CONSUMER POWER: Use Yours This Holiday Season And Every Other Day

Another holiday season is approaching and the time has come to drop hundreds or even thousands of your hard earned dollars for gifts. So with all this money flying around, I ask you, where is your power going? With Black Friday ahead of us, another chaotic weekend of bargain shopping at the big box stores, millions of dollars worth of power is gone.

So I ask, why not put your power back into the hands of small businesses around the country, better yet, in the community in which you live. If we all took a chunk of our holiday shopping and spent our money in smaller businesses, our message would be clear. The classes are divided by consumers and only consumers have the power to change that.

ETSY.COM

For a platform of thousands of local and further away specialty small shops, this is the place to go. You can literally find everything for everyone, because the diversity is vast. I found a personalized World of Warcraft plague for an obsessed mother, vintage Dracula book for a brother, custom made dice bag for a D and D enthusiast and the prettiest handmade locket for a Grandmother. I personally did about 80 percent of my Christmas shopping this way and the best part is I decide where my money goes. I would rather it to the hands of small business owners around the country, then in Wal-Mart corporation for generic gifts that most of us pass by on those stocked shelves. Buying from small businesses in a platform like this, also guarantee unique gifts that will surprise and awe the recipient.

FLEA MARKETS

This platform can be found in most states and ensures your money is going more locally and once again you can find gems that are found no where else. Flea markets are good for crafts and other hand made goods, as well as antiques and so much more. This is a better venue if a shopper wants the tactile shopping approach. Flea markets are also known for their great deals, so holding on to a little of that hard earned dough wouldn’t hurt. You can buy something extravagant, like a gallon of gas or something.

FARMERS MARKETS

To save even more of that hard earned dough, buy fresh local ingredients from a farmer’s market and make Christmas gifts with love and personalized to each recipient, Still this keeps the money local and in small business hands, while you save a bundle and produce gifts that your friends and family will love

LOCAL SHOPS

Local shops in each little town, all hold a treasure just waiting to be found. If it is your local craft store where you get yarn to make all your loved ones scarves or a comic book store where you find your nephew’s favorite character. Yes, you have to go to more than one shop, but in this way you get such a larger selection and less generic gifts. Each shop will have its own personality and range of gifts and all you have to do is find the right one. Make shopping a treat again and spend the day combing local fares around you. Stop and talk to shop owners, chances are you will see them around town. Know who your money power is going to, in a capitalist world, money is power.