[hellojesus]

Nothing you mentioned harms consumers. To me it sounds like the situation is as follows:

- Amazon offers a marketplace to sellers, which happens to be the largest marketplace with the most potential buyers.

- Amazon charges a fee to list on their site.

- Amazon doesn't let buyers sell their products for lower on a site that isn't Amazon. (Makes sense; they want to be paid for attracting consumers.)

- Buyers are cost sensitive and buy the cheapest product.

The outcome seems to be the most favorable condition for consumers. The complaint here seems to be that Amazon is so efficient that people would prefer to buy from them.

[thewix]

Cept the part about Amazon not letting you sell your goods cheaper elsewhere. That keeps the price inflated and is anti-competitive since it squashes competition from other marketplaces, not because their platform is better, mind you, but because they have all the power.

[hellojesus]

Amazon only controls their market. You play by their rules if you sell with them, and that is totally valid. You can sell your product for any price you want so long as you don't use Amazon or don't undercut them if you choose to use them.

That is totally valid. Amazon provides the eyes; they don't want to provide a service for free. Think of all the people that go to best buy to feel a product and then buy it online. Amazon doesn't want that to happen to them.

[thewix]

That's the point. They are by far the largest player in the game, and can ( and do) use their size to squash competition. You don't have to use their marketplace but as a small business you don't have many options that can compete.

Hell, they're even extremely anti-competitive with their employees. Their NDAs are very restrictive and have threatened non-senior employees with them, even ones that they let go.

[jollofricepeas]

Consumers without jobs can’t consume.

[hellojesus]

They will get other jobs. The competing helps to efficiently allocate capital.

There's a reason for struggling artists: nobody demands their product, so they end up in different occupations that actually provide value.