News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @08:59AM (#37764429)
So what? That's how e-commerce works. Why should Amazon be obligated to fill their store with higher priced items compared to their competitors? No one is going to visit a store where every item could be purchased cheaper somewhere else. This is exactly why price match is a thing, because they don't want their costumers soliciting different stores to begin with.

The move that Amazon's price be no higher than offered elsewhere is the most pro-consumer move possible. Hilarious people are complaining about it. Any second-order effects of this are on the actual seller, not Amazon.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by kibwen on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:05AM (#37764494)
I don't even know where to begin with this comment. Do you know what anticompetitive behavior is? Do you know how markets are supposed to work? Amazon is leveraging their position in the market to unfairly disadvantage their competitors, thereby distorting the market, decreasing its efficiency, and increasing end prices for consumers everywhere. Market-distorting behavior like this is why antitrust regulation is necessary to keep markets functioning efficiently.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:11AM (#37764564)
Everything you're stating is false. Amazon is trying to do right by its customers, and they are not obligated to let sellers not give their customers the best price available. Sellers are not obligated to sell on Amazon.

Your conclusion that this increases end pries for consumers has nothing to do with Amazon, but the sellers themselves.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by ToValueFunfetti on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:25AM (#37764767)
Amazon was already told not to do this for anti-trust reasons, and they promised to oblige. Unless the government, Amazon, and the general public are all incorrect about what constitutes monopolistic behavior, you are. The idea that Amazon is openly defying pro-consumer laws to do right by its customers is absurd.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by passwordoops on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:18AM (#37764686)
They are either a paid shill, a troll, or member of the US Chamber of Commerce. Whatever the car, arguments won't matter with this type
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:20AM (#37764705)
Yes, anyone who disagrees with you is a shill, lol.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by ziml77 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:18AM (#37765573)
Not unreasonable to think you're getting paid to post comments when you have so many of them in this thread.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:44AM (#37765930)
Yes, anyone who posts a lot must be getting paid for them.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by woooooo on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:07AM (#37764522)
Some would say that the way commerce works is sellers can sell anywhere at any price that a buyer wants to pay.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:08AM (#37764532)
That's not how commerce works. Commerce works by following the rules of places that you are trying to sell at. You can't sell anything anywhere.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by ARussell on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:16AM (#37764633)
And Amazon needs to follow the rules and laws of the place that IT'S trying to sell at.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:17AM (#37764664)
And which law dictates a company must allow people or sellers on its platform?
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by ARussell on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:32AM (#37764901)
I'm not GP. I didn't make that argument. I agree that Amazon is not obliged to allow just anyone on their platform. Sellers must abide by the rules that Amazon sets in place. At the same time, Amazon must abide by the laws of the locations at which it wants to sell. So if a state says that they cannot force a seller to keep their lowest price on Amazon, then that's the way it is.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:35AM (#37764941)
> So if a state says that they cannot force a seller to keep their lowest price on Amazon, then that's the way it is.

Yes, but at the end of the day Amazon to remove the seller for any reason, so even if the FTC succeeds here, Amazon will simply purge those sellers who are not offering the best price, even if not explicitly stated.

There is no reality where Amazon allows their site to be inundated with higher priced goods compared to competitors.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by ARussell on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:44AM (#37765080)
Perhaps you are right, and also then again perhaps those companies find that they have cause to file a lawsuit.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by throwaway14356 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:39AM (#37765858)
with astronomic fines (for the customers to pay)
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by scarface_74 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @01:24PM (#37768533)
There has been a a standard of “no duty to deal” forever. No company is forced to do business with anyone.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by throwaway14356 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:38AM (#37765836)
it would be sensible to require a reason for refusing to do business with someone. Normally it wouldn't be but if you are a repeat offender it seems a sensible requirement
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:45AM (#37765939)
Unless it's a protected class you can refuse to do business with anyone for any reason. Plenty of supreme court cases on this.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by throwaway14356 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:51AM (#37766018)
certainly, you can write anything on the form. Any reason is not without? I do doubt you can refuse one foo for being fooish but not the other. Now multiply by 10 000 and pretend you are explaining it to the judge in a context where you've been convicted multiple times.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by brewdad on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @03:59PM (#37770796)
Why not? If I'm willing to pay Amazon $6 for an item I could get for $5 at Walmart, why wouldn't Amazon want to make that sale?
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by throwaway14356 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:34AM (#37765795)
this might come if the shop is large enough
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by woooooo on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:25AM (#37764782)
Sure. The rules at the place you're trying to sell.

