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I understand why Amazon won't allow you to link to your store directly but >They will de-list our products if they’re available for a lower price on another si

I understand why Amazon won't allow you to link to your store directly but >They will de-list our products if they’re available for a lower price on another site. This sounds pretty shady

toasterlovin 2y ago
We don’t have a right to sell on their site. If we want access to their customers and exposure for our products, they want to make sure they’re not being undercut on pricing (since they know customers will price shop).
- Mordisquitos 2y ago
  If even after stopping you from linking to your own site Amazon still fears their customers will price shop by their own accord then: a) Amazon is implicitly admitting that their shopping platform is not so special: if customers could find cheaper suppliers of your product that would be enough for Amazon to be outcompeted. b) Amazon is indisputably engaging in anticompetitive practices by forbidding you from even selling at a cheaper price with the only justification of "we do not want price competition to even exist"
  - toasterlovin 2y ago
    Sorry, but you just have no idea how valuable Amazon is at enabling customers to discover that your product even exists. 100% of the customers who have ever bought from our website have discovered us on Amazon. We know this because we don't do any advertising outside of Amazon.
_aavaa_ 2y ago
Not only are they shady, but these most favoured nation deals are incredibly anti competitive. Amazon is using its market position to dictate what price other stores are allowed to sell at.
- petre 2y ago
  Not only they do that but they also give out deals and rebates without asking the merchant. I would automatically give the clients a rebate equal to the Amazon fees if they purchased through my site.
- toasterlovin 2y ago
  They're just not. The thing they're trying to avoid is a customer discovering a product on Amazon, then immediately finding it for less on the manufacturer's website. And this happens. We do it! So do plenty of other sellers we're aware of. Of course, we have to hide it behind a login or offer a 10% discount on first order or whatever. Amazon is giving sellers something of immense value (the opportunity to sell physical goods to a huge pool of customers who are ready to buy). Why should Amazon give that access to sellers who are trying to divert customers off of Amazon? They're not running a charity. It's their business, which they've built over decades of immense investment and effort. And the immense value of what they've built is evident in the difficulty other massive retailers like Walmart, Target, Kroger, etc. are having building similar online retail businesses.
  - _aavaa_ 2y ago
    > They're just not. The thing they're trying to avoid is a customer discovering a product on Amazon, then immediately finding it for less on the manufacturer's website. So they are using most favoured nation deals? Whether you believe they have a good reason for it or not (I don't think they do) doesn't make it any less anti-competitive > It's their business, which they've built over decades of immense investment and effort. I don't care how much money and effort it takes. That's their problem, not the customers'. They have also built it up by exploiting their workers, creating inferior knockoffs and then kicking the original off the platform, taking as much money from suppliers as possible, and introducing paid placements so that vendors need to advertise to show up even when searched for by name. > And the immense value of what they've built is evident in the difficulty other massive retailers like Walmart, Target, Kroger, etc. are having building similar online retail businesses. Perhaps that might have something to do with all of Amazon's best efforts to exert ever more control over suppliers. Or leveraging their success in other areas (looking at you AWS) to do things that would not be profitable otherwise in order to eliminate competition (Diapers.com anyone?).

I understand why Amazon won't allow you to link to your store directly but >They will de-list our products if they’re available for a lower price on another site. This sounds pretty shady

toasterlovin 2y ago

We don’t have a right to sell on their site. If we want access to their customers and exposure for our products, they want to make sure they’re not being undercut on pricing (since they know customers will price shop).

Mordisquitos 2y ago
If even after stopping you from linking to your own site Amazon still fears their customers will price shop by their own accord then: a) Amazon is implicitly admitting that their shopping platform is not so special: if customers could find cheaper suppliers of your product that would be enough for Amazon to be outcompeted. b) Amazon is indisputably engaging in anticompetitive practices by forbidding you from even selling at a cheaper price with the only justification of "we do not want price competition to even exist"
- toasterlovin 2y ago
  Sorry, but you just have no idea how valuable Amazon is at enabling customers to discover that your product even exists. 100% of the customers who have ever bought from our website have discovered us on Amazon. We know this because we don't do any advertising outside of Amazon.

_aavaa_ 2y ago

Not only are they shady, but these most favoured nation deals are incredibly anti competitive. Amazon is using its market position to dictate what price other stores are allowed to sell at.

petre 2y ago
Not only they do that but they also give out deals and rebates without asking the merchant. I would automatically give the clients a rebate equal to the Amazon fees if they purchased through my site.
toasterlovin 2y ago
They're just not. The thing they're trying to avoid is a customer discovering a product on Amazon, then immediately finding it for less on the manufacturer's website. And this happens. We do it! So do plenty of other sellers we're aware of. Of course, we have to hide it behind a login or offer a 10% discount on first order or whatever. Amazon is giving sellers something of immense value (the opportunity to sell physical goods to a huge pool of customers who are ready to buy). Why should Amazon give that access to sellers who are trying to divert customers off of Amazon? They're not running a charity. It's their business, which they've built over decades of immense investment and effort. And the immense value of what they've built is evident in the difficulty other massive retailers like Walmart, Target, Kroger, etc. are having building similar online retail businesses.
- _aavaa_ 2y ago
  > They're just not. The thing they're trying to avoid is a customer discovering a product on Amazon, then immediately finding it for less on the manufacturer's website. So they are using most favoured nation deals? Whether you believe they have a good reason for it or not (I don't think they do) doesn't make it any less anti-competitive > It's their business, which they've built over decades of immense investment and effort. I don't care how much money and effort it takes. That's their problem, not the customers'. They have also built it up by exploiting their workers, creating inferior knockoffs and then kicking the original off the platform, taking as much money from suppliers as possible, and introducing paid placements so that vendors need to advertise to show up even when searched for by name. > And the immense value of what they've built is evident in the difficulty other massive retailers like Walmart, Target, Kroger, etc. are having building similar online retail businesses. Perhaps that might have something to do with all of Amazon's best efforts to exert ever more control over suppliers. Or leveraging their success in other areas (looking at you AWS) to do things that would not be profitable otherwise in order to eliminate competition (Diapers.com anyone?).