[Misc] Amazon: Benign marketplace enabler or parasitic leech?

[chickens]

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Santa brought them what they wanted. (Possibly via Amazon)

Instead of derailing the Rail Strikes thread, I brought this across here, and I’m interested in how people view Amazon.

My personal view is that Amazon offer the best delivery and “customer experience” available in the U.K. However (through their scale and ubiquity) are a menace to independent retailers (who are often forced to feed the monster as marketplace sellers or die) and to our tax revenues as Amazon are structured to avoid tax and funnel revenue/profit reporting to the jurisdiction with the most favourable tax deal, playing nation states off against each other.

This inevitably leads to lower tax revenues, hurting our ability to fund health, education, law enforcement or the environment agency among other essential services.

 

[dazzer6666]

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Santa brought them what they wanted. (Possibly via Amazon)

Instead of derailing the Rail Strikes thread, I brought this across here, and I’m interested in how people view Amazon.

My personal view is that Amazon offer the best delivery and “customer experience” available in the U.K. However (through their scale and ubiquity) are a menace to independent retailers (who are often forced to feed the monster as marketplace sellers or die) and to our tax revenues as Amazon are structured to avoid tax and funnel revenue/profit reporting to the jurisdiction with the most favourable tax deal, playing nation states off against each other.

This inevitably leads to lower tax revenues, hurting our ability to fund health, education, law enforcement or the environment agency among other essential services.

Agree on all of that, but for the majority convenience will often outweigh anything else - I'm very guilty myself - it's far, far easier to make a few clicks on my Ipad than actually go to the shops for anything I can wait (usually no more than) 24 hours for (with no delivery cost). Choice is enormous, prices are often the best, easy to check product reviews and as you say customer service is excellent - on the rare occasion something does go wrong it's very easy to speak to someone and instantly sorted out.

 

[Swansman]

It seems like a grotesque company and I like that they are really struggling to establish themselves in Sweden (which is probably due to the companies on the Swedish market being very quick to adapt to the home-delivery future meaning there is little "need" for Amazon).

Of course it could be a useful company if they started to pay their workers/tream them as humans, pay taxes and so forth, but what are the odds of anyone anywhere making that happen...

 

[nickbrighton]

The thing about Amazon and tax is simple to fix, change the tax laws, that succesive governments have failed to do so isnt Amazons fault and they can not be blamed for not paying tax they havent been asked to. After all no one gets their pay statement and thinks I want to pay more tax and writes a cheque to HMRC

 

[jamie (not that one)]

If other companies offered the same level of delivery service I would happily prefer to use them. I avoided them for years because of the tax avoidance issue, then realised I'd have to also avoid 50% of companies I enjoy using for that same matter and decided to bury my head in the sand.

 

[Springal]

According to at least 1 poster on here the fact these big tech firms hire so many people and generally pay so well which in turn generates tax offsets the need for these companies to pay corp tax.

Personally I don’t think Amazon is all that if you shop around - but people are lazy and like you say their delivery service is very good.

This year was my quietest using Amazon for Christmas shopping - 2 examples;

A fancy Mezcal as a gift. Amazon £39.95 with prime delivery. Managed to find an online retailer in Scotland selling it for £31 + £4.95 delivery.

A Philips Sonicare Airflosser thing rrp £119.99 - Amazon was £89.95 but no stock for 1-2 months. Managed to buy one from ‘AllBeauty’ for £82.12

Sure there will be plenty of examples where Amazon win, but I don’t think it’s as clear cut as it once was. John Lewis have been especially aggressive on electronics this year - with superior warranty (2-5 years)

 

[The Clamp]

I like the service. I do not like the way they treat their staff or their tax arrangements.

All in all, the world would be better without them.

 

[Official Old Man]

I had a business 20 years ago just as the internet was getting going. Everything I sold was available cheaper online and I got fed up with people coming in to my small shop, checking over the goods and leaving with "I'm going to think about it". I was clever enough to take a short lease and got out quickly.
I use Amazon all the time, mainly because I live in a town with no big stores. I do go into my town often and try to spend money in the shops though.

 

[B-right-on]

My wife started an online sales business and I was shocked at the charges Amazon put on their sellers for sales. They make a huge %age of the sales price, even if you do the delivery yourselves.

