Comment on Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
flora_explora@beehaw.org 3 weeks ago
Really good article and worthwhile a read!
Let the implications of most-favoured nation settle in. If Amazon is taxing merchants 45-51 cents on every dollar they make, and if merchants are hiking their prices everywhere their goods are sold, then it follows you’re paying the Amazon tax no matter where you shop – even the corner mom-and-pop hardware store.
I haven’t shopped at Amazon for well over a decade now, but apparently even I am affected by their business model…
That surprised me. I always try to buy from the manufacturer’s website or official reseller rather than Amazon to avoid such bullshit. Apparently that’s not enough.
If brands selling on Amazon are overprice, could favoring brands that do NOT sell on Amazon help find products with a fair price?
Interesting. Not selling your stuff on amazon could possibly be a selling point for a new business.
I doubt “Not on Amazon” would be a selling point. If merchant have put up with it this far, it’s probably because Amazon bring sales.
If leaving allow selling at a lower price, that would definitely be a selling point. But they would need a solid online store, their own or another markeplace.
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 3 weeks ago
That is why I get tired about the "individual action" suggestion, that I alone could stop using Amazon and hurt their sales, I could de-Google my life and keep my privacy, or recycle plastic and save the ocean, or swear off AI to fuck with Nvidia.
But all that is a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of people who all readily handed over their lives to these companies and haven't left (or can't). And governments who abdicated regulatory authority to them, which have allowed them to run rampant.
They're still making it so these massive companies have force in my life. I alone can't do anything about that.
Quexotic@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
Hmm are you implying collective actions are in order?
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flora_explora@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
Maybe you should give the article a read then? It is saying exactly that, that individual actions and consumer activism don’t do shit and structural changes are needed. It even gives some examples for structural changes that could be helpful in the short-term.
I added this anecdote just because I was surprised at the scale that Amazon had an impact on the economy. And yes, it obviously didn’t do much when I took individual action and boycotted them (apart from giving me a feeling of some integrity).
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 2 weeks ago
100% with you, well put