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was stuck with 600 stackable baby formula dispensers in her garage Is this an over-dramatization, or is Amazon really that much of a monopoly, that you can

by TekMol 8y ago

was stuck with 600 stackable baby formula dispensers in her garage Is this an over-dramatization, or is Amazon really that much of a monopoly, that you cannot get rid of inventory at all elsewhere? I can understand that other marketplaces might not be efficient enough to turn a profit. But just selling the inventory at purchase price? What alternatives are there? Ebay comes to mind. Anything else?

anonymous5133 8y ago
The key word her is "stackable" so the seller is focusing on volume selling which is very effective with amazon's one listing per item policy. If the item is very popular then having 600 of some item could be a weeks worth of inventory. Whereas on other sites, you would have to list on site and then everything is seller-by-seller....so if people don't see your listing or your price isn't good enough then you get no sales. but yeah, that's just how it is. Selling products on ebay/amazon is not a guaranteed source of income so those types of businesses are inherently high-risk, especially if you are focusing on a specific product line or niche products.
- TekMol 8y ago
  so if people don't see your listing or your price isn't good enough then you get no sales Again, I understand how that can prevent a profit. But how does it hinder you to put ads (I guess both Ebay and Amazaon have those) for your product and sell it off for half the price? I'm not addressing that she might have to fold her business. I'm only addressing the being stuck with inventory part. That makes it sound like she had to throw it away or something.
  - moltar 8y ago
    Yeah, sellers do that all the time. You can liquidate. There are also Facebook groups where sellers bulk liquidate. The fact that they were stuck with inventory in the garage just means they had no idea what they were doing.
    - waisbrot 8y ago
      "Stuck with" is a colloquialism. It's just saying that she'd planned to make X profit and instead will end up with a loss. There's plenty of ways to make a loss: sell it at a discount (near or below what you bought for) or spend so much effort making sales that your opportunity cost is more than your profit. The article's point isn't about how she's going to get rid of her useless inventory, so it just uses the shorthand that she's not selling at Amazon and has no immediate profitable back-up plan.
swalsh 8y ago
Sears.com also allows 3rd party sellers. But again the volume is orders of magnitude less.

by TekMol 8y ago

anonymous5133 8y ago

The key word her is "stackable" so the seller is focusing on volume selling which is very effective with amazon's one listing per item policy. If the item is very popular then having 600 of some item could be a weeks worth of inventory. Whereas on other sites, you would have to list on site and then everything is seller-by-seller....so if people don't see your listing or your price isn't good enough then you get no sales. but yeah, that's just how it is. Selling products on ebay/amazon is not a guaranteed source of income so those types of businesses are inherently high-risk, especially if you are focusing on a specific product line or niche products.

TekMol 8y ago
so if people don't see your listing or your price isn't good enough then you get no sales Again, I understand how that can prevent a profit. But how does it hinder you to put ads (I guess both Ebay and Amazaon have those) for your product and sell it off for half the price? I'm not addressing that she might have to fold her business. I'm only addressing the being stuck with inventory part. That makes it sound like she had to throw it away or something.
- moltar 8y ago
  Yeah, sellers do that all the time. You can liquidate. There are also Facebook groups where sellers bulk liquidate. The fact that they were stuck with inventory in the garage just means they had no idea what they were doing.
  - waisbrot 8y ago
    "Stuck with" is a colloquialism. It's just saying that she'd planned to make X profit and instead will end up with a loss. There's plenty of ways to make a loss: sell it at a discount (near or below what you bought for) or spend so much effort making sales that your opportunity cost is more than your profit. The article's point isn't about how she's going to get rid of her useless inventory, so it just uses the shorthand that she's not selling at Amazon and has no immediate profitable back-up plan.

swalsh 8y ago

Sears.com also allows 3rd party sellers. But again the volume is orders of magnitude less.