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+--- Thread: How do you ethically feel about SE'ing smaller stores? (/Thread-How-do-you-ethically-feel-about-SE-ing-smaller-stores)
How do you ethically feel about SE'ing smaller stores? - IDontCareAboutIt - 02-10-2023
I've always been kind of hesitant of working with smaller websites. Although i've seen in person how much mistakes are made during packing/shipping progress in smaller businesses.
RE: How do you ethically feel about SE'ing smaller stores? - kyungchul - 02-10-2023
(02-10-2023, 11:39 AM)IDontCareAboutIt Wrote: I've always been kind of hesitant of working with smaller websites. Although i've seen in person how much mistakes are made during packing/shipping progress in smaller businesses.
It depends on what we're meaning by "smaller" websites/businesses. (There are "independent" shops/small businesses that make hefty profits each year, are not individual sellers/starting up/working with limited resources, which I think is a bit different than a true "small business" or independent seller. If that makes any sense.)
I personally do not SE genuine small businesses/small time sellers.
You'll find different takes on this - as was shown in a thread about ripping off Etsy sellers - and everyone is entitled to their own moral code and opinion on the matter.
The way I see it:
- [*A small business/independent seller/shop does not necessarily have the money, insurance, or other resources to make up for the loss when they are SE'd, whereas a major corporation will barely feel the impacts of an SEing loss, if at all (might be insured, etc.)]
[*The loss caused by SEing a small business/independent seller/shop might mean the difference between that person paying their rent, putting food on the table, or providing for essentials. I can't feel "good" about harming someone in that way for something that is not a necessity to me, and I don't personally believe in stepping on the "little guy" to get ahead.
(And, as someone who has always lived in poverty, and who has sold through eBay, Etsy, etc. to get by/try to build myself up in the past, I can tell you - being ripped off and having no recourse to get your items/time/money back can hit you pretty damn hard in more than a few ways.)]
[*There are so many major corporations out there that you can SE, it just really isn't needed. You can always SE a big business, sell the items, and then use that money to buy from a small seller. It's not like it's your only option.]
Someone in a different thread tried to argue that "refunding big stores is causing them to raise their prices, meaning people in poverty can't afford those items" - this is a really... weak argument.
There is no evidence that we are seeing any kind of massive, measurable price increases in real time related to SEing, and quite frankly, the majority - not saying all - of items people are SEing are considered "luxury" or "non-essential" items in the first place, so arguing that an impoverished person - which plenty of us who are SEing are/have been, by the way - is somehow not going to afford something like Airpods because people keep SEing Apple and Amazon, and that therefore means that screwing over a small business is okay is... weak.
I don't feel the need to justify my SEing, and I am well aware that there is technically no "victimless crime" - however, I feel that "ethically" I do not have a problem with SEing large corporations, but draw a line for myself with "the little guy" because I do not feel "right" about directly stepping on an individual - who is doing their best to get by, and doesn't have the resources a major company does.
RE: How do you ethically feel about SE'ing smaller stores? - mothered - 02-10-2023
Never target Individual sellers nor stores on a small scale.
Financial loss due to deception can be costly - both for business and their personal lives.