I really like Amazon and Bezos for that matter. I hate the way the company continues to say how good it is without providing any kind of numbers to back it up. As much as I like them, the criticism is well founded.
Bezos defends Amazon’s lack of profits
As the years pass, Bezos somehow looks more and more to me as though he’s slowly changing into a combination of Jabba the Hut and the God Emperor of Dune.
Jim, everyone likes free stuff. But you can’t make money that way, and as soon as Amazon tries to raise prices to make a profit, its “loyal” customers will disappear quicker than a 6-pack of Heineken in your fridge.
Anyone can be liked by customers (give it away). Anyone can be liked by shareholders (huge margins/profits). But to be liked by both, few companies other than Apple can pull that off.
I don’t know if this happens on the US Amazon site but on the Canadian site they allow sellers to post exorbitant prices, much higher than suggested retail. I assume they do this to cheat the occasional naive buyer usually an older person who can least afford it.
I’ve seen the same tactics on eBay too but expect more from Amazon. They could at least have a manufacturer’s suggested list price limit.
Sorry nothing to do with the article but I wanted to get it off my chest.
“We are a large company, but we are also still a start-up. There is a lot of volatility in start-ups,” (Bezos quoted in the article). I’m sorry, but a 20-year old company doesn’t really qualify as a “start-up”.
Bezos replies “Shhh!”
any other Prime customers getting cheesed that it’s now acceptable for sellers to have two different prices for the same item — the more expensive one for Prime, of course? kinda defeats the whole point of using Prime.