EL PASO, Tx., December 5, 2025: A report released this month by the Institute For Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) found that the City of El Paso and the Ysleta Independent School District (YISD) spent almost $2 million on purchases though Amazon bypassing local providers. ILSR researched the public purchasing records from 128 governmental bodies for its report analyzing the effects Amazon has on the taxpayers’ monies and local businesses.
The report singled out two El Paso governmental bodies: the City of El Paso and YISD. According to the report, the city spent $758,314 with Amazon in 2023. YISD, on the other hand, spent slightly over $1 million in 2023.
The ILSR seeks to fight “corporate giants like Amazon and Walmart,” according to its About Page on its website. ILSR released the report: Turning Public Money into Amazon’s Profits, this week. The report argues that “Amazon has quietly captured a growing share of government purchasing.” According to the report, in 2023, government agencies “spent $2.2 billion with Amazon.”
The report says that not only does government reliance on Amazon for purchases helps Amazon monopolize government procurement, but it ends up costing taxpayers more through higher costs and fake products. The report points to several issues with governments doing business with Amazon, including “driving out” local businesses that help support the tax base in the city.
A strong commercial tax base is essential to lifting the tax burden on El Paso’s homeowners.
The problem, in addition to driving out local businesses, is that Amazon’s algorithmic pricing allows Amazon to adjust pricing continuously. The “dynamic pricing” ends up having the same product sold to different government entities at two different prices. An example, according to the report, is how one city paid $8.99 for a box of Sharpie markers, while the school district next door paid $28.63 for the same Sharpie box.
Traditional purchasing agreement places a public price on a product that is available to all governmental bodies equally, while Amazon’s automated pricing prices products differently for each entity and even between purchases. That is not the only problem for government purchasers.
The second issue found by the ILSR’s investigation is that many of the products it sells to governmental bodies are “fake or mislabeled.” El Paso Office Supplies owner, Sandy Grodin, told ILSR that “Amazon was selling” Avery 5160 labels “for $15.25 per box, significantly below the $18.00 wholesale price” that he paid for them. What was worse, according to Grodin, was that the labels “were cheap knockoffs.”
Although some public officials worry that purchasing from Amazon affects local businesses, Amazon is quick to point out that local businesses can sell through Amazon allowing local governments to support local businesses by buying through the Amazon platform.
“But what Amazon didn’t disclose to school officials were its punishing fees, which would force El Paso Office Products to forfeit much of its revenue to Amazon,” says Grodin, who added that “Amazon now takes 45 percent of every sale.”
“Public officials should be deeply concerned by what we found,” said Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of ILSR. “Amazon is reshaping public procurement in ways that expose taxpayer dollars to waste and risk,” adding that Amazon “has persuaded cities and schools to abandon safeguards meant to ensure fair prices and accountability – while driving out independent suppliers, eroding competition, and putting Amazon in a position to dictate terms.”
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