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FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

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Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#81
post #59

I am amazed to see people defending AMZN in these threads. They are so obviously monopolistic with such a plethora of problems with the way the treat consumers, workers, businesses, and the planet. More power to the FTC -- just wish they had taken these actions sooner.

I don’t think I’m defending Amazon so much as noting that Amazon does not have a monopoly on retail or even e-commerce. I don’t think issues should be picking sides so much as seeking the truth. Amazon had 38% of online retail market share [0] and only 9% of total retail market share [1]. So I think it’s going to be hard to show antitrust violations without some price collusion. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistic…

> Amazon had 38% of online retail market share

Sure, but “online retail” is pretty clearly an overly broad market including separate segments between which there is no substitution effect, and there are a whole lot of segments within that where Amazon has majority (>50%) market share (safety & security, communications, home audio, portable audio, etc.)

Not that this is about retail, per se, anyway, except maybe in leveraging market position in retail as an aspect of the anticompetitive behavior regarding sellers planning on using their fulfillment services.

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anitrust actions do not require the presence of a monopoly. Rather, they addresses situations where companies unreasonably exert power to lessen competition. The idea is to prevent monopolies from forming in the first place.

Can they save me from Comcast first? I’d be curious how that backlog refinement meeting goes. > See that filter that orders priority by realized value? Remove it and order by campaign contributions

> Can they save me from Comcast first?

Talk to the FCC, probably.

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#83

I am amazed to see people defending AMZN in these threads. They are so obviously monopolistic with such a plethora of problems with the way the treat consumers, workers, businesses, and the planet. More power to the FTC -- just wish they had taken these actions sooner.

Remember the FTC and their laughably ill-prepared anti-trust lawsuit against then Facebook? They tried table-pounding instead of doing their homework to properly define the area of monopoly and got their case thrown out.

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#84
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think I’m defending Amazon so much as noting that Amazon does not have a monopoly on retail or even e-commerce. I don’t think issues should be picking sides so much as seeking the truth. Amazon had 38% of online retail market share [0] and only 9% of total retail market share [1]. So I think it’s going to be hard to show antitrust violations without some price collusion. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistic…

> Amazon had 38% of online retail market share Sure, but “online retail” is pretty clearly an overly broad market including separate segments between which there is no substitution effect, and there are a whole lot of segments within that where Amazon has majority (>50%) market share (safety & security, communications, home audio, portable audio, etc.) Not that this is about retail, per se, anyway, except maybe in le…

Where are you getting that data?

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#85
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might well be one of the very few people in the thread who can still benefit from prime shipping. We have an Amazon prime depot about 10 minute walk from our house. The drivers can schedule their deliveries to us either to the beginning or end of their routes, and that shows: we get prime shipping for almost everything. In fact, trying to batch individual items into fewer deliveries is not necessarily even an optio…

What does the "end of the route" look like for you? For me, along with the worsening reliability of prime, it's just getting later and later. When first moved into this address, deliveries were generally before 3. Slowly that became 5, then 7. Finally, to take the absolute piss this has become as late as 10pm, which is not what I call "next day" and at that point I don't really want it delivered at all.

Rarely much later than than after 7, usually between 14:00 and 17:00 in the afternoon. In a rather bizarre twist, maybe slightly less than half the time _before_ 14:30. Never before 09:45

I think we've had two deliveries after 20:00 in the past year.

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anitrust actions do not require the presence of a monopoly. Rather, they addresses situations where companies unreasonably exert power to lessen competition. The idea is to prevent monopolies from forming in the first place.

Can they save me from Comcast first? I’d be curious how that backlog refinement meeting goes. > See that filter that orders priority by realized value? Remove it and order by campaign contributions

[flagged]

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#88
post #59

I am amazed to see people defending AMZN in these threads. They are so obviously monopolistic with such a plethora of problems with the way the treat consumers, workers, businesses, and the planet. More power to the FTC -- just wish they had taken these actions sooner.

I don’t think I’m defending Amazon so much as noting that Amazon does not have a monopoly on retail or even e-commerce. I don’t think issues should be picking sides so much as seeking the truth. Amazon had 38% of online retail market share [0] and only 9% of total retail market share [1]. So I think it’s going to be hard to show antitrust violations without some price collusion. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistic…

Online retail includes airlines websites, for example (Delta recently shared they were a Top 5 US online retailer in their investor presentations).

I am sure that for CPG, Amazon’s share is significantly higher.

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#89
post #34

I am amazed to see people defending AMZN in these threads. They are so obviously monopolistic with such a plethora of problems with the way the treat consumers, workers, businesses, and the planet. More power to the FTC -- just wish they had taken these actions sooner.

I also don't really get the desire to defend them even if you were a loyal fan. Outside of AWS, none of their services are good anymore and have deteriorated. The only reason people think Prime is even valuable is because of the quantity > quality overriding people's rational. Amazon (the storefront) has turned into Aliexpress but with the shoddiest random brands ever like XYGHY selling you a product they're dropship…

> They've turned into the store where it's only worth using to get AmazonBasics from.

Some that is because if anything does well in their marketplace, they make an AmazonBasics version and then undercut them.

Re: FTC reportedly plans major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

#90
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unreasonably exert power to lessen competition. The unreasonable part is where the monopoly power comes in. Companies lessening competition happens all the time, it’s the monopoly aspect that triggers antitrust.

Monopoly power does not require a literal monopoly. Straight from the FTC: https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui... > Courts do not require a literal monopoly before applying rules for single firm conduct; that term is used as shorthand for a firm with significant and durable market power I'd say Amazon has "significant and durable market power"

What does that mean? Does Microsoft have that with Windows? Intel with x86? Apple with phones? What is the scale of those words?
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