I just had to write a blog about Amazon’s digital rape with my response after their latest stunt. The Libra in me desires for people to be treated with fairness, which is why I stopped buying from them many years ago. Personally, I can’t buy from someone who has:

• Double standards.
• Ever-changing policies.
• Hidden agendas.
• Treats people badly (employees, drivers, vendors, authors, customers…)

Small Business Stores

Before I go into Amazon’s digital rape with my response, let me explain why small businesses want their own stores and not deal with Amazon.

• The owner has full control over how they run their business.
• Amazon doesn’t take a sizeable chunk of its profit.
• They make higher profits.
• They might get the customer’s permission to be on their mailing list.
• The customers can view all their products.
• Customers can contact the owner with any comments or concerns about their order.
• Businesses can establish loyal customer bases.
• They can build a solid reputation.

Amazon’s Digital Rape

When I read several articles about Amazon’s latest stunt, it made me outraged! They took it upon themselves to be the middleman without notifying small businesses and asking for their permission to be on their Buy for Me. Meaning that Amazon uses AI to find small businesses’ products and lists them on their site, and expects them to go through the hassle to opt out of something they never asked to be on! Meanwhile, they’re after Perplexity AI for doing this with their site! WTF!

The article that describes this problem best is from the International Business Times. Here’s a paragraph on how it affects small businesses:

However, critics contend that the opt-out model unfairly shifts the burden onto retailers who never consented. For many small business owners, the issue isn’t visibility but control—especially when stock levels, pricing, or product details are misrepresented.

My Response to Amazon’s Digital Rape

I was horrified by how this affects small business owners who work hard, and this corporation attempts to get a slice of the pie! Yet, I knew this was another difficult lesson of learning unconditional love for myself and others.

Then I posted in the Wide for the Win group on Facebook to alert authors of this stunt. My next move was to check to see if Amazon had my products from Pamela Cummins Bookstore on Buy For Me. Whew, not there.

My Next Steps

Because of Amazon’s digital rape actions, I took my latest four eBooks out of Kindle! What a marvelous feeling it was! Customers can buy paperbacks of these books on Amazon because they’re distributed through Ingram Spark print-on-demand. I left three of my older eBooks there because they are only available in the ePub format.

FYI, I never uploaded the free eBook Got Dreams? Discover Your Ideal Dream Journal because of the constant nightmare of Amazon repeatedly changing the free price to $2.99 so they can make a profit.

Benefits of Amazon’s Digital Rape

Benefits? Yes, there’s a silver lining. I don’t have to worry about Amazon price matching my eBooks since I took them off of Kindle. Now I can lower their price at Pamela Cummins’ Bookstore since I make a higher profit there while giving my customers a discount!

FYI, in February 2026, IngramSpark is raising the cost of print-on-demand, and authors have no choice but to increase their prices at bookstores who take a large percentage of the profit. My paperback prices won’t be going up at my bookstore.

What are your thoughts on Amazon’s digital rape? Does this affect your small business?