5 ms·
> That seems like legitimately monopolistic behavior and something that is illegal and should be stopped The type of contract you are describing is common in m
by namdnay 5y ago
> That seems like legitimately monopolistic behavior and something that is illegal and should be stopped
The type of contract you are describing is common in many industries. They’re known as “full content agreements” in the airline industry for example, and they’re a continual source of tension between the distribution networks and travel agencies (who want these rules) and the airlines (who would like to be able to sell cheaper on their own direct channels). The same thing exists for hotels etc
I guess the question boils down to whether Amazon can be considered to have a monopoly position in the indirect distribution of the specific type of goods being considered. I imagine that might be possible for books, not sure about other goods
- shellfishgene 5y agoBooking.com's "best price agreement", which prohibited hotels from offering lower prices on their own website, was just declared illegal by the highest German court because it's anti competitive.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoAll the hotel chains in the US have been offering cheaper prices conditional upon signing up for the rewards program for many years now, and it’s free and a simple check mark to become a rewards program member.
- Dylan16807 5y agoWell that's good, but I sort of see it as solving the problem from the wrong end. As a consumer what I want to see is a booking site that does have the lowest price but can't charge the hotel more than a tiny fee.
- aidenn0 5y agoFor online shopping for most goods under $100, and many over $100, they really do. I've seen a few balance sheets, and Amazon is usually over 80% of online sales.
- markus_zhang 5y agoMonopoly can also be achieved by colluding (even just implicitly without formal agreement) with other similar scale companies in the same trench. It's difficult to prove.