Amazon may have been cheap but now it's convenient. Of course I would prefer that Amazon is as competitive as possible. However, as mentioned by others, the ti

Amazon may have been cheap but now it's convenient. Of course I would prefer that Amazon is as competitive as possible. However, as mentioned by others, the time savings of going to a store vs. shopping online justifies a little extra cost to me. Amazon solves a few other problems too: * Security: The more online stores I use, the higher my risk of identify theft. Amazon isn't perfect, but they both have more resources and more incentive (higher stakes) to protect my information than small online retailers. One tradeoff that must be balanced is that Amazon knows more about me. Note that if Bitcoin were more widely accepted, and retailers collected less personal information, the security offered by Amazon would be less important. * Selection: Amazon doesn't have every product available, but it does have more selection than most retail stores. I tend to look for high value (high quality to cost ratio) products because I want things that work well and last long. It's often difficult or impossible to find the same selection at local stores.