Leaving Wal-Mart with a changed outlook?

[CKN]

Barriers to entry have become beyond anything reasonable and IMO, criminal
At times.

You can say that on just about anything. Want to start your own oil company? Coast to coast grocery stores? Credit reporting agency? Try starting another ICE car manufacturing business-the list goes on.

See how it works out......it's the day of big business-it is what it is.

 

[John105]

There are those who feel that way. I am not one of them. Opportunity abounds!
Does tech play hardball? Sure. Go big or go home.
There's always been crime in business; heck everywhere, right?

Thinking Amazon is restricting another company from doing business shows limited understanging. Do you think I should be able to tell Amazon what to sell or not sell? That's silly. Amazon has no monopoly; here's a quick list of their competitors: eBay, Walmart, Target, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud. For streaming, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu...

These are the best of times and these are the worst of times...

I'm a shareholder but they are hardly an organization to be admired (I have a coworker who's an amazon fanboy much like I am a GM fanboy or a Costco fanboy). I'm playing a game like a poster here did with the motor oil sold an a great price. Amazon has it, but won't fulfill the order. It will say expected Sunday. When Sunday rolls around, it says need authorization that you still want the product, or the order will be canceled. What competitor does this?

To me, that's like shorting a stock, the transaction goes the wrong way, so you're able to cover without ever actually doing so. I fully get that I'll never get the product, so I turn it into a game where I make sure I don't miss the window of saying I still want it. I didn't do anything wrong by ordering when it said "lowest price in 30 days" and had -xx% I just never heard of being able to cancel orders or even systematically do so, when they realize they are able to sell for much more, after the fact.

lol I do think as Bezos said, they will be out of business one day. I used to think they were perfect up to about 15 years ago. But I can name multiple transactions that were wrong and I needed to chat customer service, and actually argue, to get things corrected. Yes we are also Prime members.

 

[John105]

You can say that on just about anything. Want to start your own oil company? Coast to coast grocery stores? Credit reporting agency? Try starting another ICE car manufacturing business-the list goes on.

See how it works out......it's the day of big business-it is what it is.

I had even heard almost 10 years ago that many family owned car dealerships are looking to exit the market, and one means is to sell to the chains like Penske, Autonation, etc. At that time, there was a family one expanding--brother was a catcher for the Mets. That in itself is a business that figures out new ways to make money if you ask me. Last time I set foot in a new car dealer was to order a GM in late May, and I saw they were charging 3% to use a credit card.

 

[BISCUT]

There are those who feel that way. I am not one of them. Opportunity abounds!
Does tech play hardball? Sure. Go big or go home.
There's always been crime in business; heck everywhere, right?

Thinking Amazon is restricting another company from doing business shows limited understanging. Do you think I should be able to tell Amazon what to sell or not sell? That's silly. Amazon has no monopoly; here's a quick list of their competitors: eBay, Walmart, Target, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud. For streaming, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu...

These are the best of times and these are the worst of times...

Ologopies are not illegal, but the collusion that often occurs sure is. When controlling interest can be traced to one of three massive corporations, BlackRock, Vanguard, & State Street, I have to seriously doubt the justification for the wink and hey, that's just business.

Recent DOJ antitrust litigation involves Google for monopolizing digital advertising; Fed Trade Commission is suing Amazon for deceptive Prime enrollment and cancellation practices. Just two examples. DOJ is actively investigating Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI for antitrust litigation as well.