They call it the 'Amazon diet': Why some shoppers are breaking up with the retail giant and its 'constant shopping temptation.'

At first, it was just the occasional gift. But over time Amy found herself buying more and more: furniture, household staples, even clothes. Then she had kids — welcoming her first baby in March 2020, just as the world was shutting down, no less — and it became “so convenient to [shop] without ever having to leave the house.” Before she knew it, Amy had entered “the Zon.”

“The Zon” is what Amy, a dance instructor based in Minnesota’s Twin Cities who asked to not share her last name, and her family call Amazon, the online marketplace and streaming service that, she says, has “really taken over how we as a society shop.” Each week marked the arrival of a new brown box or padded mailer delivered to her door.

But no more. Last summer, her family ended their Prime membership, the $14.99-per-month subscription offering grocery discounts, free next-day deliveries and access to Amazon Originals running the gamut from Thursday Night Football to the Anne Hathaway rom-com The Idea of You. It hasn’t been a clean break — there are some products she hasn’t been able to find elsewhere — but Amy says she hasn’t shopped “the Zon” since buying a special laundry spray at the beginning of January.

“We wanted to see how we could change our spending and where we shop without it,” Amy tells Yahoo Life. Since her Prime purge, she’s been shopping in person at local businesses, getting books from the library, sourcing used items from Buy Nothing groups and … just not rushing to get new stuff.

While Amazon Prime reportedly boasts a mind-boggling 180 million subscribers in the U.S. alone, some say they’re going on an “Amazon diet.” That’s what Burnt Toast podcasters Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay dubbed their own 30-day break from the e-tailer, which this week faces calls for a shopping blackout (“no Amazon purchases, no Whole Foods, no Prime orders,” reads an FAQ) from the organizers behind last week’s No Buy Day.

But what is it really like to give up — or at least scale back — the comforts of Amazon? Here’s what shoppers who have taken the plunge say about the pros and cons of going without instant gratification shopping.

The why behind the no-buy

There are a number of factors driving folks to sign off from their Amazon accounts. Amber, a Dallas-based mom who had spent about five years shopping Amazon weekly for home essentials and body products, cites two: the hassle of returning products that didn’t work out and Jeff Bezos. No longer comfortable with supporting Bezos’s business due to ideological differences, she started cutting back a few years ago and “completely stopped buying on Amazon” last year.

Julie George, meanwhile, is simply trying to be a more conscious consumer. The Austin, Texas-based host of The Brown Girl Podcast became an Amazon shopper in 2009 when she bought a college textbook online. “Over the years, I’ve gone through phases — from receiving packages almost daily due to late-night impulse buys to now using it much more selectively,” she tells Yahoo Life.

George’s decision to cancel her Prime membership was motivated in part by a “growing awareness of the environmental consequences of overconsumption.” Also, she simply had too much stuff. Moving cross-country and packing up her life — including all the things she’d bought for a “fleeting thrill,” then banished to her junk drawer — was a “wake-up call to how easily I had been caught up in consumerism,” George says.

“I found the Prime ‘Buy Now’ buttons with free shipping made it way too easy to impulse buy,” she adds. “It was like having VIP access to constant shopping temptation.”

That echoes Amy’s “Zon” experience. “It was so easy to be influenced by people online or feel like we needed something right away,” she says. “For us to be able to click, add to cart, purchase and have it at our house within 24 hours was instant gratification. A lot of times these items weren't really things that we needed or … ended up using long-term.”

Even some of the shopping influencers who regularly directed their readers to their favorite Amazon buys are, to quote writer Caroline Moss in a recent post for her Gee Thanks! Substack, “rethinking [their] relationship” with the retailer. While Moss hasn’t quit Amazon completely, she’s told her community she’s “trying to be more thoughtful” about how she engages with it, citing concerns about pricing, lackluster deals, the compulsion to buy “stuff for stuff’s sake” and generally feeling like “a cog in a Big Bezos Money Grab.”

So … how’s it going?

Amber says her Amazon purge has been pretty seamless, and she hasn’t had any issues finding the items she was buying elsewhere.

While Amy still relies on Amazon for her favorite laundry spray, she otherwise relishes the challenge of taking her time to source items she once just popped in her virtual shopping cart in seconds. It gives her family the opportunity to “really reflect on if it's a need or a want,” she notes. “If it's a want — great! It's just been nice to pause before purchasing.”

Another perk: Fewer packages coming into the home means fewer boxes to break down for recycling. “[It] is a small thing but something that definitely added to my to-do list,” she says.

Amy’s family also recently survived their first Christmas without those tantalizing seasonal sales or down-to-the-wire deliveries. “This Christmas it was nice to shop in person more again and spend our money at local stores that we love and want to succeed,” she shares. “I even convinced my extended family to use a different app to share Christmas wish lists; in the past we have always shared Amazon lists.”

Life without Amazon Prime is “slightly less convenient,” admits George, “but I’ve come to appreciate how it encourages me to slow down and be more intentional with my purchases.” Like Amy, she’s more mindful about whether she really needs something.

George no longer has free Prime shipping, but she does have a workaround for those times when she has to buy off Amazon as a last resort. “Amazon does give free shipping for orders over $35, so if I want something, I add it to my cart and usually wait to add more things over time to reach the $35 free shipping limit,” she says. “I found that usually gives me enough time to reflect, change my mind if I need to or confirm I actually do want and need that item.”

But it’s one thing to cancel Prime, and another to leave Amazon for good. “I think it would be tough to quit entirely, especially for last-minute needs,” George says. The site has been “a lifesaver” for the bulk orders and specialty items required for the events she regularly organizes. And while she’s had her share of Amazon regrets — bold pandemic leggings come to mind — she’s also found some treasures too, like her favorite kitchen organizers. “While I did search for alternatives from other places, I wasn’t able to find anything that matched the style and price point from Amazon.”

Does it matter?

According to Google Trends, search interest in “no buy” is at an all-time high amid growing interest in “underconsumption core.” (For those not on TikTok, it’s a rise in people showing off the things they’re making do with instead of buying something: an old car that’s paid off, coffee at home versus Starbucks, etc.)

Manoj Thomas, a professor of marketing and management at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and an expert in consumer behavior, tells Yahoo Life that he’s observed “a shift in tastes, with a noticeable rise in conscious consumption as people turn to socially conscious brands.” He also acknowledges that millennials and Gen Z-ers appear to be less interested in “owning material goods” and more keen to spend their money on experiences.

But none of that is really shaking things up. “Trends like minimalism and frugal living have yet to go mainstream, and consumption culture remains dominant,” Thomas says.

So, too, does Amazon, which Thomas says has “changed consumer behavior in more ways than people realize” thanks to its convenience, low prices, free shipping, streaming services and more. While he’s seen social media posts complaining about Amazon, he doesn’t think “it has materially affected [posters’] shopping behaviors,” pointing to the retailer’s “handsome” revenue and profit growth.

“I reckon that even shoppers who are displeased with Amazon’s ideology continue to shop there because of low prices and convenience,” he adds. “While shoppers might take strong positions in sociomoral debates [at] cocktail parties, their shopping decisions seem to be guided by more practical considerations. Price and convenience often trump ideological considerations.”

But for shoppers (or non-shoppers, as it were) like Amy who are sticking to their guns, cutting the cord has been transformative. It “feels great to cut back,” she says. “We don't need as much stuff as we think. … Things have gotten expensive and cutting back on Amazon has been a great way to save money and be able to put that money towards other things.” She adds, “I do not need to make the rich richer.”