FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

Post by eru » Wed, Sep 27, 2023, 7:51 AM UTC

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #544

BizarroLand wrote: post #530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Apple Iphone, airpods, ipad, macbook. Google search. Coke. Boeing. Caterpillar. Goldman Sachs. AirBnB. Exxon. AutoDesk. BlackRock. CME. Costco. JP Morgan Chase. Mastercard, Visa, Nike, TSMC and a thousand others. They started out as a retailer, and opened up a bunch of their infrastructure to competitors. The idea that they'd make it easy for competitors using their infrastructure to beat them makes zero sense.

Post by midoridensha » Wed, Sep 27, 2023, 8:23 AM UTC

SenAnder wrote: post #696

newsclues wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This is the result of commoditizing 'starting a business' to the point of near-worthlessness in the bottom 50%+." Is this not just a market effect of saturating the market with competition because suddenly running a business is comparatively easy (communications technology, platforms and existing logistics and production networks) to any other era. I can probably start a company drop shipping crap on Amazon in a sho…

Amazon inflating rates after capturing the market, permitting counterfeits, and penalizing sellers offering lower prices off-Amazon, has nothing to do with market efficiency or commoditization.

Post by yccs27 » Wed, Sep 27, 2023, 8:50 AM UTC

ajkjk wrote: post #697

_2d30 wrote: post #686

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The abstract of the link is that Amazon’s monopoly power has manifested itself in _under_ pricing products. The FTC claim is that Amazon _over_ prices products. They are in direct opposition.

That's such a weak argument. Suppose Amazon does both, at different times (which they do); do you think they should cancel out and therefore not get in trouble?

Post by rmbyrro » Wed, Sep 27, 2023, 9:13 AM UTC

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…

Post by midoridensha » Wed, Sep 27, 2023, 10:16 AM UTC

billjings wrote: post #645

mrraj wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Bloomberg article : "Chuck Gregorich, who sells fire pits and outdoor furniture, says turning a profit on Amazon is getting harder. One of his popular fire pits costs $200, of which Amazon takes $112 for its commission, warehouse storage, delivery and advertising. That leaves him with $88 to pay the manufacturer, ship the product in from China and cover his overhead." I have a hard time sympathizing here. Th…

You have a hard time sympathizing? Say what you will about their means of getting it, but this person did 100% of the leg work of getting that sale. That sale doesn't exists without them. And Amazon gets the MAJORITY of the revenue cut for that? I sympathize with the idea that China should get more of that, but make no mistake: Amazon's logistics and warehousing were not an option here. They were the cost of doing bu…