5 ms·

Why should the government intervene? It's called competition, and Amazon is winning. Some day someone will do the same to them. The government should merely enf

by namlem 5y ago

Why should the government intervene? It's called competition, and Amazon is winning. Some day someone will do the same to them. The government should merely enforce a level playing field and prevent market manipulation.

micromacrofoot 5y ago
who can compete with amazon when their pricing is a result of their massive scale and supply chain dominance?
- namlem 5y ago
  A lot of things are still often cheaper on eBay. Plus, price isn't everything. Amazon has quality problems.
- NavinF 5y ago
  who can compete with Walmart when their pricing is a result of their massive scale and supply chain dominance? /s
  - dTal 5y ago
    Why the /s ?
    - kwertyoowiyop 5y ago
      Probably because Amazon is. And to be fair: though Amazon seems unstoppable now, so did Microsoft, IBM, Sears, GM, Kodak, and many others.
  - micromacrofoot 5y ago
    You're trying to invalidate an argument with the same argument.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      They are showing your argument is invalid in the first place.
      - micromacrofoot 5y ago
        by reiterating it? Amazon occupied a space that Walmart was long absent in. Who is competing against Amazon or Walmart now?
        lotsofpulp 5y ago
        If your argument was valid, it would be not re-iterable. The fact that you can plug Walmart/Sears/IBM/etc into it means there was something others were able to outcompete them on with even though the incumbent had scale. For example, right now, I source my items from Costco/Target/Best Buy/Home Depot/Lowes/Staples/Winco (grocery store), Trader Joe’s, and I make minimal use of Walmart and even less of Amazon.
        micromacrofoot 5y ago
        Sears and IBM at their peaks weren't at Walmart or Amazon's scale. Amazon's scale in their respective market is even more dominant than Walmart... they're approaching over half of all global ecommerce. Second place isn't close. Walmart covers <25% brick and mortar retail. Also, look at it from the perspective of a small business. If you want to sell things online you're at a competitive disadvantage by not selling on Amazon. There are a number of companies that have cited this frustration. When you do sell on Amazon you're giving up some sales data which Amazon can then use to decide to undercut your product with their basics line, which very possibly comes from the same Chinese manufacturers at lower Amazon-negotiated prices.
        lotsofpulp 5y ago
        What does it even mean to say Amazon has 50% of the global e-commerce market? I cannot even find Amazon sourcing and selling the goods I am searching for 90% of the time. They do not even offer a filter to show only items shipped and sold by Amazon.com, it is always some no name reseller. I only buy because I know Amazon will refund me. Small businesses are also at a competitive disadvantage by not having the prime corner spot in downtown. It just means you have to compete by selling something else that people want. If you want to play in the 2% profit margin cheap goods market, then you probably will not have a good time competing against others who have already optimized it. Amazon has cornered the cheap goods online market (i.e. a more comfortable version of AliExpress). So do not compete with them on that if you want to earn more. If I am looking for something of decent quality, and you can figure out how to source it and guarantee that quality, then people will buy directly from your website (I do). Or Costco or Best Buy or another retailer will want to pick it up. Oxo is another good example. They were able to expand their marketshare because they saw a market where people wanted to spend more to be assured of a higher quality good. Walmart was and still is selling the same stuff under the Mainstays brand, yet Oxo has grown because they correctly predicted that people would be willing to spend x% more for y% higher quality (or perception of quality).

by namlem 5y ago

micromacrofoot 5y ago

who can compete with amazon when their pricing is a result of their massive scale and supply chain dominance?

namlem 5y ago
A lot of things are still often cheaper on eBay. Plus, price isn't everything. Amazon has quality problems.
NavinF 5y ago
who can compete with Walmart when their pricing is a result of their massive scale and supply chain dominance? /s
- dTal 5y ago
  Why the /s ?
  - kwertyoowiyop 5y ago
    Probably because Amazon is. And to be fair: though Amazon seems unstoppable now, so did Microsoft, IBM, Sears, GM, Kodak, and many others.
- micromacrofoot 5y ago
  You're trying to invalidate an argument with the same argument.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    They are showing your argument is invalid in the first place.
    - micromacrofoot 5y ago
      by reiterating it? Amazon occupied a space that Walmart was long absent in. Who is competing against Amazon or Walmart now?
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        If your argument was valid, it would be not re-iterable. The fact that you can plug Walmart/Sears/IBM/etc into it means there was something others were able to outcompete them on with even though the incumbent had scale. For example, right now, I source my items from Costco/Target/Best Buy/Home Depot/Lowes/Staples/Winco (grocery store), Trader Joe’s, and I make minimal use of Walmart and even less of Amazon.
        micromacrofoot 5y ago
        Sears and IBM at their peaks weren't at Walmart or Amazon's scale. Amazon's scale in their respective market is even more dominant than Walmart... they're approaching over half of all global ecommerce. Second place isn't close. Walmart covers <25% brick and mortar retail. Also, look at it from the perspective of a small business. If you want to sell things online you're at a competitive disadvantage by not selling on Amazon. There are a number of companies that have cited this frustration. When you do sell on Amazon you're giving up some sales data which Amazon can then use to decide to undercut your product with their basics line, which very possibly comes from the same Chinese manufacturers at lower Amazon-negotiated prices.
        lotsofpulp 5y ago
        What does it even mean to say Amazon has 50% of the global e-commerce market? I cannot even find Amazon sourcing and selling the goods I am searching for 90% of the time. They do not even offer a filter to show only items shipped and sold by Amazon.com, it is always some no name reseller. I only buy because I know Amazon will refund me. Small businesses are also at a competitive disadvantage by not having the prime corner spot in downtown. It just means you have to compete by selling something else that people want. If you want to play in the 2% profit margin cheap goods market, then you probably will not have a good time competing against others who have already optimized it. Amazon has cornered the cheap goods online market (i.e. a more comfortable version of AliExpress). So do not compete with them on that if you want to earn more. If I am looking for something of decent quality, and you can figure out how to source it and guarantee that quality, then people will buy directly from your website (I do). Or Costco or Best Buy or another retailer will want to pick it up. Oxo is another good example. They were able to expand their marketshare because they saw a market where people wanted to spend more to be assured of a higher quality good. Walmart was and still is selling the same stuff under the Mainstays brand, yet Oxo has grown because they correctly predicted that people would be willing to spend x% more for y% higher quality (or perception of quality).