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The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

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Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#161

Post by EGreg »

satvikpendem wrote: post #136
EGreg wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real solution is an open source Amazon. What happened to Magento? Does it have any traction? Why sell on Amazon instead of your own site? Can’t competitors to FBA spring up that have great logistics? Are there any? Can anyone link me to them?

This is a classic programmer response. The problem is not Amazon's software, it's their marketing, distribution network, huge audience that searches for products exclusively via Amazon, "free" and very fast Prime deliveries, etc. That doesn't all happen via simply open sourcing some code.

[flagged]

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#162

Post by endisneigh »

jbluepolarbear wrote: post #159
endisneigh wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Let's use your example. The sellers should stop selling that item on Amazon, and sell their light bulb on Walmart, or where-ever. Customers who really need that will go find it at Walmart, or where-ever. This strengthens the competitors to Amazon, which is bad for Amazon and good for the consumer. The consumer also find the lower price that they wanted. Alternatively, they buy the alternate product on Ama…

You’re just wrong, Amazon controls around 35% of all US e-commerce. Not being able to sell on Amazon instantly removes most of your available customers. The second largest is Walmart and it’s closer to 7%. Walmart, target, whatever, don’t add up to Amazons market.

> Amazon controls around 35% of all US e-commerce. Not being able to sell on Amazon instantly removes most of your available customers

Math doesn't check out. Not to mention that if sellers stopped selling on Amazon they wouldn't control so much. How exactly is making everyone sell on Amazon going to solve anythin?

Sellers should stop using Amazon if they don't like their policies, and the issues will correct themselves.

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#163

Post by EGreg »

endisneigh wrote: post #119
EGreg wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real solution is an open source Amazon. What happened to Magento? Does it have any traction? Why sell on Amazon instead of your own site? Can’t competitors to FBA spring up that have great logistics? Are there any? Can anyone link me to them?

Sellers want Amazon’s audience

That's the same trap that TikTok influencers and others fall into.

You are sold "the dream" by showing top sellers / influencers / etc. and told you can be like them. Kevin O'Leary became a meme for promoting this bullshit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqemytQ5QA

In fact, even the top influencers can be deplatformed in an instant, and their speech is controlled. And same with Amazon. But the thing is that the people you never hear about, the "middle class", are far more controlled and the "long tail" produces all that free content that basically gets almost new views / buys but all that free sharecropper content is then used to train AI models or provide proof of large available inventory / product / content BY THE PLATFORM that pits them all against each other in a zero-sum game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/117oh1m/the_upper_c...

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#164

Post by sb8244 »

endisneigh wrote: post #86
woooooo wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. The rules at the place you're trying to sell. Dictating how you sell elsewhere is a clear step beyond that.

They are not dictating how they sell elsewhere. They are saying they need to offer the best price on their site. It is easy to detect whether or not they actually are, and sellers are simply being called out. There is no obligation to sell on Amazon, nor a requirement for them to raise prices on other platforms. They could simply offer the lowest price everywhere. The result? Lower prices for Amazon customers. If the…

You...understand how you can't have one without the other, right?

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#165

Post by efficax »

jbombadil wrote: post #112
exabrial wrote: post #25

Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, break them all up. And for the love of crap, stop approving billion dollar mergers.

This. Also add most major telcos, ISPs and airlines to the list as well. We love capitalism. It’s basis is competition. Let’s get us some of that.

and the big 4 banks, and walmart, and a bunch of other industries. we're in a monopoly age.

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#166

Post by throwaway14356 »

endisneigh wrote: post #47
woooooo wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some would say that the way commerce works is sellers can sell anywhere at any price that a buyer wants to pay.

That's not how commerce works. Commerce works by following the rules of places that you are trying to sell at. You can't sell anything anywhere.

rules partially set by government

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#167

Post by rlpb »

endisneigh wrote: post #139
brookst wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll take the charitable interpretation and assume you just don't understand the mechanics of the policy. Amazon is saying that sellers cannot offer a fair low price to customers on other platforms if the seller can't also offer it on Amazon. This is 1) anticompetitive, 2) anticonsumer, and 3) insane. Consider this test: - Seller buys a crappy LED bulb from China for $0.80 - Seller is happy to list the bulb on Walmar…

I disagree. Let's use your example. The sellers should stop selling that item on Amazon, and sell their light bulb on Walmart, or where-ever. Customers who really need that will go find it at Walmart, or where-ever. This strengthens the competitors to Amazon, which is bad for Amazon and good for the consumer. The consumer also find the lower price that they wanted. Alternatively, they buy the alternate product on Ama…

> They will find some other reason to remove these sellers.

That's be much harder work, though, so regulation might well still have the intended effect.

Either their reason will need to be through their seller terms and conditions, or it'll have to be done on an individual seller basis.

Amazon relies on scale, and therefore standard terms and conditions for all sellers that can be scrutinized by regulators.

If it's done on an individual seller basis, I don't think they'll be able to do it while having the same effect in practice.

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#168

Post by throwaway14356 »

endisneigh wrote: post #65
ARussell wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Amazon needs to follow the rules and laws of the place that IT'S trying to sell at.

And which law dictates a company must allow people or sellers on its platform?

this might come if the shop is large enough

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#169

Post by hnbad »

Semaphor wrote: post #52

Hm, is the forced price country dependent? Because I’ve actually bought or found several products via Amazon, that I later started buying for less on the seller’s private store. Germany.

I routinely see higher prices on German Amazon than on other stores to the point of seeing sellers for third-party products asking for almost twice of what an item would normally cost when bought directly from a seller who doesn't sell on Amazon. For example you can buy Starlink equipment on Amazon but it'll always cost a good 20% more (or more) than you'd pay when buying from Starlink directly.

I'm not sure if the forced price exists in Germany for first-party sellers but it might explain why there seems to be a cottage industry of third-party sellers selling overpriced goods on Amazon. That is of course in addition to the universal problem of a dozen brands with names lifted from a word generator selling the same dropshipped white label product out of a factory in China at vastly different price points to create the illusion of choice.

Re: The FTC sues to break up Amazon over an economy-wide “hidden tax”

#170

Post by kaibee »

endisneigh wrote: post #139
brookst wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll take the charitable interpretation and assume you just don't understand the mechanics of the policy. Amazon is saying that sellers cannot offer a fair low price to customers on other platforms if the seller can't also offer it on Amazon. This is 1) anticompetitive, 2) anticonsumer, and 3) insane. Consider this test: - Seller buys a crappy LED bulb from China for $0.80 - Seller is happy to list the bulb on Walmar…

I disagree. Let's use your example. The sellers should stop selling that item on Amazon, and sell their light bulb on Walmart, or where-ever. Customers who really need that will go find it at Walmart, or where-ever. This strengthens the competitors to Amazon, which is bad for Amazon and good for the consumer. The consumer also find the lower price that they wanted. Alternatively, they buy the alternate product on Ama…

> Customers who really need that will go find it at Walmart, or where-ever.

So here's a weird externality. As a decently well off tech-worker, I don't care if I'm paying 5$ or 2$ for lightbulbs, even if I'm re-lighting my whole house. The seller will sell on Amazon, because it is the largest market and will set their prices on other markets to match Amazon. I'll buy on Amazon, because it isn't worth my time to check multiple websites to get the best price (especially when SKUs differ and I have multiple other items I'm buying, etc). And now people who do need to save money, can't also find this lightbulb at a cheaper price on competing marketplaces, even if this lightbulb is actually the best quality.

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