As a university student I find I really, really heavily rely on Amazon, and, to be honest, I've never felt really happy about it - like you said, they're just convenient more than anything. But all the shit I've been hearing recently about them has just soured my taste even more, so I'll do my best to wean myself off their services. This list will definitely help! Wordery in particular looks pretty great.
Absolutely. It can be a hard deal to beat. "You mean to tell me that not only will this come to my house with no effort on my part, but it's also $15 off? SOLD!" Do you live in a college town? Have you explored it at all? You might be surprised at the kind of businesses it has to offer and that poking around is half the fun of shopping.
The college town I lived in had some pretty decent local businesses, but in fairness I never really explored them enough. I'll be doing my masters somewhere else come September, and it's a much bigger town that's pretty well known for its diverse local economy so I'm looking forward to just walking around and seeing what I can find, haha.