[scarby2]

> Amazon used the sales data to understand her product was popular, and went right to her supplier and cut her out of the equation.

This is not a new thing either. Or unique to amazon. This has been going on for decades (or as long as retailers have had own label products). Every Walmart/safeway/target/kroger branded product is essentially a clone of somebody else's product that they figured out they could do cheaper.

Years ago my MiL was selling her baked goods directly to a local grocery chain. They then decided to bring baking in house and came out with an almost identical product line.

If you have a product that is easily copied/reproduced (and not patentable) then a retailer can remove your margin by doing it themselves and in this case your value becomes the brand/brand recognition and not the product itself.