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Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

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Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#41

Post by fleitz »

darkclarity wrote: post #30
shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

I like being that irresponsible one. Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. A service that customers fall over themselves to sign up for when it's offered at a discount.

It's the value of certainty that people are buying. Think of it more like 'Shipping Insurance', delivery fees are an unfortunate unavoidable thing, like car accidents.

However, by purchasing 'shipping insurance' one can normalize the cost of shipping similar to the way one normalizes the cost of car accidents through car insurance.

There is a virtuous circle too that is the opposite of moral hazard typically incurred by insurance companies as having certainty of cost makes risk taking less costly. Similarly, if shipping is free, then people order more things, creating economies of scale that reduce shipping costs, enabling amazon to make more profit, or price prime cheaper.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#43

Post by okyup »

He knows the importance of image and says all the right things to tug at your heart strings... they're fighting global warming, they're helping single moms, and they're running a startup-like environment unlike the other big evil corporations.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#44

Post by MichaelGG »

darkclarity wrote: post #30
shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

I like being that irresponsible one. Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. A service that customers fall over themselves to sign up for when it's offered at a discount.

I cancelled it because Amazon's abusing their position. Refusing to sell Chromecast and Apple TV, then lying, repeatedly, about the reason when asked?

I've been an Amazon customer for 13 years. I was rather annoyed to see them go with the anti-Wikileaks and try to be "sensitive" by banning certain cultural items. But this shows they've zero commitment to selling products customers want.

Edit: And it really hurts. Some times I buy stuff from Amazon every day of the week. I've tried Jet.com, which is just a poor experience. I hate to cry antitrust but Amazon really dominates in any usable online sales env, it seems.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#45

Post by danblick »

sabalaba wrote: post #12

I see this letter as an attempt at vindication for the controversy sparked by the NYT article on Amazon's corporate culture. Jeff Bezos was clearly affected and I see this as a defense of their "distinctive culture". "For better or for worse" that culture got them to $100 billion in annual sales faster than any company in history.

I agree. I think these lines are directly related to the NYT controversy:

""" If it’s a distinctive culture, it will fit certain people like a custom-made glove. The reason cultures are so stable in time is because people self-select. Someone energized by competitive zeal may select and be happy in one culture, while someone who loves to pioneer and invent may choose another. """

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#46

Post by notjosh »

hackerboos wrote: post #37
shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

Pity Prime video isn't available outside of the US/UK and 2 day shipping in Toronto...just poor value for money for Canadians.

For what it's worth, Germany also has Prime Video.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#47

Post by westernmostcoy »

sabalaba wrote: post #12

I see this letter as an attempt at vindication for the controversy sparked by the NYT article on Amazon's corporate culture. Jeff Bezos was clearly affected and I see this as a defense of their "distinctive culture". "For better or for worse" that culture got them to $100 billion in annual sales faster than any company in history.

This is just how Jeff Bezos writes those letters, and those letters need to be written regardless of if the public is currently discussing of how poorly Amazon treats its employees or not.

The last part about "pioneering new programs" though, that's very likely related to the public's new awareness of how frustrating it is to work there.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#48

Post by lubos »

taneq wrote: post #38
msandford wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon isn't making any money yet. Amazon makes TONS of money. They aren't currently returning any of it to shareholders as profits, they're continuously reinvesting it in the company. The difference between gross profit and net profit is how much Amazon is spending on building new businesses that after a few years start grossing $10b a year in sales like AWS. That got funded out of the gross profits from regular A…

This seems like a huge distinction that people don't make often enough with high-performing, fast-growing companies. You see it with Tesla, too, when people claim that the Model S is "sold at a loss", ignoring the fact that a large part of the company's current expenditure is in setting up huge new factories.

Bad example. New factory is an asset, not an expense. Therefore it will have little impact on profitability.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#49

Post by andys627 »

darkclarity wrote: post #30
shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

I like being that irresponsible one. Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. A service that customers fall over themselves to sign up for when it's offered at a discount.

The fee is getting paid somehow - either by you up front, as a subscription, or for "free" built into the cost of the item.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#50

Post by jchendy »

rorykoehler wrote: post #39
kylehotchkiss wrote: post #33

I'm trying to do some math. What is the total economic value of the actual Amazon river, and how many Amazon rivers economies did Amazon.com make last year. Anybody?

If the Amazon river dried up we'd all be dead. Most of it's 'economic' value isn't recorded in our myopic economic measurements.

How would that kill us all?
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