FTC Chair on Amazon Antitrust Lawsuit & AI Oversight

[papy]

Thanks for sharing the article @lake! @Chimanimani also shared it over here, but that discussion has been about the returns more than the FTC lawsuit of this topic specifically. And speaking of…a few excerpts from the article:

Return theft represents one sore point in what has become an often contentious relationship between Amazon and its independent sellers. The Federal Trade Commission’s continuing lawsuit against the retail giant deals in part with how the company treats its sellers. Amazon is also facing new competition for its merchants from other e-commerce firms.
…
For merchants, return theft is an example of what they see as broad indifference from Amazon. The FTC lawsuit says Amazon takes one of every $2 that an independent business makes from its website. It also argues that Amazon forces its sellers to use its logistics and advertising services to achieve success on the platform. Amazon has said the lawsuit is flawed and that it has been a trusted partner for millions of sellers.

[lake]

@papy

FTC lawsuit says Amazon takes one of every $2 that an independent business makes from its website

Way back when supermarkets were new, they operated on such tiny profits. Overhead and short margins had such dramatic effects. Supermarkets are no longer such low net margin operations. This of course, is timely because the anti-trust regulator’s opposition to the Kroger-Albertson merger turns on whether Walmart and Amazon should be viewed as competitors to supermarkets.