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I continue to not see the difference in this vs physical stores measuring customer behavior and adjusting their pricing. Considering also store brands, which fl

I continue to not see the difference in this vs physical stores measuring customer behavior and adjusting their pricing. Considering also store brands, which fluctuate pricing based on those behaviors and the pricing of their competitors.

Spivak 3y ago
Every time issue comes up it's abundantly clear that the complaints are due to Amazon doing a thing that's like kinda shitty but not abnormal in business mixed with a massive pool of sellers that have zero exposure to traditional retail. You don't see business like Nike making a fuss because to them Amazon is just another retail channel that has their own teams managing the relationship and the weirdness isn't that different than the other people they sell to. But I also sympathize because I think the eternal September of people stepping into that world producing so many WTFs at the accepted state of things they harmonize is a potentially good vector to push for some change because no one else is going to do it. The people who don't get eaten alive have no motivation to upset things lest they inadvertently hurt themselves.
- fallingknife 3y ago
  I guess I don't get what change is needed. Most of these Amazon sellers don't do any of the following: - manufacturing - marketing / advertising - warehousing - shipping So basically they have outsourced the entire value chain, and then they complain that they are losing almost all of their revenue. Well, yeah, the people doing all of the work are getting most of the money. We don't seem to think it's an issue when a manufacturer takes 50% of someone's revenue, but when a platform that handles marketing/sales/logistics takes 30% everyone acts like it's highway robbery. These sellers remind me of the people who find out I'm a SWE and want me to work on their "brilliant idea" which they somehow think is worth something without putting in any actual work. It's not. And the fact that these sellers are able to even make a living acting as a middle man between Alibaba and Amazon at all is honestly a great deal for them.
belval 3y ago
You and me both, this and the "AmazonBasics is creating cheaper copies of best selling items". That's literally what Walmart (GreatValue) or Costco (Kirkland), and basically any brick and mortar store has been doing to improve their margins in the last 50 years. As a customer I am not harmed by this, if anything I win because the intermediate sellers between the Chinese factory that actually makes the stuff and me is replaced by Amazon who is willing to accept smaller margins.
- fallingknife 3y ago
  Yeah, it's a huge win. I have probably saved over $10K in my lifetime by buying store brand generics.

Spivak 3y ago

Every time issue comes up it's abundantly clear that the complaints are due to Amazon doing a thing that's like kinda shitty but not abnormal in business mixed with a massive pool of sellers that have zero exposure to traditional retail. You don't see business like Nike making a fuss because to them Amazon is just another retail channel that has their own teams managing the relationship and the weirdness isn't that different than the other people they sell to. But I also sympathize because I think the eternal September of people stepping into that world producing so many WTFs at the accepted state of things they harmonize is a potentially good vector to push for some change because no one else is going to do it. The people who don't get eaten alive have no motivation to upset things lest they inadvertently hurt themselves.

fallingknife 3y ago
I guess I don't get what change is needed. Most of these Amazon sellers don't do any of the following: - manufacturing - marketing / advertising - warehousing - shipping So basically they have outsourced the entire value chain, and then they complain that they are losing almost all of their revenue. Well, yeah, the people doing all of the work are getting most of the money. We don't seem to think it's an issue when a manufacturer takes 50% of someone's revenue, but when a platform that handles marketing/sales/logistics takes 30% everyone acts like it's highway robbery. These sellers remind me of the people who find out I'm a SWE and want me to work on their "brilliant idea" which they somehow think is worth something without putting in any actual work. It's not. And the fact that these sellers are able to even make a living acting as a middle man between Alibaba and Amazon at all is honestly a great deal for them.

belval 3y ago

You and me both, this and the "AmazonBasics is creating cheaper copies of best selling items". That's literally what Walmart (GreatValue) or Costco (Kirkland), and basically any brick and mortar store has been doing to improve their margins in the last 50 years. As a customer I am not harmed by this, if anything I win because the intermediate sellers between the Chinese factory that actually makes the stuff and me is replaced by Amazon who is willing to accept smaller margins.

fallingknife 3y ago
Yeah, it's a huge win. I have probably saved over $10K in my lifetime by buying store brand generics.