No wonder Bezos is one of the richest leeches on Earth.

 

[Denis]

It really is just the convenient quick delivery, I don’t find the prices particularly cheap anymore.
Around Christmas it is handy when ‘links’ are sent for suggestions for grandchildren’s presents. Being lazy I just click on them, saving trailing around shops looking for the various Nintendo switch games, I’m asked to buy.

 

[Springal]

Most people won’t realise this - but the infrastructure required to run Amazon meant they built a public cloud / hosting company called Amazon Web Services off the back of it which is now also the largest public cloud company ($62Bn global revenue) globally. Bigger than Microsoft & Google cloud offerings.

Sadly they’ve also killed off a lot of ‘regional’ ‘local’ organisations who offered services. Including also UK government backed organisations, but of course these government entities were also taking services from AWS anyway despite their ‘dubious’ tax affairs

 

[The Clamp]

Most people won’t realise this - but the infrastructure required to run Amazon meant they built a public cloud / hosting company called Amazon Web Services off the back of it which is now also the largest public cloud company ($62Bn global revenue) globally. Bigger than Microsoft & Google.

Sadly they’ve also killed off a lot of ‘regional’ ‘local’ organisations who offered services. Including also UK government backed organisations, but of course these government entities were also taking services from AWS anyway despite their ‘dubious’ tax affairs

True. What a lot of people also don’t realise is that Amazon earn vastly more revenue a year from selling personal data than they do from selling/mailing goods. Their shop is just a front.

They are first and foremost, a data harvesting company. Just last year Amazon was charged with a £636 million fine for the act of processing personal data. Which went against the EU (European Union) data protection rules.

And the data that companies purchase from them isn’t even specific. It’s blind packaged bundles of random information.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Just before the festivities, when another national company decided not to go to work, I ordered at 10am and received the item at 9pm same day.
My sort of company where I don't have to get off my arse. They can be cheaper than ebay a well.
For everything else, there's always China

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Watched BHA Saints on Prime...........so wonderful

 

[GOM]

True. What a lot of people also don’t realise is that Amazon earn vastly more revenue a year from selling personal data than they do from selling/mailing goods. Their shop is just a front.

They are first and foremost, a data harvesting company. Just last year Amazon was charged with a £636 million fine for the act of processing personal data. Which went against the EU (European Union) data protection rules.

And the data that companies purchase from them isn’t even specific. It’s blind packaged bundles of random information.

I wasn't aware that they sold any data, call me naïve. Are they any worse or do anything differently than Facebook or Google ?

Perhaps you could point me in the direction of some facts for the revenue they make by selling my data.

 

[zefarelly]

I like the service. I do not like the way they treat their staff or their tax arrangements.

All in all, the world would be better without them.

I refuse to use them.

I don't generaly buy tat so it's not difficult to avoid the worst retailers.

Hardest thing is supermarkets, difficult to avoid them. Although some are better than others.

 

[Bozza]

Amazon was probably the individual place where I bought most Christmas presents from - I'd guess c20% - but the majority of the remaining 80% was done in traditional physical retail stores - a mixture of chains and independents - in both Worthing and Brighton.

I also bought a fair few items from Gifted - a small independent gift shop in Findon Valley. I'm not entirely sure how they survive but survive they do, and I try and do my bit to help keep them trading.

Like others above, Amazon's convenience is pretty much unparalleled and being able to request something to appear on my doorstep tomorrow (and in some cases later today) with about 30 seconds effort still feels almost magical. So, yes I use it, but I try to keep a balance with how and where I spend my money.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Are there still high street stores?
Last time I ventured out shopping(dragged kicking and screaming, actually), it was all charity shops and served in a soup bowl coffee houses

 

[Triggaaar]

I don't see why our government couldn't pass a law to tax companies of such size based on revenue, regardless of where they try to funnel their profits to.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Big respect for Amazon. Never faltered once during covid lockdown. Was nice to have books and multi-packs of fresh teeshirts ordered and delivered next day, when we were only allowed out once a day to exercise, and launderette visits didn't count as essential. From that day to this, have always tipped the hard-working Amazon delivery drivers who never once took a shortcut and just slung the delivery any old where (unlike, say, Hermes aka Evri drivers who rarely seem to give a shit)