Posts: 105
Threads: 37
Joined: Jan 2011
I find that Island Naturals charges a lot more on organic goods then getting it in bulk by subscription from Amazon. i buy almost all of my dry organic goods that way. I end up saving 30 to 50 percent off of what i would buy from Island Naturals. I did the calculations and even if you order from Island Naturals by the 25 -50 lb bags, its still cheaper to go by way of Amazon on organic dry goods.
p.s just bought a bunch of natural black licorice candy from amazon for half the price of Islands. Coconut oil in large jars, half the price of Islands. If Islands would charge reasonably, i would shop there as i would like to support local economy but they way, way overcharge on so many items. there really is no reason for it other then they got a virtual monopoly on this island so they think they can get away with high prices. Thank god for Amazon, that is all i can say.
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
I have a good friend who has been working for over a year as a "temp" for Amazon in one of their shipping warehouses. Those low prices come on the backs of an abused and underpaid workforce. Amazon has taken advantage of the high unemployment rate in her community to keep people in virtual serfdom, working as temps for 6 months at a time, laid off for a month, then hired back as temps again. No heat in the winter, no AC in the summer, 12 hour shifts and the constant terror of being laid off if you don't handle enough widgets every shift. The mind games management plays with the workers are mind boggling. Many of their employees are paid so little they are eligible for food stamps, even while working full time. So the tax payers are subsidizing those low prices by feeding the workers' families.
Island Naturals has the overhead of full time employees who get health insurance, retail buildings and facilities to maintain, and has Hawaii State and county taxes to pay. Each person has to make their own mind up about how to spend their money, but don't fool yourself about how Amazon can offer such low prices, they do it by screwing a work force in a state with double digit unemployment who are desperate to hold onto any job, no matter how bad it is.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 105
Threads: 37
Joined: Jan 2011
Carol,
i don't think Amazon's prices are any lower then any other Mainland competitors, but they are FAR lower then the Island Naturals. i am not sure how Amazon treats its employees as i have never heard anyone ever in the News complaining unlike say Apple where you here their work force being abused, so i have to take it with a grain of salt until i hear more about it.
i just find it despicable that i can go anywhere virtually online like even Vitacost. com and order a big jar of Coconut oil for 20 bucks plus 5 dollars shipping but at Island Naturals the same exect size of coconut oil is 40 dollars plus tax! that to me is outrageous difference. and yes that's great that everyone gets their insurance at Island Naturals and nice work space, but i don't want to subsidize the Island Natural's Owners new Mercedes Bens ether with my hart earned, no insurance, currently looking for work dollars! Till then i be buying at Amazon or any other online retailer that can provide a fair price.
Posts: 105
Threads: 37
Joined: Jan 2011
One more thing i forgot to add Carol,
everything it seems on this island is more money, a crappy broken down car at 100k miles is double that of the mainland. when i calculate what would be an honest and appropriate price to buy this car for or most things here on this island, it never makes any sense why prices here are so high. and yes i include the cost of shipping here. I been in business all my life, in all types of capacities, and i can tell you now, most everything here is overpriced, most everything here is inflated and it is only because we are on a small island with little to NO competition. so many businesses feel they can jack up the price and there isn't anyone to step in and really drive the prices down. low population, hence no interest of businesses stepping in and truly competing, that the truth of it. another problem here is good old boys club political mentality. why do you think we haven't gotten a Costco on this side of the island? its damn status quo that wants to keep things the way it is, hence we all on this side of the island are paying higher prices for food.
i recently put in a filtration system for my house. i shopped around on the island, invited mom and pop businesses to give me a quote, and you know what? i ended up buying the system from the mainland and saved myself 40 percent. so buying it from mom and pop here as oppose to buying it from mainland is 40 percent cheaper even with shipping. and no i didn't buy from amazon. no competition, hence the inflated prices just because we live on a very special rock.
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 180
Threads: 20
Joined: Sep 2010
There are usually - at the very least - two sides to every story, and sometimes even more.
I'm not so sure that the level of criticism leveled at Amazon is 100% accurate. I have retired mainland friends who are also live and travel full time in their RVs. They all make extra money working temporarily for Amazon at various locations throughout the year. The Christmas season is particularly lucrative for them. Each group has a designed Amazon warehouse where they report and work the seasonal rush year after year.
They have always told me that the work can be hard, but the money and working conditions are good. Not one of them has ever complained about working for Amazon and they all do it on a yearly bases.
An unsubstantiated story going around also says that one of the newspapers that initially published unflattering stories about Amazon's treatment of its employees also named Amazon as one of the top employers in the area in a subsequent issue.
Curiouser and curiouser...
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
There is a big difference between doing something for a few months and doing it for years. Plus your friends are not dependent on their jobs for health insurance I would guess.
The point I am trying to make is that Amazon's low prices come at a price, and people should be honest with themselves about why a store with permanent employees with health benefits and a retail storefront operating in Hawaii would have higher prices than an unheated warehouse with all "temp" employees in the midwest somewhere.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 1,168
Threads: 39
Joined: Jun 2005
Of course you're right Carol. But in the end, most folks are going to do what's best for them--rightly or wrongly.
Those who can afford to support local businesses will do so. Those who can't won't.
We found that drugstore.com sells certain vitamins and supplements at less than half price than the Natural Store, so we buy accordingly. (No idea how this organization treats its employees.) Still, we give NS some of our business because they do have some great products (lilikoi cheesecake to name one 
Coconut oil IS expensive. We're going to try making it ourselves as we've got lots of mature coconut trees raining coconuts down on us. Will let you know our results.
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
Posts: 105
Threads: 37
Joined: Jan 2011
Carol,
most of your clothes come from china. even brand name american stuff is now made in china. chinese treat their workers like crap. are you going to stop wearing all your clothes now because the chinese worker is treated like a slave? you make no sense. Amazon is like any other business, it does its best, and may be it isn't the most ethical out of the bunch, but it isn't the worst in the bunch. if you feel like paying double for everything you put on your plate, you go ahead since you got the money for it. plenty of rich people on this island can afford outrageous prices at IN. others who can't, wont, that is all there is to it.
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
Mary,
Actually I buy American made clothing almost entirely, although that is beside the point.
You were accusing Russell Rudderman of profiteering. I was making the point that Amazon is far worse, it gets those low prices you love so much through low overhead by paying low wages and not providing health insurance to their employees, something Island Naturals does provide for its employees. Again: a business paying its employees a living wage with health insurance and running a retail storefront paying Hawaii business taxes has much higher overhead than a warehouse in Indiana with mostly "temp" employees with no benefits.
I am not rich by any means, I am the primary breadwinner for my household on a Hawaii teacher's salary which has gone down, not up, over the last 7 years, but I also don't go around accusing a local businessman who provides probably close to 100 local family wage jobs on this island of scamming his customers because his prices are higher than an exploitative multi-national company who hires mostly "temps" with no benefits. We all make our own choices about how to spend our money, I economize where I can, but I also try to make my money work in the local economy as much as I can. I also don't fool myself about who I am supporting when I buy a water jug at walmart.
Carol
edited to fix an early morning typo
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
|
