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Fri Jan 17 2020 23:00:04

Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

By: Ina Steiner

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An online seller was invited to speak at a Congressional subcommittee antitrust hearing on "online platforms and market power" in Colorado on Friday.

The CEO of PopSockets David Barnett testified that he felt Amazon engaged in "bullying with a smile" to pressure him to lower his prices on its marketplace, but that no other marketplace could generate as many sales, according to CNBC coverage of the hearing.

Congressman David Cicilline led off the hearing with a scathing statement against big tech platforms and said companies large and small found themselves "one algorithm tweak away from ruin," according to Reuters reporter Nandita Bose.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that it sought to continue working with PopSockets and said the retailer was free to stop selling directly through Amazon, though it continued to work with PopSockets to address shared concerns.

But Barnett disputed Amazon's argument that there are comparable marketplaces: "We sell on the Walmart platform, sales are 1/38th of the sales we had on Amazon when we had a relationship, and Target, it's even less. These are small fractions."

In the Washington Post coverage of this morning's hearing, it reported on the other witnesses who described what it was like to compete against giant tech platforms Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple - or, "powerful gatekeepers," as Rep. Cicilline called them.

A video recording of the hearing can be viewed on the House of Representatives website.



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Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: FeelingFroggy This user has validated their user name.

Sat Jan 18 06:20:12 2020

He who cries the loudest will at some point find himself displaced from Amazon. It will take time but it will be gone.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: eBay Shill Buster This user has validated their user name.

Sat Jan 18 21:35:50 2020

What is funny is the fact that Amazon sends sellers surveys within the seller interface asking us to give them responses on canned questions, I give them the bitter truth the same as I wold post here.

I think they may be building profiles on sellers with these surveys, but as a 3P seller on Amazon I have nothing to lose by telling them their massive flaws, because if they do not correct them, the business will never grow on Amazon anyway, same with eBay, they need to be told why they are failing sellers.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: donald This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 00:50:39 2020



I too give Amazon the bitter truth when they send me their surveys. I really don't care if they don't like my feedback.  The truth will always win.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: Coolstraps This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 05:30:53 2020

Amazon is as susceptible to the market as any other seller site. If enough sellers abandon Amazon because of their costs or policies or whatever, buyers will as well. But, Amazon is not a monopoly and is not engaging in any kind of anti-trust activity that I can see. They are successful because they are pleasing their customers. Even sellers who loathe Amazon sell on it because they are successful there. I just don't want to see the hand of government involved in one of the last bastions of the free market. If you don't want to sell there, if you object to policies or prices, you have hundreds of alternatives to choose from.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: mindelec This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 05:42:00 2020

This is not a new concept.  Walmart has been forcing suppliers to sell at lower prices for years, pretty much from the beginning.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: Chicago48 This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 05:47:24 2020

One thing AMZ can do is stop sellers from listing their books and CDs at 1c.  There should be a floor of about 79c or 99c minimum.  Mercari won't let us sell for less than $5.  

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: hawk This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 06:48:30 2020

all these venues start out just like anyone. then they get a little success , then the arrogance , greed , and power destroys all over time. they force smaller sellers to lower their prices to where there is no profit left for the small business. they blackmail you for more money to even show one of your listings. they tell lies about everything. and all the while they keep raising their own fees and prices. what a fiasco.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: mindelec This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 08:08:21 2020

@Chicago

CD''s are gated so you don't see low prices on them anymore.  I don't see a whole lot of dollar sellers in books, but I am mainly looking at hardcover prices.  I think most people have done the math and decided that they didn't want to pay people to buy their books.

Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: mcposty This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 10:26:02 2020

Amazon is only big because of its government special treatment. It was in ruins until they got a buncha sweet deals.

They beg for huge tax breaks from states.

Amazon is a cancer that no one should be buying from or selling on.




Perminate Link for Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing   Seller Denounces Amazon Market Power in Antitrust Hearing

by: Moonwishes This user has validated their user name.

Mon Jan 20 12:02:51 2020

One of the reasons that I stick so faithfully to eCRATER. No, you may not get the traffic or the orders from there, but you also know that they aren't trying to take you to the cleaners. As long as you follow some simple rules you are welcome to sell there.  



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