> Does anyone really believe that if only the rules weren't "rigged" local shops and businesses would be able to compete against Wal-Mart and Amazon? There's a

> Does anyone really believe that if only the rules weren't "rigged" local shops and businesses would be able to compete against Wal-Mart and Amazon? There's at least one. Mom and pop can easily compete with Wal-Mart and Amazon if there was a level playing field. You just don't understand how twisted the playing field is because you have zero experience with retail and logistics. The big boys get tax subsidies when they move in, they get concessions from local governments, they get favorable treatment at the border with customs, etc. and that's just on the surface. They get huge discounts from UPS for infrastructure build-outs, but then UPS again gets subsidized through the roof in the same ways Amazon is directly. So on and so forth. Mom and pop can get the same prices out of China, it has nothing to do with scale. After you're ordering a container worth of stuff, you're not going to reduce the price of whatever you're selling by buying more. That's why Amazon doesn't manufacture much and relies on the Mom and Pop to do that sort of thing, while still kicking Wal-Mart's ass. As far as Mom and Pop vs Amazon ... Amazon wouldn't allow them to sell on their platform if they weren't a threat. But they do and they are. There's a reason eBay is a multi-billion dollar company and has been for a while.