Man’s self-declared war on Amazon involves shipping back 100-pound anvils, one at a time

A TikToker on a quest to bring down Amazon by purchasing and returning anvils got mixed reviews after his videos went viral. It’s unclear how much thought went into this idea, but critics claim that he’s only burdening vendors with return costs while Amazon gets a cut of each sale. Meanwhile, those poor delivery drivers are developing hernias.

The quest to overthrow Amazon…with anvils

The man who goes by Johnbo Stockwell on his TikTok account first posted about this behavior on June 19, claiming he’d been ordering and returning 110-pound anvils from Amazon for six months. He used Amazon Prime, so all the returns were free—for him.

@stocklett
I hope you liked having those carbon tax credits
♬ original sound – johnbo stockwell

“And I’m gonna keep doing that until somebody does something about it,” he promised.

A few weeks later, he gained 2.2 million views with an update on his efforts. He said he’d been continuing to order and return the same anvils, but had been too busy to post about it. He also introduced his audience to a tiny anvil he got at an antique shop.

“Daddy’s gonna overthrow Amazon.com,” he said in a cutesy voice to the anvil.

@stocklett anvil shopping update week 5 #fyp ♬ original sound – johnbo stockwell

The maker of these heavy items is VEVOR, which describes itself as “a Home Improvement brand that empowers Home Creators to upgrade spaces with pro-level gear at fair prices.” It looks like a pretty generic online retailer but is legitimate enough to have a Wikipedia entry stating it’s been in business since 2007.

As Stockwell’s videos spread, he’s started to field some criticism from commenters. His latest video, posted on Friday, responds directly to the hate.

“Look, if you don’t like what I’m doing with the anvils on Amazon, come by to my place,” he suggested.

Do not, however, take him up on that offer. The address he gives is for former President Barack Obama’s house. Definitely do not, as he recommends, jump the fence. Sharp-eyed viewers may notice the sign behind Stockwell that says, “This area is protected by the Secret Service.”

“Abusing a system until it breaks”

TikTokers started pointing out the issues with Stockwell’s Amazon trolling on his first video about it. Most critics sympathized heavily with the packers and delivery drivers who have to lug those anvils around.

“Sisyphus was reincarnated an Amazon driver,” joked @loader___.

“Bro hates already overworked and underpaid Amazon employees,” said @jaket578.

The hate grew after word spread to Reddit forums dedicated to Amazon and UPS drivers. Some of them predicted violence in this man’s future.

“I can imagine theres just one driver that has to deal with that sh*t every single day and they just snap and start chucking the anvils through this man’s windows,” wrote u/BigManPaulBlart.

“I’d make sure to drop that off in the middle of his driveway to block his car,” said u/ArcadianWaheela. “Make sure to take the picture close enough so flex doesn’t think it’s off. If I gotta get a workout so does he.”

On X, it reached the Sisyphus-themed meme account, but they didn’t find it very funny.

“Lots of people sharing this laughing because ‘corporation bad’ but it’s just another way to lower social trust,” @memeticsisyphus wrote. “Abusing a system until it breaks in a way that’s inconvenient to the rest of us.”

Stockwell does have his fair share of supporters among those who hate Amazon, and there are plenty of good reasons to despise it. Currently, however, there are just as many comments claiming he’s only causing harm.

“I know people who have lifelong injuries because of working at Amazon and didn’t have the knowledge on how to sue a company or file a report,” said TikToker @conciouschemistry.

Who pays when you return items with Amazon Prime?

In addition to feeling for those poor drivers, some pointed out that Stockwell may be helping rather than hurting Amazon. Though the e-commerce giant may end up paying for some returns, the vendor might have to shell out for others.

Most purchases are eligible for return with an Amazon Prime account. However, according to their policy, if the customer faulted the seller, then the seller is responsible for return shipping.

“Amazon FBA seller here: you’re actually making Amazon more money doing this. The 3rd party seller that sells this item is paying Amazon a hefty fulfillment fee to fulfill and ship it to you and then another free to have it returned. You should be address banned on Amazon,” wrote TikTok commenter @lukeholmeee.

The vendor can file a claim with Amazon to get that back, but this takes time and effort. It can be a real pain if someone is doing the same returns over and over for eight months. Of course, Amazon gets a percentage of everything each vendor sells on their website.

At the same time, all of us pay for the frequent ordering and returning of items like this online. We’re already seeing the cost in lives when it comes to the consequences of those emissions.

“Guy with a massive carbon footprint making a working class persons hell just so he can feel like he’s getting one over on people who will quite literally never know or care about this,” said TikToker @escapetheslop.

The Daily Dot has reached out to @stocklett for comment via TikTok.

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