4 ms·

> The fact that I can buy a $7.95 item on Amazon and have it profitably delivered in a day or two is absolutely incredible. Is it profitable though, or is this

• axaxs 5y ago
  They definitely don't make any money on it, but I'm not sure I'd call it a loss leader, but more of a 'loss at the expense of keeping customers on Amazon.' That is, if Amazon didn't offer it, I may check out Walmart or Overstock or somewhere else, and find other things at good prices.
  • ruined 5y ago
    you just described a loss leader
    • axaxs 5y ago
      I was debating that. I always considered a loss leader as something to get you into a store to buy more expensive things. This is similar I guess...but I don't think it's identical because it isn't about getting you to buy more things(at that moment). More about getting you to not check out competitors. Perhaps it still applies.
• tzs 5y ago
  I see an Amazon delivery van most days in my area, making several deliveries. The marginal cost of delivering an additional order to my neighborhood should be very low. Same for the other stages of delivery. They've already got something set up to move large amounts of goods between their warehouses to where the delivery vans are loaded. The marginal cost of one more item should be low. When they have that kind of distribution/delivery infrastructure set up and essentially providing an almost continuous delivery pipeline, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to ask whether or not an individual item was profitable.