Prosecutors Are Investigating Amazon's Treatment of Third-Party Sellers (theverge.com) 16
According to Bloomberg, attorneys general from New York and California are partnering with the FTC to investigate Amazon's online marketplace, in what may be the beginnings of a formal antitrust enforcement action. From a report: The agencies are going to interview witnesses jointly on conference calls over the next few weeks. The news comes after intense questioning over Amazon's Marketplace practices during [last week's landmark Big Tech antitrust hearing]. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) asked CEO Jeff Bezos whether its actions toward Marketplace sellers was a pattern of behavior. She played testimony from a third-party bookseller who believed Amazon had blocked their store, without providing an explanation why, effectively destroying her business. Bezos responded that "third-party sellers in aggregate are doing extremely well on Amazon."
The Marketplace platform allows third-party sellers to peddle their wares to Amazon's massive online customer base, accounting for more than half of all of the company's e-commerce sales. Marketplace products are often less expensive -- and sometimes of lower quality -- than other products sold on Amazon. But consumers don't always understand the difference between buying something from a third-party seller versus buying directly from Amazon or one of the company's private-label brands. Amazon's Marketplace has been in the spotlight over the past few months, following a bombshell report in The Wall Street Journal exposing how the e-commerce giant secretly used data it gathered from third-party sellers to launch its own branded products, a practice Amazon executives have denied in the past. At the hearing, Bezos said the company maintains a policy against using seller-specific data but said he could not guarantee that the policy had never been broken.
The Marketplace platform allows third-party sellers to peddle their wares to Amazon's massive online customer base, accounting for more than half of all of the company's e-commerce sales. Marketplace products are often less expensive -- and sometimes of lower quality -- than other products sold on Amazon. But consumers don't always understand the difference between buying something from a third-party seller versus buying directly from Amazon or one of the company's private-label brands. Amazon's Marketplace has been in the spotlight over the past few months, following a bombshell report in The Wall Street Journal exposing how the e-commerce giant secretly used data it gathered from third-party sellers to launch its own branded products, a practice Amazon executives have denied in the past. At the hearing, Bezos said the company maintains a policy against using seller-specific data but said he could not guarantee that the policy had never been broken.
"We haven't beaten up THAT guy..." (Score:3, Funny)
"So the jury MUST acquit."
It's a basic Chewbacca defence. <Something irrelevant> therefore I'm not guilty.
Bezos is a loon; best not to do business with loons, IMO.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is these Algorithm business partnerships. That you see with Amazon, Apple, Google, Uber... In which you in essence make your business around these companies infrastructure, Selling products off of Amazon, Selling Apps off of the Apple Store, or Google Play. Your Your Tube feed.
These are often just a quick form to fill out. But it is still setting up a business relationship with such a company. Often these type of things takes at least hours of work, but now it is just quick and painless for
Re: (Score:1)
The problem is these Algorithm business partnerships.
No, the real problem is these upper class controlled corporations that are above the law. Indeed, corporations are designed to protect the powerful from the legal and financial consequences of their actions. Our corrupt system allows the upper class to steal, lie and cheat with impunity. The whole system is set up to exploit the lower classes so the upper class ends up owning everything. Lower class people are so stupid for letting themselves be so exploited.
America doesn't break up monopolies anymore. (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, There's An Investigation Going Nowhere (Score:2)
Well, there's an investigation going nowhere.
We spent millions of dollars and two years investigating.
We found out that they are totally using and abusing the third party sellers. We also found that the third party sellers are stupid and eager to sign up for the abuse.
We feel that's just good business sense on Amazon's part and we gave Bezos a high-five.
This concludes out investigation.
Please also investigate why Amazon... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Simple. They make more money this way. Their margins on actually selling physical goods is cut very thin. Because nobody else has made a proper investment, they're still the best place to shop.
Re: Please also investigate why Amazon... (Score:3)
Are you implying that Amazon is not a "third party junk seller??"
I didn't even know Amazon was any different than E-Bay without the bidding... and I still think it isn't. I mean that replacement phone battery from "MBuyNow" (literal actual name!) sure as hell wasn't your grand "trustworthy" (*giggle*) Amazon original seller or manufacturer, now was it?
What would even be such a "from Amazon directly" product?
And? (Score:2)
"how the e-commerce giant secretly used data it gathered from third-party sellers to launch its own branded products, a practice Amazon executives have denied in the past"
I can show you any of half-a-dozen main UK superstores that do exactly this.
Hell, I've witnessed several new stores that open with, say, an optician, a pharmacy, etc. inside them from an outside entity to get all the traffic on the first year with their big-names, only to replace them exactly a year later with the supermarket's own version
Re: And? (Score:2)
So you are arguing, that a crime is somehow fine, if you can point and say "But they do it too!"? . . .
Harm is harm is harm is harm is harm.
An idiot is an idiot is an idiot is an idiot is you.
Re: (Score:2)
My point is: Is it a crime?
If they blocked other companies entirely, that would be a crime. If they stopped people trading who were trading before, that would be a crime.
But is having a one-year lease and then being the people to take the lease over themselves actually a crime? I'm not sure it is, you know.
Where's the crime?
P.S. Don't get me wrong, it may well be amoral, and I'm champion of a number of underdogs and I am an amateur legal enthusiast who is consulted by all my friends for legal matters (a
I like Amazon (Score:2)
FFS do you people not know there are other places to shop online? Literally everything you can buy on amazon is available on 10 different websites if you google it. If other players were forced upon us things would be more expensive, that's obvious they wouldn't have the scale. I like Amazon. People are choosing it, you have a choice. As for figuring out which product to make based on how popular a particular product is ... that sounds legit to me too. How is that any different that putting up your own ice
Store visibility manipulation (Score:5, Informative)
When I recommended it to friends, we found within a few weeks the first party product could only be found on Amazon via a direct link. Knockoffs though... ships and sold by them... those were everywhere.
I'd have to say tactics like that are an abuse of power.
FUD much? (Score:2)
> and sometimes of lower quality -- than other products sold on Amazon
Riiight ... like Amazon's own crap wouldn't be just as crap as others ... Hell, it definitely comes out of the same exact factory!