©Amazon Anomymous

The UK-based group Amazon Anonymous, which grew out of a petition for Amazon to pay its employees a living wage, is launching a new campaign, aimed at hitting the e-retail giant during the busy holiday season.

Caroline Carpenter reports for The Bookseller that AA has started the Amazon Free Challenge, calling on consumers to boycott the site, withholding potential business from them between December 1-25. An email from the group to its supporters is calling for them to send a message to Amazon that the way it treats its employees is unacceptable.

The email states, “So far, the Amazon Anonymous campaign has been coordinated by a small group of volunteers, working in our spare time and paying any costs out of our own pockets. But now we want to step up the campaign for Christmas and for that we are asking if you can chip in with a bit of cash to help make them a reality.”

AA is asking for donations of £3-5 (about $5-8) in order to keep their website running, as well as to buy materials and build resources that will help them mount bigger protest stunts and “expose Amazon’s abuses in a public way.” So far, the campaign has raised some £7,000 (about $11,000), and beyond that, they’re looking for people to sign their petition pledging to do their holiday shopping elsewhere this year.

“All you have to do for now is add your name,” a statement on the AA website says, along with a promise to provide resources and ideas for other ways and places to shop. As of Tuesday evening, the amount of money people had pledged not to spend at Amazon (based on what they usually spend on gifts) had reached £328,140 ($512,950). A good chunk of that is likely to have come from people who already do their shopping elsewhere, but with Christmas still more than a month away, the campaign is likely to pick up steam and more supporters in the next several weeks.