President Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders at least agree on one thing: Amazon is a problem.
Sanders lashed out against the e-commerce giant Sunday, arguing the Seattle-based company’s growth has killed small business.
“We’re seeing this incredibly large company getting involved in almost every area of commerce and I think it is important to look at the power and influence that Amazon has,” Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The liberal stalwart said Amazon’s expansion “is an issue that has got to be looked at” amid a nationwide decline in brick-and-mortar retail.
Trump has targeted Amazon’s business practices in a series of tweets over the last few days.
Most recently he referred to the Washington Post as the lobbying arm of the company, because it’s owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
He also said Amazon was scamming the U.S. Postal Service out of paying package fees, and the company should pay its fair share of taxes.
USPS sale to Amazon, coming later this year.
Predicted in 2016.
I was with Trump but now I don’t know what to think. A broken clock is right twice a day, but Sanders hasn’t been right yet.
Amazon is cheaper (most of the time), you click on it and it shows up at the gate. You don’t have to endure millennials, stinky people, or rabid children.
I ask my fellow Americans: What is wrong with that?
The only problem Sanders has with Amazon is that it’s not owned and operated by the govt.
I do a lot of biz with Amazon because I live in the boonies and have health issues, but I wish it would be broken up. I hate ALL monopolies. They screwed up my last 3 orders so I have cut my purchasing down to only what I can’t get here. We have no electronics or computer stores here. Since cutting down, my FICO score has gone up.
It will be interesting to watch the LSM praise Sanders and criticize Trump for making the same points…
If Sanders agrees with my ideas, it’s time to reexamine my thought process…
I still say leave Amazon alone.
It’s a private business. If the market is being monopolized than other shipping companies need to come up with a better model. I love Amazon, it’s super helpful because I didn’t have my drivers license for the longest time so when I needed something and couldn’t get a ride, Amazon was there. It’s useful, even if it’s owner is an NWO.
I’m torn on the Amazon thing, being that I’m a small biz online retailer myself.
First, I don’t like the government meddling in private business much, never have, never really will. That being said, Amazon DOES profit greatly from USPS subsidization, and not to mention, their massive volume get them discounts with FedEx/UPS that no regular small-to-medium sized business can compete with (for example, I get about 35% off the published rates and pass it on to our shoppers – it has been said that Amazon and Wal-Mart get closer to 80% off the base rates, so they pay a fraction as much to ship the same parcels I would). Add in that they also tend to negotiate MUCH lower supplier pricing, and they can just ship stuff for “free” because of how little they pay / how much more they profit than the average retailer, so they never have to worry about competition as we small folks just will never, ever get the same advantages.
Now, if you’re working with high-margin items, it’s not so bad. Try shipping food like I do, including frozen/refrigerated items, and it’s a nightmare. I’m only still here because I found a shipping consolidator who got me double my discount I could negotiate with UPS or FedEx directly, but for those who are paying full price or slightly under because of their small size/low volume, you just CANNOT compete with the Amazon model in any way.
Not to mention, if I sell anything I offer from my site on Amazon, I have to give them 15% commission – considering I make about 20% post-expense, how fair is it that if I want their benefit for sales, I have to give them 3/4 of my profit while I still do all the work?
Amazon had a great start for years but honestly, they got too greedy and once they decided to try and take over each retail industry one at a time to make it nearly impossible for new online retailers to compete unless they’re coming in with $20 million+ initial funding to negotiate strongly from the gate for optimal pricing on shipping and with suppliers. So, if you do NOT want to see fewer options to choose from each year for many general goods, something does have to be done about Amazon’s reach to hold them in check, but finding a way to do it without overstepping bounds is a tough spot.
I bought a lot of stock in Amazon to hedge my bets – my business is up this year for the first time in nearly a decade, but now, I’ve lost about $30k in stock value in the last few weeks. Oh well, it’s a trade-off.
Oh no! Trump is on the side now of the Seattle libtard local yokels who hate Amazon for helping to create a booming economy and housing market in the Puget Sound region.
…and Bernie agrees with him. I’m very confused.
FYI Presudent Trump, I reeeally hate going to the mall.
POTUS stepped in it on this one.