7
iAmNaN
5y

I see Amazon taking a lot of flak and being called a monopoly, but they aren't. Sure, Amazon sells branded items, but the majority of items are sold by small mom-and-pop businesses that have access to markets that they would not have without Amazon. Case in point, I've ordered items that have come not just from the US, where in live, but Europe and Asia. I just ordered some 4711 cologne, and was sort of expecting that it would come from Germany. Nope, it's coming from a small seller in Japan. Amazon is a global equalizer that enables people from all over the world to sell to people from all over the world. The politicians messing with that are going to remove that ability, and we will all be the poorer for it. Maybe this is a rant after all.

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  • 1
    Love what amazon does as a company to provide opportunities for smaller entrepreneurs. My only concern is the amount of jobs it automates away from the job market but it’s inevitable in a capatilist society and I don’t want to fuck with socialism so 🤷‍♂️
  • 0
    The point is that if those mom-and-pop businesses had not joined Amazon, they would have been run out of business.
    Amazon has enough capital and control to drive out of business pretty much any other direct competitor, that's why it is a monopoly. They can artificially manipulate the market as they please.
    And no, this isn't a 'good and natural' form of capitalism, it's a pathological issue of the system that must be kept under control, or it will bring massive damage - both to the consumer, and to the economy in general.
  • 1
    No. They are a monopoly. Hope you remember what they did with Diapers.com.
    Sure, small businesses get exposure. But once amazon knows that the product is in high demand, they start to roll out their own brand and stop showing the "small business" in the menu which kills it. (Amazon Basics for example)

    Also hope you remember the battle between Google and Amazon over their voice assistants. Amazon still doesn't sell nest properly.

    So yes. They are a monopoly.
  • 1
    Absolutely agree. Amazon provides great opportunities for a wide variety of sellers. In addition, there is a low entry threshold and you do not need to have a large investment. For example, selling books on Amazon (https://amzscout.net/blog/...) is a good place to start.
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