But if they start making mistakes, moving to someone else is pretty easy. I think they realize there's no lock in (well right now...)
Prime, until recently, was a fun way to have very large items next-day aired to you (lawnmowers, sheds, etc) for $3.99. They recently wised up to that, but I always wondered why they let that slip in the first place.
Where they make there money is in the shift in purchasing habits. Prime users spend something like eight times as much money as non prime users. They make their money back because of the large increase of purchase. Overall, the net something like $3/year/prime user.
I try to be nice to them - if I don't need it right away I'll pick the slower shipping.
That's very different from the potential profit profile if Amazon were seeking to maximize near-term profit as opposed to maximizing near-term growth, with the expectation that that maximizes long-term profit.
(But seriously, if we as a culture are going to insist upon a look into celebrities' lives, I'd rather it be someone of value, who made something real, that benefited humankind, instead of Snooki or Honey Boo Boo.)
Then there is prime. Prime is great as long as you are a member. If not you are second class citizen. It used to be that the cheapest shipping option and now free shipping has an unspoken social contract. Give me a great rate (or free) and I accept the gamble that it might show up in two days or take the listed maximum of 9 days. The last few orders through Amazon I have watched the order sit there for three of four days at the fulfillment center to make sure it arrives in the five to nine day range for free shipping.
Then there are the merchants. There is sleaze all over the place here, especially in used books, but the fulfilled by amazon merchants are the worst. I can buy the same item from amazon or from a merchant with prices that are slightly cheaper, the same price, slightly more expensive, or an order of magnitude more expensive (literally, check the highest price next time you are shopping on amazon) from the same fulfillment center? WTF.
I still use Amazon but I would really like good competition here. I have had good luck with some of the big box stores online shopping. Similar prices and 5 to 9 day free shipping that shows up in three.
Who the heck can compete with that? The only one in a position to (that I can think of) is Walmart, and I don't think their track record is very good thus far.
Although I can't find the source, I remember Amazon being referred to as the "world's largest charity" or some-such, because Bezos could give a heck about short term profits, and always push for the long-term gain. They're slowly taking over the world @.@.
Apologies. Just musing.
I order used books off Amazon constantly, and it's probably my #1 expense after food and shelter. Never had a single problem, but I pay attention to the 3rd party seller's history and read the extended descriptions that most of them fill out. I have no problem ordering from new sellers either and never ran into an issue, exercising due caution is much easier on Amazon than eBay.
I don't understand your argument about price. You seem to be arguing for less choice and consumer power.
From the article:
“He had no background in control theory, no background in operating systems,” Jones says. “He only had minimum experience in the distribution centers and never spent weeks and months out on the line.” But Bezos laid out his argument on the whiteboard, and “every stinking thing he put down was correct and true,” Jones says. “It would be easier to stomach if we could prove he was wrong, but we couldn’t. That was a typical interaction with Jeff. He had this unbelievable ability to be incredibly intelligent about things he had nothing to do with, and he was totally ruthless about communicating it.”
And from Steve's second post:
Trust me folks, I saw this happen time and again, for years. Jeff Bezos has all these incredibly intelligent, experienced domain experts surrounding him at huge meetings, and on a daily basis he thinks of shit that they never saw coming. It’s a guaranteed facepalm fest.
Steve's posts give a much better account, though, since the control theory guy doesn't say what the argument was about, and why Jeff was right. Steve goes on to desribe his presentation to Jeff on what an engineer should know, how he hacked the presentation to make it intersesting for Jeff by removing enough from the presentation that Jeff had to mentally fill in the gaps, and what Jeff pointed out that Steve didn't add (machine learning or data mining).
A CEO that appears to know everything is a common theme in large founder-controlled companies:
Steve Jobs: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/eric-schmidt-on-steve-j...
Bill Gates: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html
Stephen Wolfram: http://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/starting-long-ter... Start at "I insist on really understanding everything." (Wolfram Research isn't a large company but that appears to be partially by choice)
James J. Hill (railroad magnate): http://books.google.com/books?id=1itXgy8gAHYC&lpg=PP1&dq=jam...
That's a heavy level of competitiveness!
