To Buy or Not To Buy?

Yes. Buy it all. Buy it on sale. Buy it to see a loved one light up when they unwrap it. Buy it because you see a good deal and have a serious need in your life. As someone who does mental gymnastics to avoid being sucked into allegedly “useful” Instagram purchases, I still find it tiring when I have to search so hard to find a small or Black owned business. It feels like an extra step in the already tiresome holiday shopping experience. With the biggest shopping days right around the corner, I wanted to share some helpful tips on how I do my shopping.

Buying from a small business is a reminder that the dollars that you spend aren’t going into some corporate well. Many of these companies include small notes of appreciation, a coupon for your second purchase and other small personalized tokens. The dollars you spend at small businesses have a direct effect on the owners and their employees, it feels like you are supporting the cause directly - because you are.

How do we resolve this problem of finding these small businesses?
1) I recommend starting your shopping research extra early to accommodate for longer shipping times. Make your list today.

2) Ask your friends and family what their favorite small businesses are and what do they buy from them?

3) Use Etsy! They are all about supporting small businesses and offer shipping time upfront on items.

3) Use AMAZON! Yes you already buy soo much there. Amazon has done the work for you by creating a special landing page to shop Black Businesses.

You can search for specific items under the Black Owned Small Businesses Page. Maybe you could find 50% of your gifts on this side of Amazon, they have everything you can think of from smaller stocking stuffer type gifts to homemade skincare.

Important Tip: I always recommend reading the reviews before shopping with any new business on Amazon. You may like what you find and replace one of your regular brands with a small business.

*Below I have included a couple of businesses that I support who have their own websites.

Crownned.com has a variety of great quality and design head wraps. They ship quickly, wash well and are a great go-to when you don’t feel like styling your hair.