Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Local Register

localregister.amazon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 225 posts

Re: Amazon Local Register

#71

Post by dminor »

what_ever wrote: post #40
BrentOzar wrote: post #4

Think of Amazon's role as an online merchant: they've built a 3rd party merchant system where other folks can use Amazon's retail and distribution. Then, they gathered centralized data of what sells, at what prices. They stepped in and started carrying more profitable items themselves. Now, look at their role here: if this takes off, they'll have data on what merchants are selling, for how much, and to whom. These ar…

What makes you think they are not buying this data already from credit card companies?

Credit card companies only know where you are shopping and how much you spend. This gives Amazon product level data.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#72

Post by alexchamberlain »

qeorge wrote: post #27
Igglyboo wrote: post #5

Can someone explain why manually keyed transactions cost more than swipes? I'm thinking there's more risk involved with those or something along those lines.

In addition to the visible data (the card number, the expiration, and the CVV), there is other information encoded on the stripe that you cannot see (its called Track 2 data). A swiped transaction will include the Track 2 data, but a keyed one will not. The Track 2 data proves that a physical card was present, which carries a far lower risk of fraud, and thus grants a lower processing rate. Notably, in the recent Tar…

Or it proves the card was cloned?

Re: Amazon Local Register

#73

Post by andyjohnson0 »

adamt wrote: post #61
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 think the compelling case for this is less about shops - most of which (at least in the UK) already have some form card processing - but more about things like tradespeople (plumbers, decorators, electricians etc) or other physical services (e.g. music teachers) Within a few years cheques will be phased out in the UK. This means the only way to pay a carpenter, or a plumber is in cash or a money transfer. Money tra…

Cheques are not being phased-out in the UK. From the government FAQ [1] published in 2011:

Are cheques being phased out?

No. The Payments Council announced on 12 July 2011 that cheques will continue for as long as customers need them. A previously announced target for closing the cheque clearing system by 2018 has been cancelled.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/frequently-asked-question...

Re: Amazon Local Register

#74

Post by rickyc091 »

dminor wrote: post #65
bambax wrote: post #30

This sounds a little like a joke. Amazon is the biggest competitor brick-and-mortar shops have ever seen; why would shops want to give that kind of information to Amazon, so that it knows in real time what people are buying outside of itself??? A coffeeshop, maybe, but for any other kind of business it sounds crazy.

1.75% is a huge discount.

That on top of the next day money deposit is a real incentive.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#75

Post by dnissley »

what_ever wrote: post #40
BrentOzar wrote: post #4

Think of Amazon's role as an online merchant: they've built a 3rd party merchant system where other folks can use Amazon's retail and distribution. Then, they gathered centralized data of what sells, at what prices. They stepped in and started carrying more profitable items themselves. Now, look at their role here: if this takes off, they'll have data on what merchants are selling, for how much, and to whom. These ar…

What makes you think they are not buying this data already from credit card companies?

IIRC credit card companies don't have that much of this kind of data. For the most part when you pay with a card, the transaction details (for example line-items) are not reported to the cc company or processor.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#76

Post by fortpoint »

what_ever wrote: post #40
BrentOzar wrote: post #4

Think of Amazon's role as an online merchant: they've built a 3rd party merchant system where other folks can use Amazon's retail and distribution. Then, they gathered centralized data of what sells, at what prices. They stepped in and started carrying more profitable items themselves. Now, look at their role here: if this takes off, they'll have data on what merchants are selling, for how much, and to whom. These ar…

What makes you think they are not buying this data already from credit card companies?

Credit card companies do not have this data. They only see the transaction total not the items in the basket.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#77

Post by PeterisP »

chrisan wrote: post #29

Does anyone know the true bottom to transaction fees? Are they taking a loss at 1.75% to acquire user base?

Large volume can get costs of infrastructure per transaction absurdly low; the true floor is the interchange rate that you pay to the card issuer; it depends on type of card but it can be ~1% for many of them. American express is much higher, taking amex at 1.75% is definitely a loss.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#78

Post by PeterisP »

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?

The fraud liability shift for swipe cards in USA will be at the end of 2015, so there's some time still left - but such a card reader definitely isn't futureproof, and they'll need a new model after a year or so.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#80

Post by leccine »

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…

Yeah, I can see the Amazon branded food truck hordes flooding the streets of San Francisco. It is kind of sad that there is not going to be any burrito or garlic noodles sold.
Post reply on HN