Amazoned! Online Vendors Abused and Screwed Over
Amazoned! Online Vendors Abused and Screwed Over
The middleman from hell is always waiting, ready to screw you over for their own benefit.
Amazon is known for its anti-competition practices. While they aggressively charge you for every sale you make, they also get to see all of your sales data; valuable information to have if you want to launch products. Even better if you plan on launching copycats! In more than one way, just by selling on their platform, they get you to pay them…to do their market research.
I liked Elizabeth Warren's idea, that a company like Amazon should not both own the marketplace and compete in it. For all the reasons stated in the article.
Brick and mortar store do it too. Pharmacies sell name brand drugs and their own generic version next to them. I buy the generic version. I would like to lose that option. Amazon is a different story.
In the end of the article, the author plugged their competing platform so this isn't a neutral opinion. I still agree with it. A federation of online retailers would be an interesting idea. Given that it involves exchanging money for products, it would be a lot more completed than kbin, lemmy, or Mastodon.
I love what particl is doing. Tried the marketplace, and it works. I hope it gets the attention it deserves.