591–600 of 930 posts
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They aren't being eaten because of innovation, they are being eaten because of monopolization.
The person you are responding to was saying that dropshippers are being eaten because the products they are selling lack innovation. For example, Amazon cannot swoop in and sell a cheaper Amazon Basics version of a product to which you own a critical patent.
In my opinion, Amazon needs to be split into at least 4 independent entities: - Online marketplace - Consumer products - Internet infrastructure - Delivery logistics Similar to the three-tier distribution system for beer in most states (a brewer cannot be a wholesaler or a retailer). This makes it easier for smaller players can compete with the big ones on quality at least, if not price or recognition. (Edit: format)
Decouple Amazon Warehouse division from Amazon Web Services (AWS largely subsidizes losses incurred by warehouse division), then we will see change. Right now FTC going after low hanging fruit. But we all know Amazon will challenge it in court, appeal, appeal, appeal, pay the reduced fine, slow roll any changes, and business will continue as usual. Break up the tech giants and each individual unit cannot survive as-i…
Does AWS include the Prime streaming platform? It sends a chill down my spine to see that one of the perks of being a Prime member is unlimited photo storage. It’s sickening to realize there’s a bunch of Gullible Guses and Ginas that are holding off cancelling their Prime subscription because their pictures are held hostage by Amazon. I bet dollars-to-donuts that half of those folks don’t know how to articulate the s…
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> What exactly are YOU doing here that merits a payday? The hard part. Finding a product people want. If that were so easy, Amazon would just be a store, no sellers. That part they can't do themselves.
If you can do the hard part, then do all the easy parts and leave amazon out of the equation.
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If Bezos were using this Washington Post for this purpose a member of the newsroom would immediately leak it. It would be a career defining story for that journalist. The fact that we’ve heard nothing strongly suggests it isn’t happening.
I've heard this "if it were happening someone would leak it" argument throughout my life, even though I've lost count of all the counterexamples that disprove this mentality. Before Snowden PRISM was considered impossible (even though previous people had leaked it but never got picked up by the media cycle), before Epstein it was impossible that billionaires were trafficking children for sex, before 2008 it was impos…
If you work on PRISM leaking its existence does nothing for your career. Quite the opposite in fact. But if you work for a newspaper and leak a massive story it’ll be very beneficial for your career.
Without engaging the merits of this particular case, I do think there is an interesting takeaway about which companies wield even more power than Amazon (and Big Tech more generally, since Google and Meta are also discussed as likely targets of similar suits). Notably: health insurers. They're an oligopoly whose revenues total something like 4% of US GDP. They engage in anticompetitive practices, and the end result i…
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Show me a business that Amazon couldn't destroy just for kicks. Also, it's not like you have any choices. If you manufacture your products yourself, you have to fund a massive venture to handle the workload. If you outsource the products, then the companies you pay to manufacture your stuff can easily make knockoffs and then let drop shippers undercut you with inferior versions of your own products. Look at a lot of…
It’s not connecting for me how breaking up monopolies is going to stop Chinese clones of Western products from winning price wars. It might change how the margin gets carved up between the people who make the clones and various middlemen but how would it stop the overall trend of cloned products?
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Seems to me, the case is so strong, the complaint speaks for itself. It's convinced me. I'd love to see a longer take, though, addressing the specific points in the complaint, and what makes you think each one is weak. It sucks that most of the opposition I've seen is along the lines of "if Amazon isn't allowed to engage in anticompetitive behavior, the FTC is coming for your mom and pop shop next" / "where's the lin…
You feel in bad faith here. But sure, lets start looking at the points: Paragraph 1, almost literally: "the early days of the internet were great for competition..." I, uh, don't know what to tell you here. Isn't even really a point. Paragraph 2: Amazon is big. Paragraph 3: Amazon is a monopolist. 4: Amazon's fees can be upwards of half the costs of sellers. This point, finally, could be something. The examples that…
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Show me a business that Amazon couldn't destroy just for kicks. Also, it's not like you have any choices. If you manufacture your products yourself, you have to fund a massive venture to handle the workload. If you outsource the products, then the companies you pay to manufacture your stuff can easily make knockoffs and then let drop shippers undercut you with inferior versions of your own products. Look at a lot of…
It’s not connecting for me how breaking up monopolies is going to stop Chinese clones of Western products from winning price wars. It might change how the margin gets carved up between the people who make the clones and various middlemen but how would it stop the overall trend of cloned products?
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Yes - some of the complaints seem legitimate (e.g. burying search results really far low - that hurts me as a buyer, and hurts the seller). But complaining that you need to use Amazon's warehouses to be part of Prime? That's rather obvious! You can always sell as non-Prime. Many do and are successful at it! Basically, Amazon allowed many businesses to exist by creating a very convenient way to sell. Chances are a lot…
Seller Fulfilled Prime is also a thing: https://sell.amazon.com/programs/seller-fulfilled-prime
Wonder what additional fees are associated with it.