[Svettie]

Amazon wants to be the place with the lowest prices, and to be known as such.

If Steve wanted to sell through a traditional retailer, he would wholesale to them and they would set the price to whatever they want.

Amazon's model is different, but not really. Imagine Steve could come in to negotiate a wholesale price with an Amazon rep.

Amazon would say: "Steve, we want to have the lowest prices in the marketplace. We checked 10 other stores, and the lowest price we found is $10. So, if we make a deal today, that would have to be our retail price. Now, working backwards, if we subtract our profit margin and expenses, the best wholesale price we would buy at from you is $3. Take it or leave it."

Also, what are these competing platforms charging much lower fees? In any case, if you're not profitable selling at the lowest price on Amazon, you don't have to sell on Amazon. You can go to these other platforms, or set up your own website. And the reason you won't want to do that is because actually Amazon offers a lot of value both to sellers and customers.