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Is that so different from Walmart? Perhaps not "Merchants" but the country of origin of the products. 15 years ago we were watching reports on the Walmartizati
by preinheimer 7y ago
Is that so different from Walmart? Perhaps not "Merchants" but the country of origin of the products.
15 years ago we were watching reports on the Walmartization of america, and one key line from the Frontline documentary (I think) was that Walmart basically taught China how to sell to America.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoWalmart buys a surprising number of US sourced things for a bunch of reasons that are well outside the scope of this comment and basically have to do with the difference between a business that chooses what to sell and buys things by the box car and stocks them on shelves vs a business that basically proxies consumers to many small sellers and also operates a bunch of warehouses.
- jorblumesea 7y agoWalmart has QA, where they actually test and source products, ensuring quality and legal compliance. Buying direct from China runs the risk of toxic paints, metals, and that sort of thing. There was a HN article yesterday about Washington State suing Amazon for selling toxic toys. That's why you don't buy direct.
- linuxftw 7y agoIMO, not different at all. The retailer/distributor model is going away for lots of consumer goods, it's simply not as efficient as selling direct to consumers. The world has come full circle. You used to buy your candles from the candlestick maker. Then you bought them at the department store. Now you buy them on the internet directly from the candlestick maker.