FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power
FBA seller here, too. I make and sell my own patented device which nobody else makes or sells. I have competitors in the same category but my product is novel, more functional, and more expensive to make.<p>I was doing FBM (fulfillment by merchant) because I like shipping my product directly from my place of business but I had to switch to FBA to get my sales to go up. They were already getting half but now Amazon is getting more than half of my revenue.<p>I also have my own site where I can sell for the same price and keep much more of the revenue, but most shoppers won’t buy if they didn’t find it on Amazon. If I leave Amazon or raise my Amazon price to recoup the costs or stop paying for FBA and Amazon ads, I lose almost all of my sales. This is all because Amazon is doing anticompetitive things with its monopoly power. Enforcement is needed. I don’t know what the injunctions will propose to do but I’m eager to find out.<p>What really kills me is knowing how my customers would feel if I told them how much of their purchase price is being kept by Amazon. They value my product enough to buy it for that price. The few who really understand Amazon always offer to buy it directly from me so I get to keep more of the money. If only everyone understood that.<p>I have to spend some more time and money optimizing my Amazon listings and then I will turn my focus onto my site and spend all my effort building my business to survive in spite of Amazon.<p>Literally in spite.