Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
I agree that Amazon provides a great and reliable service. But, there are Federal antitrust laws that are designed to allow free competition. I have noticed that, no matter what product you want to buy, it is almost always available on Amazon. I will often see a television commercial that promotes a website where you can buy the product. But, usually, you can buy the exact same product on Amazon, sometimes for a lower price. This means that the maker of the product can only compete by paying a fee to Amazon because they can't get enough customers to use their website. (One example is chewy.com for pet supplies). I don't have the answer, but, if you want to sell a product online, you almost have to share your profit with Amazon to be successful.
|
I don't believe online retailers are under Amazon's thumb. No matter who they ship with, they have to pay for it, and the cost is passed on to the buyer -- us. It's cheaper for us to buy from merchants face to face and not pay for shipping, but we like the convenience of online shopping. I sometimes wonder what mail service would be like if Amazon ran the U.S. Postal Service. In fact, Amazon is already helping to keep USPS alive by using it for some deliveries. Let's not rush to throttle companies that know what they are doing because other companies whine. Remember the Bell System?