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Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

stltoday.com

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Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#31

Post by the_watcher »

refurb wrote: post #2

This is going to be interesting. Drug wholesaling is a tough business with razor thin margins. Wholesalers don't make much off of branded drugs because the big drug companies have most of the negotiating power. It's not unusual for their cut to be in the tens of basis points. They make the most money off of generic drugs and often use arbitrage as a revenue source when price increases happen. Price increases for gene…

> a tough business with razor thin margins.

If an industry can be described in these terms, it's likely that Amazon is a potential entrant.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#32

Post by pcurve »

jonknee wrote: post #13
frankwiles wrote: post #10

They're coming for you too CVS and Walgreens.

That’s why CVS is trying to buy Aetna. They’re going to be everything from your insurer, to your walk in clinic to your pharmacy. Maybe they’ll buy a hospital chain and go full stack.

CVS Health has PBM arm that serves other health plans, so it would be interesting to see how their health plan customers react. Health plan + PBM combo is nothing new, but health plan owning retail pharmacy chain would be interesting.

I don't think they will be buying hospital chain any time soon. Many are not for profit, and they are too fragmented to be integrated.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#33

Post by stale2002 »

wonder_bread wrote: post #19
darawk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon doesn't need to make money on it, though. They just want to dominate every aspect of everyone's retail existence. I'm sure they're perfectly happy to make zero profit for a long while and figure it out later, when they're the only ones left in business.

It’s amazing to watch all this happen on the consumer end but how many more industries can they really do this to? Is Bezos not essentially setting up his successor for failure by turning Amazon into a conglomerate with razor margins in so many areas?

Well why not? It's working out well for them so far.

Razer thin margins are still better than the zero margins that they would recieve by NOT entering the market.

If it is possible to make any money at all, then there is no reason not to take it.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#34

Post by vthallam »

Apparently better for consumers in general now that there's more competition. One Industry I really really want them to enter is Consumer Airlines. Service in most airlines sucks, like big time. Can't wait for Amazon Airlines with Prime Video and Internet available for all.

But of course I know that's a distant dream unless the Prime Air works great.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#35

Post by aknosis »

vthallam wrote: post #34

Apparently better for consumers in general now that there's more competition. One Industry I really really want them to enter is Consumer Airlines. Service in most airlines sucks, like big time. Can't wait for Amazon Airlines with Prime Video and Internet available for all. But of course I know that's a distant dream unless the Prime Air works great.

Isn't Amazon notorious for bad customer service though? That would prevent them from disputing the industry.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#36

Post by kgwgk »

bm1362 wrote: post #28
Waterluvian wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the thing that I don't understand about the big companies like Google, Apple, Amazon. What's the endgame? Do you just keep going until you accidentally implode? It's not like there is a finish line they can cross to "win the game". It just goes on forever until something implodes.

It literally just (1) keeps printing money for investors and (2) keep some people employed. Ambitious people will take the mantle every 15-20 years and do more of 1 and 2 until they make a mistake. The goal of a successful company is basically serving those two sets of people, Google may enter the retail market or real estate, or McDonalds will take over Cloud Computing -- they're all just trying to get a consistent…

> keeps printing money for investors

Amazon doesn't give money to investors. Late investors give money to early investors. (Edit: Amazon has bought back some shares in the past, but that's far from even offsetting all the shares given away to employees...)

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#37

Post by mjcl »

aknosis wrote: post #35
vthallam wrote: post #34

Apparently better for consumers in general now that there's more competition. One Industry I really really want them to enter is Consumer Airlines. Service in most airlines sucks, like big time. Can't wait for Amazon Airlines with Prime Video and Internet available for all. But of course I know that's a distant dream unless the Prime Air works great.

Isn't Amazon notorious for bad customer service though? That would prevent them from disputing the industry.

I think they're a mixed bag, probably depending on some customer profitability / value score. I've heard other people complain about trouble when packages were stolen, but the few times it's happened to me, I've gotten replacements overnighted without even having to talk (chat or phone) to anyone.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#38

Post by 0xbear »

aknosis wrote: post #35
vthallam wrote: post #34

Apparently better for consumers in general now that there's more competition. One Industry I really really want them to enter is Consumer Airlines. Service in most airlines sucks, like big time. Can't wait for Amazon Airlines with Prime Video and Internet available for all. But of course I know that's a distant dream unless the Prime Air works great.

Isn't Amazon notorious for bad customer service though? That would prevent them from disputing the industry.

Amazon is notorious for the opposite actually, at least in their retail business.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#39

Post by legitster »

aknosis wrote: post #35
vthallam wrote: post #34

Apparently better for consumers in general now that there's more competition. One Industry I really really want them to enter is Consumer Airlines. Service in most airlines sucks, like big time. Can't wait for Amazon Airlines with Prime Video and Internet available for all. But of course I know that's a distant dream unless the Prime Air works great.

Isn't Amazon notorious for bad customer service though? That would prevent them from disputing the industry.

???

I've always found Amazon customer service to be amazing.

Seriously, I can't think of any other company where it's as easy to get a real person on the phone. Or a refund.

Re: Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states

#40

Post by LandoCalrissian »

mrep wrote: post #4
refurb wrote: post #2

This is going to be interesting. Drug wholesaling is a tough business with razor thin margins. Wholesalers don't make much off of branded drugs because the big drug companies have most of the negotiating power. It's not unusual for their cut to be in the tens of basis points. They make the most money off of generic drugs and often use arbitrage as a revenue source when price increases happen. Price increases for gene…

> razor thin margins That's everything amazon does besides AWS

You realize they do that on purpose right?
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