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Uber/lyft are also slaying yellow/black cabs because the cabs chose to just milk their monopoly for maximum profit for 30 years rather than invest in any techno

Uber/lyft are also slaying yellow/black cabs because the cabs chose to just milk their monopoly for maximum profit for 30 years rather than invest in any technology or make any improvements to rider experience or comfort. It's not just the subsidies. It's the fact that calling random 800 numbers trying to get a cab is really frustrating, especially when they do not show up 20% of the time. For Amazon... are their margins really that much smaller than Walmart, Target, Costco or anything other big box discount retailer? Many products at Amazon can be found cheaper in a store. It's just really damn convenient to order it on Amazon and have it shipped the next day.

jonbarker 9y ago
Amazon's stated goal is to have no margins (Bezos 'your margin is my opportunity'). So yes if they are following their zero margin strategy they should be lower than WMT, whose only claim is low price. If something is cheaper elsewhere it is because Amazon has not figured out how to deliver that particular item to the consumer at cost yet. So for example if you find something cheaper at WMT it may be that WMT has a great distributor license and is an exclusive channel, something like that.
- tome 9y ago
  Huh? So how does Amazon actually make money?
  - bb611 9y ago
    They don't have no margin (i.e. nothing is 'at cost' as GP presumes), they just have very low margins which they make up for with high volume. It's not that novel, but Bezos has created a company with tolerance for lower margins.
  - snark42 9y ago
    > Huh? So how does Amazon actually make money? They sell at/near their cost (including warehousing, delivery, technology, etc.) which is lower than the cost of Walmart's brick and mortar presence. Costco also sells at cost, almost all their profit is from membership fees (see Amazon Prime for Amazon's take on this.)
  - mcguire 9y ago
    When did they start making money, again?
    - jartelt 9y ago
      They have posted a profit the last 8 quarters.
jedrek 9y ago
Online retailers HATE amazon because they've gotten customers to expect free second day shipping.

jonbarker 9y ago

Amazon's stated goal is to have no margins (Bezos 'your margin is my opportunity'). So yes if they are following their zero margin strategy they should be lower than WMT, whose only claim is low price. If something is cheaper elsewhere it is because Amazon has not figured out how to deliver that particular item to the consumer at cost yet. So for example if you find something cheaper at WMT it may be that WMT has a great distributor license and is an exclusive channel, something like that.

tome 9y ago
Huh? So how does Amazon actually make money?
- bb611 9y ago
  They don't have no margin (i.e. nothing is 'at cost' as GP presumes), they just have very low margins which they make up for with high volume. It's not that novel, but Bezos has created a company with tolerance for lower margins.
- snark42 9y ago
  > Huh? So how does Amazon actually make money? They sell at/near their cost (including warehousing, delivery, technology, etc.) which is lower than the cost of Walmart's brick and mortar presence. Costco also sells at cost, almost all their profit is from membership fees (see Amazon Prime for Amazon's take on this.)
- mcguire 9y ago
  When did they start making money, again?
  - jartelt 9y ago
    They have posted a profit the last 8 quarters.

jedrek 9y ago

Online retailers HATE amazon because they've gotten customers to expect free second day shipping.