[higherpayusa]

Another ramification... many suppliers/vendors will now be "more directly" competing with their own customers within the amazon marketplace. Whereas before a vendor could sell a large quantity to Amazon and then smaller quantities (at higher prices) to middlemen and let the middleman fight it out, now they'll be a huge incentive to price in such a way that middlemen get cut out.

If this sounds good (hey, no middlemen, better for us) consider this typical situation (I know it well)... Retail company buys toys for sale in store, but uses marketplace for overstock, offsets, and to keep products on shelves fresh... Not a huge profit center, but an important part of "flow" - now the viability of that shrinks as suppliers squeeze prices upwards.

And the cycle continues... retailers have to raise prices to make up for what little "volume" sales they do... people stop shopping retail because it is "too expensive" and down go more independent stores.