up referencing Refuse Uline for packaging resources. I know the focus is getting things outside of Amazon but Uline can eat shit also. Just in general- do not buy bubble or poly mailers on Amazon. Probably one of the worst financial decisions I’ve seen recommended in ‘guides’ and template content online.
I specifically use Value Mailers and East Coast Packaging for my supplies. I think one of the pushbacks has to do with a lot of the supplies being at minimum piece counts of 100+ but I promise it’s not that scary and the unit cost overall is what you should be looking at including shipping.
Sticker Acrylic Shelves – 3 / 20 / 26
I recently realized I needed new collapsible acrylic shelves for my stickers since I have more designs to display. I wanted to keep stickers to self-serve and the shelves I already had were purchased years ago, likely on Amazon. BUT I FOUND A PLACE THAT SELLS THE EXACT SAME ONES I NEEDED AND better yet- they have different shelving tiers which I would consider for half panel artist alley setups. Here is the link to the listing from Sassy Tip. They’re a beauty supply shop and they took around 2 weeks to ship from order date so it’s not instant but people need to get over that, see: time management comment. They sent me free mini flower hair claws which was cute. I can’t quite remember but I want to say- since I ordered 5 shelves the cost went down per unit.
Addition 3/27/26 – Had to use these shelves recently and they are a more flexible plastic not prone to crack/break NEARLY as much as the previous acrylic ones!!! Absolutely no buyer’s remorse.
Office / Packing Supply – 4 / 09 / 26
I remembered this as I was thinking about the sticker shelves- I get my packing tape and laminating sheets from Office Supply. There’s basically anything you can think of for office supply bulk and they ship fairly quickly. No huge notes on this, everything has arrived as expected and on packing tape (8 rolls) specifically this has been the best deal.
Magnets – 4 / 14 / 26
This one is a little weird and specific and not necessarily added with saving money in mind but- Magnet Shop kinda impressed me in a weird way? I’m getting magnets for a smaller project and they have pages where you can learn about different material magnet types and each type and size has an estimated weight/pull and it’s really conveniently laid out. The shipping was pretty fast too- around 3 days from ordering 3 different items, I got them to my door. If you’re looking for magnets for any reason- check em out.
Reusable Zip Ties – 4 / 14 / 26
Ok listen, I don’t care how many times people exclaim that zip ties are ‘ugly’ on displays and they want those diagonal connectors or whatever, grid connectors are my sworn enemy and what grid connector can slide 20 charms seamlessly onto a retail hook. Reusable zip ties are my ride-or-die, multi-purpose, nearly-necessary convention tool, you will not convince me otherwise.
Anyways I used CTAM for some 8 inch reusable ones and the ones I got are kinda thick and can hold 50lbs but I probably did not need to get that cause I’d prefer them to be much more flexible and thin so I’m going to order a different type- but I can say the price point is good and the shipping is decent.
More to add in the future.