I'm in a quandary. I try to be an ethical customer but I'm not sure I can always live up to that ideal.
I don't want to give details but I have a few hobbies and interests, not just cycling. As part of this I believe in supporting the small retailers at much as I can. So I placed a special order for an item that's not easily found in other stores. One that had to be specially ordered in by the retailer. I found out I can buy from a few other retailers and even the brand who makes (markets) the item.
Now I know I'll get it quicker direct from the brand. I also know the delay is due to the brand being out of stock. I have a deadline that I think both the little retailer and the brand can meet but the retailer might be right down to the day before I need it.
My soul says keep the faith. My brain says cancel and go direct.
My question to you is do you have ethics with your buying habits. What are your limits before ethics go out of the window?
Ethics of Purchasing
Re: Ethics of Purchasing
Applying ethics to purchasing is something I think we all should do. But you yourself make up your own rules for that.
Supporting local businesses is something I do too, and I do sometimes pay a little more to help keep a local retailer in business. There is some self-interest in there too, of course, because it means the retailer continues to make the high street an attractive vibrant place to be and he/she is there when I really need them. But there is also the community thing.
But you and I both have families and cannot afford to waste too much money, so balances have to be struck. And in your example you also have to be kind to yourself sometimes and if something important to your happiness requires temporarily compromising your support for local traders, that can be justified. You have a bias towards local traders, which is your gift to them, but where that punishes you too much you can, if you choose, justify going elsewhere. It is for you to decide where you strike the balance.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4620165 ... 6?hl=en-GB
A nearby hardware store that I shop from whenever I have an excuse.
Supporting local businesses is something I do too, and I do sometimes pay a little more to help keep a local retailer in business. There is some self-interest in there too, of course, because it means the retailer continues to make the high street an attractive vibrant place to be and he/she is there when I really need them. But there is also the community thing.
But you and I both have families and cannot afford to waste too much money, so balances have to be struck. And in your example you also have to be kind to yourself sometimes and if something important to your happiness requires temporarily compromising your support for local traders, that can be justified. You have a bias towards local traders, which is your gift to them, but where that punishes you too much you can, if you choose, justify going elsewhere. It is for you to decide where you strike the balance.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4620165 ... 6?hl=en-GB
A nearby hardware store that I shop from whenever I have an excuse.