netopiax

I realized after I commented, you probably meant "check out Stockton" but it says "our". That's why i thought maybe it was your dept. Nevermind!

I'm not u/H4rr1s0n but I also avoid Amazon buying for the same reasons - partly their working conditions but mostly because it's full of so much bad quality merchandise now, plus the bad merchandise always has hundreds of fake reviews. If Amazon cared about its customers they could fix those fake reviews in a heartbeat.

For food - Target, or try Shipt which does delivery from various local sources - or order groceries from your local store - or Costco. (Costco is pretty much the only store I go to in person anymore).

Electronics - B&H Photo Video, Monoprice, Newegg, and EBay.

Random junk that you don't really need - LPT don't buy that stuff - but also, Home Depot is surprisingly great online, also eBay of course. Most of the aforementioned cheap knockoffs are available on eBay for slightly cheaper than on Amazon IME, and the vendors make slightly more money in the process.

You might have accidentally said what city you're from at the end there unless I'm misunderstanding. Thanks for the AMA I don't really have a question but I know I'll enjoy reading it

I think Prime is the answer - it made people feel like they had to order from Amazon to get their money's worth, and offered faster shipping for free than had been previously available. Once they get to be default, then the experience can decline and prices can creep up. I was definitely in Amazon default mode 2 years ago and had to make a concentrated effort to break out of it, but I am glad I did.

Good idea: ask recruiters to share a recording from one of their calls once a week, talk about how it went, and have the group give feedback

Your CEO probably heard that idea but has no idea how to give feedback