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What would differentiate 11main (or any other Alibaba property) from offerings in the US? Amazon probably has quite a few people locked in with Prime and their

by JonLim 12y ago

What would differentiate 11main (or any other Alibaba property) from offerings in the US? Amazon probably has quite a few people locked in with Prime and their Kindle devices (I know I wouldn't switch e-book providers) so I wonder what exactly would 11main do better?

Alupis 12y ago
Not sure yet. 11main.com in particular has a more "local" feeling to it style-wise. I find it aesthetically pleasing to look at, instead of the blocky old look/feel of amazon.com. I think 11main.com is only their first recon assault wave. More will come. Alibaba is the parent company for a lot of child companies -- they have an equivalent for most of our major US companies[1] It's a little intimidating when you realize the scale these guys are playing at. [1] http://qz.com/206283/all-the-western-companies-youd-have-to-combine-to-get-something-like-alibaba/ http://qz.com/206283/all-the-western-companies-youd-have-to-...
- lavamantis 12y ago
  That is a sobering article. These guys blink at a product, and their user base is instantly more than the entire population of the US. I wonder how much longer the US can afford to fiddle with ridiculous things like debt ceilings, immigration, birth control, needless foreign wars, etc., when a behemoth like Alibabi is poised to overrun the world in a decade. Once China gets over the whole fascism thing, the future appears to be theirs.
AndrewKemendo 12y ago
Amazon has slowly been raising prices, so Alibaba could come and undercut prices but where Amazon has it's best advantage I think is in it's lightning fast delivery. Something that takes more time and infrastructure to compete with.
- Alupis 12y ago
  Absolutely correct -- The little known secret - products on amazon are often more expensive than found elsewhere. They charge a 15% - 30% commission fee per item sold, so majority of retailers raise their prices when listing on amazon. The category my company sells in has a 20% commission fee, so we raised pricing by 25%, and our volume of sales on amazon was not effected. If you find a product you want, and a decent price on amazon -- try googling the seller's name/brand and see if their website comes up... the same item will likely be there cheaper. We've found that people trust the amazon platform so much, they get blind to pricing. Most also don't realize they are not buying from amazon directly - but often a 3rd party seller. Most large sellers don't use the FBA either (where amazon warehouses your products for you, for a fee). Also, recently amazon changed their minimum commission structure -- to be a $1 minimum for any product sold under $6. This effectively destroyed the penny book sellers, as well as many other industries that sold cheap but high-volume products (like my company does). So... now we've changed to sell more quantity per unit sold on amazon (case/pack sizes). So now, effectively there are no "cheap" $6 or less products on Amazon.
  - Throwaway823 12y ago
    I know their prices are average, or slightly more expensive, however, it's convenient. For example, say I need a pair of sunglasses, a fan for my computer, a new frying pan, and SD card for my camera. I go to Amazon, find the products I need, and place a single order. That's much easier than trying to locate these items on a handful of different websites, signing up for new accounts and payment systems. It's also easier than going shopping downtown, finding a few items, but not the others, which means I need to place an order online either way. And if I need to place an order online, I might as well get everything on Amazon, so I qualify for free shipping.

by JonLim 12y ago

Alupis 12y ago

Not sure yet. 11main.com in particular has a more "local" feeling to it style-wise. I find it aesthetically pleasing to look at, instead of the blocky old look/feel of amazon.com. I think 11main.com is only their first recon assault wave. More will come. Alibaba is the parent company for a lot of child companies -- they have an equivalent for most of our major US companies[1] It's a little intimidating when you realize the scale these guys are playing at. [1] http://qz.com/206283/all-the-western-companies-youd-have-to-combine-to-get-something-like-alibaba/ http://qz.com/206283/all-the-western-companies-youd-have-to-...

lavamantis 12y ago
That is a sobering article. These guys blink at a product, and their user base is instantly more than the entire population of the US. I wonder how much longer the US can afford to fiddle with ridiculous things like debt ceilings, immigration, birth control, needless foreign wars, etc., when a behemoth like Alibabi is poised to overrun the world in a decade. Once China gets over the whole fascism thing, the future appears to be theirs.

AndrewKemendo 12y ago

Amazon has slowly been raising prices, so Alibaba could come and undercut prices but where Amazon has it's best advantage I think is in it's lightning fast delivery. Something that takes more time and infrastructure to compete with.

Alupis 12y ago
Absolutely correct -- The little known secret - products on amazon are often more expensive than found elsewhere. They charge a 15% - 30% commission fee per item sold, so majority of retailers raise their prices when listing on amazon. The category my company sells in has a 20% commission fee, so we raised pricing by 25%, and our volume of sales on amazon was not effected. If you find a product you want, and a decent price on amazon -- try googling the seller's name/brand and see if their website comes up... the same item will likely be there cheaper. We've found that people trust the amazon platform so much, they get blind to pricing. Most also don't realize they are not buying from amazon directly - but often a 3rd party seller. Most large sellers don't use the FBA either (where amazon warehouses your products for you, for a fee). Also, recently amazon changed their minimum commission structure -- to be a $1 minimum for any product sold under $6. This effectively destroyed the penny book sellers, as well as many other industries that sold cheap but high-volume products (like my company does). So... now we've changed to sell more quantity per unit sold on amazon (case/pack sizes). So now, effectively there are no "cheap" $6 or less products on Amazon.
- Throwaway823 12y ago
  I know their prices are average, or slightly more expensive, however, it's convenient. For example, say I need a pair of sunglasses, a fan for my computer, a new frying pan, and SD card for my camera. I go to Amazon, find the products I need, and place a single order. That's much easier than trying to locate these items on a handful of different websites, signing up for new accounts and payment systems. It's also easier than going shopping downtown, finding a few items, but not the others, which means I need to place an order online either way. And if I need to place an order online, I might as well get everything on Amazon, so I qualify for free shipping.