How Amazon privatizes public spaces for its own profit
February 14, 2024
This is a daily sight on 8th St. in the East Village of New York City, a spot historically chockablock with indie, brick-and-mortar shops. This is an Amazon truck and freelancers who have taken over the street (it’s a no standing zone) and sidewalk as their own. This is one way Amazon sells things for less: it turns public streets and sidewalks into its “warehouses” and “stores.” Imagine you’re a local business with a roof and rent. You can’t compete ...
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Our retailers recently told us that customers are calling and asking about non-existent brides, and brides are asking about non-existent registry gift lists (e.g. wedding registry lists, baby lists).
We investigated the issues and below is what we found.
What is Happening:
We found that many of these purchases are coming from registrants that open a ‘universal registry’ on websites such as Zola or MyRegistry. These universal registry services allow the registrant to add ...
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Thieves have increased their activities since the pandemic started. In 2021, retail theft was up 40% shared The Wall St. Journal. Many stolen goods wind up on for sale on Amazon and Ebay. To combat this, two Congress people have proposed requiring sellers of more than $5,000 in goods or 200 transactions to reveal more information about themselves.
Today’s WSJ article made me think:
1. We need to reserve a ticker symbol for Bridge, like BRDG.
2. Meta should use the ticker DATA or THEFT, as that’s the business they’re in. They are in the business of using your personal data—whether via Facebook or in the metaverse, often without us being aware. To see a web page on Facebook or Instagram often requires logging in. Don’t want to log in? Too bad, that’s the only way to see the content. ...
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I think that Zola, an online provider of gift registries, may be harming local stores. Zola allows brides to pick things from any site, such as an indie store’s gift registry. Zola may then encourage the registrant to bypass that local store and use those gift funds with Zola. This is an issue because Zola has handled more than 650,000 registries, and its revenue is estimated to be $130m. Millions of dollars may have been diverted away from indie, brick-and-mortar stores to Zola&rsquo...
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I was disappointed to learn that one of my favorite men's shops had been robbed not just once--but twice. Rothmans, a legendary store on 18th St. and Park Avenue in New York City, is a fun destination grab a t-shirt or a tuxedo. This shop's convivial spirit has been dashed by smash-and-grab robbers that use a flash mob approach. The issue of more crime affecting retail is not limited to men's shops. New sources reported today that even trains in Los Angeles rail yards are being ...
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Thieves are ransacking traditional brick-and-mortar stores and then selling the goods on Amazon—where Amazon may get a 30% commission. The irony: the store is deprived of the initial sale AND Amazon wins.
I believe that Amazon makes it easy to sell stolen goods online because sellers can often remain hidden and provide little contact or authorizing information. I have witnessed how hard it is to find out who the seller of a product is on Amazon. Amazon is likely America’s ...
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The WSJ covers how Amazon is growing its business at the cost of others.
Article highlights:
Amazon's leading selling points are endless selection and the lowest prices.
Amazon is so competitive that it often undertakes potentially unethical routes to grab more market share.
Amazon often takes a 30% commission on orders for third-party sellers. Due to this fee, many businesses prefer to receive orders on their own website which may be powered by Shopify (...or
Sadly, we learned of this hack LAST week when it actually happened in...wait for it...April 2019–almost a year ago.
I predict that hacking is going to happen to more and more brands and stores in our industry. I think these victims will either turn over most online operations to a third party—or close due to costs. I know of a jewelry ...
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April 8, 2019
April 8, 2019
Facebook is helping thieves share stolen credit cards. Thanks, Mark Zuckerberg.
Wired is promoting sharing the article on Facebook in the left-hand margin. Promoting sharing on a platform that has so many sharing holes in it is a bit ironic.
As you likely have read in the New York Times or the Wall St. Journal, social media companies are under fire. Users are abandoning social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snap as if they were a ship on fire that has run aground. In the New York Times graphic, it depicts social media as a boat on fire--with a user escaping by row boat.
Are you a creative person? Have you designed a plate, cup, or item that you put your heart into? Imagine that a business copied your idea and sold it. This organization Be Original is helping track bad actors in the design world that copy designers. For example, some of you may be aware that ANNA by Rablabs' items have been copied by Anthropology stores. Check out this page for more copy cats: