Don’t be silly. Of course Amazon has building and staff etc.
The difference is that one Amazon building serves hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of customers. They serve far more customers than could ever physically even fit into those buildings to even just pick up the books that they’ve ordered. Imagine the line that would form if all they had to do is walk through and just grab the book and walk out the other door.
Now compare that to any of the brick and mortar stores with a couple of cashiers who even have time to chat with the customers. Not only do they have to ship just a few books at a time to each store, they even have to provide a paved parking lot for their customers. Amazon only has to provide parking for the employees. Each employee serves thousands of cusomters per day instead of just a few hundred.
The building and labor cost for Amazon is but a small fraction of what the brick and mortar guys spend. I’ll bet the book-density at an Amazon building is at least ten times what it is at brick and mortar.
Most people are a lot smarter than you may be giving them credit for.
The end game is that the states and cities are deep in the red, and they will tax anything. Illinois is threatening to fine people who live in state but gas up over the borders. Other cities have tried to levy a wheel tax on people who work in town, but live out of town.
So we should keep buggy whip makers in business?
Efficiency in business operations brings lower costs. Those dollars saved can be spent supporting other businesses.
I try to buy local. Often what is offered for sale locally is overpriced, no better quality than what I could get from Amazon. Plus I have to get to the store before they close up shop for the evening.