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Amazon Local Register

localregister.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon Local Register

#51

Post by bkeroack »

jnardiello wrote: post #33

It's a trap. You, owner of a shop, don't do this. Amazon will first analyze all your sales data, they will than attach reviews to your shop and finally they will oblige you to play by their rules or die (banned or killed by bad reviews) and either way they will grow thanks to your hard work. I'm not joking, this is exactly what they have done (and keep doing) with "partners". Amazon is all but transparent and it has…

I agree with the sentiment, but it's more about the data. Amazon wants brick and mortal sales/pricing information so they can undercut you more effectively. They'll probably bundle in some service where you get an online store for cheap/free, which makes you even more dependent on them for inventory management as well.

At that point Amazon controls your cashflow and your products and--in a sense--owns your business.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#52

Post by opendais »

bkeroack wrote: post #51
jnardiello wrote: post #33

It's a trap. You, owner of a shop, don't do this. Amazon will first analyze all your sales data, they will than attach reviews to your shop and finally they will oblige you to play by their rules or die (banned or killed by bad reviews) and either way they will grow thanks to your hard work. I'm not joking, this is exactly what they have done (and keep doing) with "partners". Amazon is all but transparent and it has…

I agree with the sentiment, but it's more about the data. Amazon wants brick and mortal sales/pricing information so they can undercut you more effectively. They'll probably bundle in some service where you get an online store for cheap/free, which makes you even more dependent on them for inventory management as well. At that point Amazon controls your cashflow and your products and--in a sense--owns your business.

Yes, its this. Its also what Amazon does to its drop ship companies if they don't manufacture their own products. ;)

ITS A TRAP! :P

Re: Amazon Local Register

#53

Post by bowlofpetunias »

Ah, more 90's payment technology from the US. It's becoming a bit of a running joke. (Also, extremely annoying when you live in a city with lots of American tourists that think you can still pay that way in 2014.)

Why on earth would you still develop new services for something that is so outdated and has been so completely broken and discredited even my 72 year old mother knows it's unsafe?

Re: Amazon Local Register

#55

Post by taeric »

hemancuso wrote: post #37
aed wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be right, I agree that it's bound to happen at some point. I think one big difference is Amazon is rolling out revenue-producing products and Google was rolling out non-revenue-producing "experiments."

I agree with that to a point. But unless these products are profitable it doesn't really matter if they produce revenue. Folk long-argued that it was valuable for Google to have all of these free products because it kept them in the Google ecosystem. They were spending more time on Google, which had real value. The problem is the cost that comes with lack of focus. Exploding headcount. Unclear corporate vision. When…

Aren't most of Amazon's services profitable in isolation? I always thought the problem was they took those profits and immediately spent them investing in new services.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#56

Post by taeric »

jnardiello wrote: post #33

It's a trap. You, owner of a shop, don't do this. Amazon will first analyze all your sales data, they will than attach reviews to your shop and finally they will oblige you to play by their rules or die (banned or killed by bad reviews) and either way they will grow thanks to your hard work. I'm not joking, this is exactly what they have done (and keep doing) with "partners". Amazon is all but transparent and it has…

Who actually reads reviews of "partner" shops on Amazon?

Don't get me wrong, I give out 5 stars for every one I deal with. Mostly because I rarely realize I dealt with them. Things arrive on time and as advertised. Does this not happen regularly for some folks?

Re: Amazon Local Register

#57

Post by jnardiello »

bkeroack wrote: post #51
jnardiello wrote: post #33

It's a trap. You, owner of a shop, don't do this. Amazon will first analyze all your sales data, they will than attach reviews to your shop and finally they will oblige you to play by their rules or die (banned or killed by bad reviews) and either way they will grow thanks to your hard work. I'm not joking, this is exactly what they have done (and keep doing) with "partners". Amazon is all but transparent and it has…

I agree with the sentiment, but it's more about the data. Amazon wants brick and mortal sales/pricing information so they can undercut you more effectively. They'll probably bundle in some service where you get an online store for cheap/free, which makes you even more dependent on them for inventory management as well. At that point Amazon controls your cashflow and your products and--in a sense--owns your business.

Yes. And just to add another evilish detail: Controlling your cashflow means also that you are effectively borrowing them 2+ weeks of your income (as far as they will pay you with recurrent wires AFTER you have sold your stuff) at no cost. On a very low level, this is the mechanism that allowed them to survive for years without making profit on their products.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#58

Post by jobu »

As a consumer, I'm hoping this makes it easier to find local services. There are a number of options, but none are great.

Angie's List has mediocre search and an awkward interface. Craigslist can be great, but it's more often wading through a cesspool of spam and shady companies to find the few decent ones. Yelp seems to have pretty good reviews for restaurants, but not much else.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#59

Post by robin_reala »

ape4 wrote: post #48

Using the audio jack like Square. Isn't there a way yet to use digital like USB yet.

Or alternatively Bluetooth. iZettle’s approach is a selfcontained chip+PIN device that communicates with the app on your smartphone wirelessly. The app then handles 3G connection.

https://www.izettle.com/gb/card-readers

Re: Amazon Local Register

#60

Post by aet »

gambiting wrote: post #47

What is it with swipe cards in the US? A lot of businesses in the EU don't take them due to security risks and only accept chip-and-pin payments,yet US parties like it's 1991?

We have drones and CC tv everywhere in U.S. monitoring your every move. So fraud not an issue.
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