5 ms·

So then Amazon is not a success either?

by vadym909 10y ago

mcguire 10y ago
Can you explain what Amazon's end game will be?
- ahuja_s 10y ago
  It's customers are fucking g happy. What's the end game you're talking about? Have you invested into them? As a customer I LOVE them. As a student, I studied them in HBX.
  - mcguire 10y ago
    In 2015, Amazon made $596,000,000 on revenues of $107,006,000,000, or a profit margin of 0.6%. In 2012 and 2014, it lost money. How long should investors wait to see a real profit? Should they expect revenue growth to continue indefinitely?
    - jrockway 10y ago
      How much profit should they make? If there was a machine where you could insert a 20 dollar bill and it spit out the 20 and an additional 12 cents, would you not use that machine? How much would you pay to buy one?
      - DontGiveTwoFlux 10y ago
        Except that if you buy the Berkshire Hathaway machine you'll put in $20 and get back a dollar.
      - sk5t 10y ago
        I dunno, how much money would you keep in a savings account that yields 0.5% APR?
- DasIch 10y ago
  Amazon's endgame is to become the retailer, the only one.
bobbytherobot 10y ago
First off, Amazon never lost a billion dollars in a single year. More importantly, Amazon could have been profitable for much of the time. Amazon was losing money because they were taking the profits from they successful ventures and pouring it into new ventures. With Uber, what change do they make right now to switch to a very profitable company? Amazon had that option, Uber does not.
- mdonahoe 10y ago
  ...Increase prices?
tptacek 10y ago
Amazon's position in the market is so weird that Matt Levine calls it a charity for the American consumer sponsored by the stock market. But it's at least clear how Amazon could generate money long-term; if it wasn't, nobody would invest in it.
- tedunangst 10y ago
  I think you mean Yglesias?
  - wolf550e 10y ago
    Yes, Levine quoted Yglesias https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-02/quant-awareness-and-odd-lot-trades https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-02/quant-awa... http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/12/amazon_as_corporate_charity_jeff_bezos_says_there_s_a_method_to_the_madness.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/12/amazon_as_cor...

So then Amazon is not a success either?

mcguire 10y ago

Can you explain what Amazon's end game will be?

ahuja_s 10y ago
It's customers are fucking g happy. What's the end game you're talking about? Have you invested into them? As a customer I LOVE them. As a student, I studied them in HBX.
- mcguire 10y ago
  In 2015, Amazon made $596,000,000 on revenues of $107,006,000,000, or a profit margin of 0.6%. In 2012 and 2014, it lost money. How long should investors wait to see a real profit? Should they expect revenue growth to continue indefinitely?
  - jrockway 10y ago
    How much profit should they make? If there was a machine where you could insert a 20 dollar bill and it spit out the 20 and an additional 12 cents, would you not use that machine? How much would you pay to buy one?
    - DontGiveTwoFlux 10y ago
      Except that if you buy the Berkshire Hathaway machine you'll put in $20 and get back a dollar.
    - sk5t 10y ago
      I dunno, how much money would you keep in a savings account that yields 0.5% APR?
DasIch 10y ago
Amazon's endgame is to become the retailer, the only one.

bobbytherobot 10y ago

First off, Amazon never lost a billion dollars in a single year. More importantly, Amazon could have been profitable for much of the time. Amazon was losing money because they were taking the profits from they successful ventures and pouring it into new ventures. With Uber, what change do they make right now to switch to a very profitable company? Amazon had that option, Uber does not.

mdonahoe 10y ago
...Increase prices?

tptacek 10y ago

Amazon's position in the market is so weird that Matt Levine calls it a charity for the American consumer sponsored by the stock market. But it's at least clear how Amazon could generate money long-term; if it wasn't, nobody would invest in it.

tedunangst 10y ago
I think you mean Yglesias?
- wolf550e 10y ago
  Yes, Levine quoted Yglesias https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-02/quant-awareness-and-odd-lot-trades https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-02/quant-awa... http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/12/amazon_as_corporate_charity_jeff_bezos_says_there_s_a_method_to_the_madness.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/12/amazon_as_cor...