FTC and 17 states (16 Democrat) sue Amazon

[basballguy]

The shit some democrats do just gets more baffling....

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftc-amazon-lawsuit-17-states-monopoly/

Lina Kahn just keeps coming up with (and losing) the silliest lawsuits. She's already struck out on Amazon once and most recently the Microsoft/Blizzard acquisition.

It seems the lawsuit is focused (this time) on the Amazon marketplace and it's resellers. Apparently some vendors have complained that being "forced" into meeting certain requirements to be listed as a "Prime" seller are cumbersome and make their business unprofitable.

Quote:The lawsuit alleges that Amazon is illegally undermining competition in two markets — the company's online superstore that most consumers are familiar with, as well as the market for online marketplace services bought by sellers.

Amazon uses anti-discounting techniques to deter online retailers from offering lower prices than those available on Amazon, according to the government. The retailer will "bury discounting sellers so far down in Amazon's search results that they become effectively invisible," the FTC alleges.

The lawsuit also contends that Amazon pushes sellers to use its expensive fulfillment service in exchange for obtaining "Prime" eligibility for their products, which the FTC noted is a "virtual necessity for doing business on Amazon."

I've always felt you could get cheaper prices on Amazon than literally any retail store. I don't think politicians are using the platform correctly.

The cynic in me is thinking this lawsuit is just a cover to force the stock price down 10-15% so politicians can buy in and make a pretty dollar. :)

[HarleyDog]

(09-26-2023, 05:32 PM)basballguy Wrote: The cynic in me is thinking this lawsuit is just a cover to force the stock price down 10-15% so politicians can buy in and make a pretty dollar.  :)

The reasoning behind this lawsuit is insane, so your right to be suspect of political shenanigans for profit. I'm going to triple my investment in Amazon once the smoke settles, which hopefully doesnt last more than a day. A 4% drop is huge for Amazon and usually anything that bad rises the next day. AND... With October being the traditional bear killer, i see an opportunity to profit 20-30% in a short time.

[treee]

Amazon has clearly engaged in anti-competitive behavior. Their business model for retail merchandise sales is to operate as a marketplace. They use their position as the de-facto marketplace for online retail to give their own products preference with search algorithms and also penalize companies for not using their delivery network. In order for a capitalistic system to work you have to really come down hard on stuff like this because these monolithic entities will distort the market and create inefficiencies in the big picture.

[basballguy]

(09-26-2023, 06:16 PM)treee Wrote: Amazon has clearly engaged in anti-competitive behavior. Their business model for retail merchandise sales is to operate as a marketplace. They use their position as the de-facto marketplace for online retail to give their own products preference with search algorithms and also penalize companies for not using their delivery network. In order for a capitalistic system to work you have to really come down hard on stuff like this because these monolithic entities will distort the market and create inefficiencies in the big picture.

So showing the lowest prices first is penalizing companies for not using their delivery network?  Do you want inflation?  This is how you get inflation....forcing consumers to pay more.   

Separately, why in the world would Amazon want to make things harder and more expensive for it's customers?  When we shop, we know we're all looking for the lowest price, do you really want Amazon to start burying the lowest price on page 6 of your search results?

Here's Amazon's statement if you haven't seen it:

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-ftc-antitrust-lawsuit-full-response

Nothing in this seems unreasonable and is also a very balanced response.  

Look at the lawsuit:  

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/amazon-rosca-public-redacted-complaint-to_be_filed.pdf

They literally redacted every piece of actual data.  What is the FTC trying to hide?  

It's all smoke and mirrors.  

[Luvnit2]

Please go after Bezos (WAPO) and Amazon, a huge DNC donor.

Great poll for Biden this week from WAPO/ABC.

[Luvnit2]

(09-26-2023, 06:16 PM)treee Wrote: Amazon has clearly engaged in anti-competitive behavior. Their business model for retail merchandise sales is to operate as a marketplace. They use their position as the de-facto marketplace for online retail to give their own products preference with search algorithms and also penalize companies for not using their delivery network. In order for a capitalistic system to work you have to really come down hard on stuff like this because these monolithic entities will distort the market and create inefficiencies in the big picture.

So you are upset Amazon is using solid business principles to keep costs down for consumers. The same consumers getting hammered with inflation, your goal is for them to pay higher prices thus increasing inflation????????????????

[Belsnickel]

At least this thread is more in line with Republican thinking. I was getting worried that all this discussion about being pro-middle class and pro-small business was actually going to cause a shift in ideals. Glad to see that the old principles are still around.

[BigPapaKain]

(09-27-2023, 07:09 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: At least this thread is more in line with Republican thinking. I was getting worried that all this discussion about being pro-middle class and pro-small business was actually going to cause a shift in ideals. Glad to see that the old principles are still around.

Wild to see so many claim to be pro-the little guy while also pro-the boot on the little guy's neck. 

[basballguy]

(09-27-2023, 05:15 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: Wild to see so many claim to be pro-the little guy while also pro-the boot on the little guy's neck. 

Interesting spin.  

This has nothing to do with "the little guy"....unless you can tell me what the 120 pages of redacted material in the lawsuit says that is.  

The FTC is making a rash of claims but is not providing any evidence behind these claims....it's political posturing.  

[CJD]

Amazon can be both "so convenient and generally pro-customer experience (their return policy borders on insanity, in my opinion), it makes sense that they are a monopoly" and "clearly anti-competitive because they are able to leverage their market dominance to run competitors out of the market by depressing prices until the competitor either goes out of business or is bought out, before increasing prices again."

These are not mutually exclusive concepts.

[*pally*]

(09-27-2023, 05:36 PM)basballguy Wrote: Interesting spin.  

This has nothing to do with "the little guy"....unless you can tell me what the 120 pages of redacted material in the lawsuit says that is.  

The FTC is making a rash of claims but is not providing any evidence behind these claims....it's political posturing.  

at this point in the process they don't have to provide the evidence publically

[BigPapaKain]

(09-27-2023, 05:36 PM)basballguy Wrote: Interesting spin.  

This has nothing to do with "the little guy"....unless you can tell me what the 120 pages of redacted material in the lawsuit says that is.  

The FTC is making a rash of claims but is not providing any evidence behind these claims....it's political posturing.  

No you're right. Amazon treats its employees with nothing but grace and humanity.

[basballguy]

(09-27-2023, 08:30 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: No you're right. Amazon treats its employees with nothing but grace and humanity.

Ohhhhhh, you wanted to talk about something completely unrelated to the thread, my bad.  :)

[BigPapaKain]

(09-27-2023, 08:39 PM)basballguy Wrote: Ohhhhhh, you wanted to talk about something completely unrelated to the thread, my bad.  :)

Right - why should we talk about Amazon in a thread about Amazon? That'd be ridiculous.

[Millhouse]

This won't mess up my Prime deliveries will it?

[basballguy]

(09-28-2023, 03:10 PM)Millhouse Wrote: This won't mess up my Prime deliveries will it?

It’s all speculation. Amazon says it will though
…but of course they’re gonna say that….it’s really tough to tell since we have no idea specifically what the FTC is complaining about