Dictating how you sell elsewhere is a clear step beyond that.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:31AM (#37764873)
They are not dictating how they sell elsewhere. They are saying they need to offer the best price on their site. It is easy to detect whether or not they actually are, and sellers are simply being called out.

There is no obligation to sell on Amazon, nor a requirement for them to raise prices on other platforms. They could simply offer the lowest price everywhere. The result? Lower prices for Amazon customers. If they raise the price, then that's the seller's fault, not Amazon.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by sb8244 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:31AM (#37765760)
You...understand how you can't have one without the other, right?
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by OGWhales on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @11:12AM (#37766347)
> There is no obligation to sell on Amazon

While true, this ignores the important point that Amazon is only able to do this anti-competitive practice due to their market dominance that effectively forces many sellers to sell on Amazon.

> nor a requirement for them to raise prices on other platforms.

That is what this whole thing is about. Sellers that sell on Amazon aren't allowed to sell for lower prices on other platforms that are cheaper to sell on.

If Amazon was able to offer lower prices for its customers by offering sellers a marketplace with lower costs compared to competitors that would be great. Instead, they abuse their market dominance to prevent any competitors from offering lower prices by being more cost efficient for sellers. This is extremely nasty as it effectively prevents any competitors to Amazon from building a market share since consumers will have no price incentive to switch and sellers will not want to switch due to the smaller market share on those competitors' platforms.

It could not be more clear that this is anti-competitive behavior achieved through abuse of a dominate market position.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by r053bud on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @11:47AM (#37766896)
I’m not sure why you are siding so heavy-handed with a corporation over the consumer. Do you have a financial incentive to be defending Amazon so blindly? It would be pertinent to disclose such biases if present.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by throwaway14356 on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:33AM (#37765779)
rules partially set by government
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by mjsweet on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:03AM (#37764468)
The market should decide. That’s commerce.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:03AM (#37764479)
Yes, exactly. These sellers should and can just leave Amazon if they have a problem with it.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by mjsweet on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:05AM (#37764492)
No, they should be able to set their own pricing as they see fit.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:06AM (#37764506)
They are able to do so, but Amazon is not obligated to have them on their platform if they aren't providing the best price to their customers.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by mjsweet on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:16AM (#37764639)
Amazon is a product search engine and should be treated as such. Vendors must have the freedom to set pricing on any platform as they see fit. If all product search engines and ecommerce platforms behaved in this anticompetitive behaviour then what would we have? A weird commercial landscape that lacks flexibility… in the end the consumer looses because free market forces are not in play.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by endisneigh on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:20AM (#37764711)
Amazon is not a product search engine, so the rest of your post is irrelevant. They are a store and describe themselves as such. You cannot find products on Amazon that are not for sale by them or sellers who agree to their rules, an actual product search engine would allow this.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by mjsweet on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @09:29AM (#37764833)
Good luck with that! Amazon is the most powerful product search engine available. I love it and use it almost every day. Amazon will spend a lot of money trying to convince the feds they are otherwise… no amount of lobbying, PR pieces, paid ops and persistent commenting on boards like this one will stop valid questions being asked in hearings. It’s only a matter of time sorry.
Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by EliRivers on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @10:22AM (#37765644)
The move that Amazon's price be no higher than offered elsewhere is the most pro-consumer move possible.

Yet here we are with sellers WANTING to sell their items at a lower price on places other than Amazon, but if they do, they'll go out of business. That doesn't sound pro-consumer.

I'm a consumer. I'd like to be able to buy items for the lowest price the seller wants to offer me. That's not happening in some cases because if they do, Amazon will exclude them and they'll go out of business. Yeah, definitely not pro-consumer. Pro-amazon, sure.

Re:The FTC Sues to Break Up Amazon over an Economy-Wide “Hid... by RandomLensman on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @11:51AM (#37766968)
Would Amazon be obligated to list the items regardless? Otherwise just dropping pricing conditions would only help those sellers that Amazon has enough interest to list regardless - for some products the "equilibrium" might not be great.