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Amazon has a profitable business and they have for a long time now. They do not turn a profit because they keep sinking their profits back into expansion. There

Amazon has a profitable business and they have for a long time now. They do not turn a profit because they keep sinking their profits back into expansion. There is a huge difference between being unprofitable because you can't sell product, and being unprofitable because you are choosing to take your earnings and invest them back into growth. Yes, you must be careful not to over-extend yourself, and at some point you've taken over the world and just can't grow anymore. But I haven't heard anyone give argument for either of those being the case, just non-specific fretting about how Amazon still is not profitable. I'm not even saying Amazon is doing the right thing. But they are doing exactly what they have been doing successfully for the last 17 years. Why do we keep getting worried about it?

cube13 12y ago
>They do not turn a profit because they keep sinking their profits back into expansion. Uh, that's pretty much the definition of "unprofitable".
- jdbernard 12y ago
  My point was that Amazon is unprofitable by choice and that makes all the difference. Amazon is putting food on the table for thousands of people. They are facilitating the sale of product for tens (hundreds?) of thousands of businesses. Their technology underpins and enables many of the startups we love. Their cash flow was and is healthy. That is very different than being unable to turn a profit. edit: What I meant by "a profitable business" is that Amazon is in several different industries. They have profitable business. They offset their profitable business with growth expenses, but they have business that is profitable.
- gamblor956 12y ago
  No, the definition of unprofitable would be a company that does not make net revenues before reinvesting in growth opportunities. A company that chooses to reinvest its profits is profitable; it is simply choosing not to distribute those profits to its shareholders.
- loganfrederick 12y ago
  Not exactly, there is a difference between a company with no revenues burning money and a company that is unprofitable but could be if it stopped spending money on growth and just sat on the income from its existing business.
bsder 12y ago
> But they are doing exactly what they have been doing successfully for the last 17 years. Why do we keep getting worried about it? Because Amazon has real competition now that they have to pay sales tax. All useful retailers now have online sites. Most brick-and-mortar retailers will match Amazon prices so Amazon doesn't have a structural advantage anymore now that they also have to pay sales tax. And the brick-and-mortar retailers have in-store returns and pickups--often now faster than Amazon Prime. Amazon used to deliver somewhat reliably but fast (and sometimes faster). Now, it's a crapshoot. I will not order anything time sensitive from them anymore. So, I'm pretty much back down to buying non-time sensitive books from Amazon. And this last round, they scattered my delivery dates for each so far that I'm rethinking that idea.

cube13 12y ago

>They do not turn a profit because they keep sinking their profits back into expansion. Uh, that's pretty much the definition of "unprofitable".

jdbernard 12y ago
My point was that Amazon is unprofitable by choice and that makes all the difference. Amazon is putting food on the table for thousands of people. They are facilitating the sale of product for tens (hundreds?) of thousands of businesses. Their technology underpins and enables many of the startups we love. Their cash flow was and is healthy. That is very different than being unable to turn a profit. edit: What I meant by "a profitable business" is that Amazon is in several different industries. They have profitable business. They offset their profitable business with growth expenses, but they have business that is profitable.
gamblor956 12y ago
No, the definition of unprofitable would be a company that does not make net revenues before reinvesting in growth opportunities. A company that chooses to reinvest its profits is profitable; it is simply choosing not to distribute those profits to its shareholders.
loganfrederick 12y ago
Not exactly, there is a difference between a company with no revenues burning money and a company that is unprofitable but could be if it stopped spending money on growth and just sat on the income from its existing business.

bsder 12y ago

> But they are doing exactly what they have been doing successfully for the last 17 years. Why do we keep getting worried about it? Because Amazon has real competition now that they have to pay sales tax. All useful retailers now have online sites. Most brick-and-mortar retailers will match Amazon prices so Amazon doesn't have a structural advantage anymore now that they also have to pay sales tax. And the brick-and-mortar retailers have in-store returns and pickups--often now faster than Amazon Prime. Amazon used to deliver somewhat reliably but fast (and sometimes faster). Now, it's a crapshoot. I will not order anything time sensitive from them anymore. So, I'm pretty much back down to buying non-time sensitive books from Amazon. And this last round, they scattered my delivery dates for each so far that I'm rethinking that idea.