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FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

ftc.gov

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Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#271

Post by tornato7 »

hotnfresh wrote: post #255
capableweb wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guessing this is also related, from page 10: Amazon has implemented an algorithm for the express purpose of deterring other online stores from offering lower prices. [redacted] Rather than trying to compete, Amazon uses [redacted] Ultimately, this conduct is meant to deter rivals from attempting to compete on price altogether-competition that could bring lower prices to tens of millions of American households. As a r…

What especially rankles is how Amazon doesn’t give a fuck about counterfeits. So they’re allowing counterfeits (amplifying the mentioned effect) to discourage direct-sellers from attempting to compete on price. Meanwhile, I have to order from direct sellers to be sure I will get a genuine, new product. So I don’t even get Amazon’s lower-but-still-higher-than-optimal price, but a yet higher one. As far as I’m concerne…

Not just counterfeits but pages upon pages of shitty products from companies like WOWZAMGO and PARTUE that, now that they have sponsored rankings, will always come up first in search. They also all have endless fake reviews. This renders Amazon's search essentially useless.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#273

Post by pmarreck »

jollofricepeas wrote: post #52

FBA seller here. A lot of mom and pop businesses (~$20 million) have been built on Amazon over the past 10 years. Most of us are in the $250k to $5 million dollar range. The impact of Amazon’s monopoly power is felt big time by us as we’re being squeezed with no place left to go online especially post-iOS change. Our second option used to be the Facebook/Instagram/TikTok to Shopify connection but with that being dead…

How much would a "Fulfillment By " be worth to you?

Could you get together with a large bunch of other FBA folks and somehow fund an alternative?

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#274

Post by pmarreck »

lokar wrote: post #139
reagan83 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great insight overall - can you describe more on the FB/IG/TT to Shopify connection not working or now dead?

Apple mostly prevents narrow targeting on iOS now

So basically, Apple's focus on user privacy had the knock-on effect of ruining Amazon's potential competition?

That's astoundingly rich

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#275

Post by arielcostas »

taeric wrote: post #262
arielcostas wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And even in consoles, you have the option of never buying one: you can play videogames on PC, on a tablet or on a mobile phone. And now you even have the cloud option with NVIDIA or MS' Game Pass Ultimate. With Amazon however, it's more complicated since they control so many businesses. Visiting a website? Very probably it's hosted on AWS, or on a platform that runs on AWS. Visiting a friend with a smart doorbell thi…

Note that AWS is actually not a part of this lawsuit. So that is mostly not relevant.

No, but it still is part of Amazon. In fact, as others have commented, AWS helps subsidise parts of the Amazon store that would otherwise result in losses.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#276

Post by max_ »

rattlesnakedave wrote: post #265
_uhtu wrote: post #3

I'm honestly not sure how you could make the case that they aren't maintaining and abusing monopoly power. I mean they literally blatantly copy the designs of other companies who sell on amazon, then put their own results for their own products higher in search results than what they copied off of. It's incredibly blatantly anti-competitive.

As a consumer, this doesn't really hurt me. I get good products for cheap delivered in two days or less. I don't see how the FTC is helping me here.

Exactly, the purpose of capitalism is to serve the consumer not the competitors.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#277

Post by jrochkind1 »

_uhtu wrote: post #3

I'm honestly not sure how you could make the case that they aren't maintaining and abusing monopoly power. I mean they literally blatantly copy the designs of other companies who sell on amazon, then put their own results for their own products higher in search results than what they copied off of. It's incredibly blatantly anti-competitive.

To "make the case that they" are or aren't violating antitrust law, you need to know and talk about antitrust law.

To not be sure how someone can make either case, without being familiar with antitrust law and framing the discussion in terms of it, is only to be expected.

I came to HN hoping to see some legal analysis, but I guess that's not what HN is for. You can get good technical discussion of technology, but when it comes to legal technical stuff it's just ideology and people talking about how they think things should be. What's HN for lawyers?

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#278

Post by dtjb »

WalterBright wrote: post #252
dtjb wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that different from Walmart selling their Great Value store brand? They see what products sell well then formulate their own cheaper alternative, maybe even giving their product better shelf placement. Every national grocer does this. It seems to be a pretty close analog yet nobody bats an eye at the practice.

The local Kroger supermarket has Kroger branded items on the shelf right next to the national brand. The latter is always more expensive, I usually buy the Kroger brand. The supermarket wouldn't stock the national brands at all if customers weren't buying them.

Isn't that exactly what Amazon is doing?

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#279

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

tornato7 wrote: post #271
hotnfresh wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What especially rankles is how Amazon doesn’t give a fuck about counterfeits. So they’re allowing counterfeits (amplifying the mentioned effect) to discourage direct-sellers from attempting to compete on price. Meanwhile, I have to order from direct sellers to be sure I will get a genuine, new product. So I don’t even get Amazon’s lower-but-still-higher-than-optimal price, but a yet higher one. As far as I’m concerne…

Not just counterfeits but pages upon pages of shitty products from companies like WOWZAMGO and PARTUE that, now that they have sponsored rankings, will always come up first in search. They also all have endless fake reviews. This renders Amazon's search essentially useless.

WOWZAMGO makes quality products. I bought their portable usb battery and it only caught fire after the 20th charge cycle. PARTUE, on the other hand… don’t ask!

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#280

Post by criddell »

taeric wrote: post #222
criddell wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DRM doesn't have to be proprietary. I should be able to buy books from any place and read them on any reader.

I mean... not wrong. But useful? Does this happen with any technology? Is it being blocked by practices from Amazon? Still feels like a non-sequitur.

DVDs could be purchased and played on any player. Most of the non-Amazon ebook world uses Adobe DRM.
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