[dm2]

Supposedly the plan for the Amazon online store has always been to barely break even to establish their customer base, then to raise the prices of items to start making money. They started doing that last year when the price of their products started being more than competitors. The increased price of Prime was acceptable to me, but when I can go to a local store and purchase the items for cheaper, then that's the price increase that I do not want. Their algorithms determine the maximum amount of money they can make off of customers rather than basing it off of what the products actually cost, it makes sense for short-term profits, long-term profits are difficult to predict.

[jamesaguilar]

An oft-suggested plan, but I have yet to see convincing evidence that this is what they will do. I would guess given the plays that they have been making that they think they can reduce the cost of servicing orders, and make their money that way. The idea that they would achieve a monopoly and then raise prices seems silly, since the government would likely clamp down on that kind of strategy. And everything about their investments suggests that they think of themselves as a logistics company, not a monopolist.

[eclipxe]

The plan according to whom?