duh.
Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
651–660 of 727 posts
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#652That’s the reason Walmart use Azure Cloud and Not AWS.
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#653Earlier quoted context omitted.
Criminal conspiracies by corporate execs are not all uncommon in the history of business Actually, they are quite uncommon, which is why they make headlines when discovered. I'm not taking a side here, just pointing out a fallacy.
Lets see.. Boeing: See 737 MAX, other 737 boondoggle like the vertical stabilizer reversal back in 94'ish. Monsanto, hell, what chemical hasn't hid information they damn well shouldn't: Dicamba, roundup.. Take your pick. The stellar behavior of this corporate citizen taints cements the stereotype of an entire industry. https://thecounter.org/dicamba-trial-monsanto-basf-pesticide... https://www.phillyvoice.com/new-yor…
Several dozen companies doing bad things, compared with the hundreds of thousands of companies operating in the United States.
I stand by my statement -- it is rare.
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#654The solution isn't hoping the free market would solve this with a competing platform. The solution is to create regulations & laws that prevent this behavior. You're either a platform/retailer or you're a manufacturer. You don't get to be both because we see the perverse incentive that happens when it's allowed.
that solves the problem for suppliers, but creates one for consumers with lower competition. Less competition, higher prices. *just noticed I was down voted, likely by MichaelApproved because he has 7500 Karma and I only have 156. I'm starting to really hate contributing to HackerNews discussions because it's fully of a bunch of bullies who pound on your karma if you don't agree with their viewpoints. Bring on the do…
Please don't break the site guidelines by going on about downvotes. It just adds noise, and since it's against the rules, usually guarantees more downvotes.
If you think there's something abusive going on, email hn@ycombinator.com so we can look into it.
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#655This is the exact reason why Shopify grew rapidly. Sellers knew they needed a platform where they own the data and could abstract the operations outside of Amazon seller dashboard. People also forget that Amazon doesn't have to pay to advertise its own products, but 3rd party sellers do. This immediately puts you at a disadvantage if you want your product at the top since you pay seller commission and advertising fee…
I suggest you research the topic of "transfer pricing".
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#656Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a common arbitrage tactic. Seller carries no inventory, lists multiple products on eBay for slightly higher than the Amazon price, and buys/ships from Amazon if anyone buys the eBay listing.
It’s a money laundering thing too. There was a story in my area a few years ago where people had some sort of scheme to convert Amazon gift cards into cash via EBay.
I stumbled across an anonymous payment processor that accepts all kinds of shady business, like online casinos and escorts. They accept payment via gift cards to Amazon and elsewhere. Maybe this is how they convert that into cash. I was puzzled about how that would work.
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#657About 10 years ago I met the head of IT for B&H cameras in NYC. Among many things, he was in charge of the hosting for their online store. After he complained about dealing with physical servers, I asked him if he had ever considered using AWS ec2 for the website, and he replied that his boss refused because he believed that Amazon would pull data on B&H products and use it to compete more effectively. I'm not sure t…
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Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#658The title of the article says it all. I mean what do you expect? This is just business.
Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products
#659Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you’re totally right. In addition/corollary, it seems a lot of the things Amazon Basics sells are basically commodities. If you have a million iPad stands, eh, just buy the amazon basics one, it’s probably not crap and the reviews look good. I need my stand, my USB adapter, my cable, my whatever to just, “do the job”, there’s not a whole lot of performance differential within the category beyond works/doesn’t…
This also points to a hidden advantage Amazon has which is totally unethical. Namely, Amazon is perfectly willing to sell counterfeit name-brand goods, and presumably this doesn't extend to their own Amazon Basics products. I don't think this singlehandedly explains why Amazon is so unwilling to do anything about their huge counterfeit problem, but it's suspicious that the dilemma resolves in their favor.
It's because they don't have liability for it because they act as a platform. Whereas with Amazon Basics, they risk their brand.