Indie Bookstores Aren't For Everyone

If you spend enough time immersed in the online book community, you'll notice that people who support independent bookstores are a passionate group. If you aren't buying from an indie, you are destroying the lives of book lovers everywhere. If you actually dare to imply that Amazon or big box stores are better than indies, you'll most likely be faced with argument after argument until you quietly back down. They won't change your mind and you'll continue to shop where you want, but you'll be a lot more wary of voicing your opinion a second time.

Vocal indie bookstore supporters believe their cause is a noble one and try to convert unbelievers much like a religious cult. What they don't seem to grasp is that those of us that shop elsewhere do so on purpose. They lay the guilt on thick. People losing their jobs. Less money into the local economy. Knowledgeable staff. Visiting authors. We hear their points, we understand where they're coming from, but what they don't grasp is that their preaching drives us away just as much as other factors.

Reasons I don't shop indie:

• Price: This is the big one. Indie bookstores charge more than Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Walmart. I'm not made of money. I'm getting the same exact book no matter where I buy it, so to me it seems stupid to spend $20 when I can get the same product for $12.
• Selection: Amazon has everything. Indie bookstores don't. While it's nice that they'll order the book for me, I can do that myself, at home, in my pajamas, at 3am.
• Convenience: I'm not driving 3 towns over, when I can go to Barnes & Noble right up the road. Or I can even stay home and order online. 

My counterarguments to the guilt inducing preaching you get from indie supporters:

• People losing their jobs: Cry me a river. They can go work at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Walmart. Why should I be inconvenienced and price-raped just so someone I don't know gets to keep their job?
• Less money in the local economy: Barnes & Noble and Walmart are in my town. That's my local economy. The last remaining indie, three towns over, isn't even in my county. 
• Knowledgeable staff: I don't need a knowledgeable staff. I need a staff that'll leave me alone to shop in peace. I don't ask the title of a book when all I know is that the cover is yellow with green writing on it. I can Google that shit. 
• Visiting authors: Um, yeah, we get those at Barnes & Noble. And the library. 
• Community support: Yes, indie bookstores will donate something to your kids school's charity auction. Barnes & Noble does that here too. They also do charity nights where a percentage of every book sold goes towards the local schools. That's a lot more money than any indie can afford to give.
• A safe community meeting place: Once again, Barnes & Noble is safe. So is my library. If we want to have book club meetings or story time for the little ones, we can do those things at either. 

I'm continually confused as to why anyone chooses an indie over Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Costco, or the myriad of other book buying options. Other than the ability to shame others with the moral superiority that comes with buying indie, I don't see how I'm missing out on anything.

Do you shop indie? Why or why not?