Why Scamazon, Why?
Dear Scamazon,
Why does it seem that Scamazon will do everything it can to undermine the small sellers? I am not sure if you have heard of this saying, Actions speak louder than words.
I do understand we as sellers do NOT have to sell on your platform... but what happened to you all caring? Now it is profits over everything else. If you care, look at your forums and, sadly, all of these people have tons of issues that should not be an issue OR it was your AI that flagged it. We are taking that as a failure. AI is not ready, 99% of us do not speak other languages...why not just give us a real American human that can help? Especially with all the fees and hidden charges you have.
Why Scamazon, Why?
Dear Scamazon,
Why does it seem that Scamazon will do everything it can to undermine the small sellers? I am not sure if you have heard of this saying, Actions speak louder than words.
I do understand we as sellers do NOT have to sell on your platform... but what happened to you all caring? Now it is profits over everything else. If you care, look at your forums and, sadly, all of these people have tons of issues that should not be an issue OR it was your AI that flagged it. We are taking that as a failure. AI is not ready, 99% of us do not speak other languages...why not just give us a real American human that can help? Especially with all the fees and hidden charges you have.
48 replies
Seller_xo4Akj7FBBnfC
Do we really need to bring today's political fashion for childish nicknames into this forum?
Seller_8sP6ffckcRn6v
In Amazon's eyes we are a herd of cows to be milked to the max. Individual cows with the slightest perceived issue are shipped off to the slaughterhouse.
My comparison is harsh. I know. But do not expect Amazon to have a human help you when we are not considered to be part of the human race.
Seller_0EiTWTPC4Lbig
Please with the hyperbole. When you start with “Scamazon,” we already know the discussion is going to be heavily emotional rather than particularly analytical.
Amazon is a FOR-PROFIT public company. Its management has fiduciary obligations to the corporation and its shareholders. It does not have a fiduciary obligation to make every individual seller profitable or to structure the marketplace around what is best for us.
In fact, if management knowingly made decisions primarily to benefit a particular group of sellers while materially harming Amazon’s economics without a legitimate business justification, that could potentially expose the company’s directors to shareholder derivative claims. That does not mean every unprofitable decision creates a lawsuit, but the basic point matters: Amazon’s management is supposed to operate Amazon for Amazon's shareholders, not for us.
I think sellers often misunderstand that relationship. We are not Amazon’s retail customers. We are essentially fulfillment and inventory partners supplying products for transactions Amazon generates.
Now look at the economics from Amazon’s perspective.
By industry estimates, a relatively small percentage of sellers generates the overwhelming majority of third-party sales. Roughly speaking, the top 20% generate close to 90% of the volume, with an enormous share concentrated among the largest few percent. The top 5% generate over 50% of all sales.
If YOUR business showed you that 20% of your customers generated 90% of your revenue while the other 80% generated only 10%, where would you invest your people, technology, support and capital?
Amazon is doing exactly what most rational business owners would do.
Its retail operations lost roughly $10 billion in 2022. Since then Amazon has made substantial changes around automation, verification, reserves, fulfillment, advertising, Brand Registry and the types of sellers it increasingly prioritizes.
That is not evidence Amazon “hates small sellers.” It is evidence that Amazon looked at the economics and changed the business.
And this is the uncomfortable part: a very small seller may actually COST Amazon more in support, compliance, fraud prevention and account administration than Amazon earns from that account. If that is the case, expecting Amazon to devote MORE expensive human resources to that seller is not a particularly realistic business expectation.
Digest that - your small business account may not be profitable for Amazon.
There are plenty of things Amazon does that frustrate me too. But understanding its incentives is far more useful than calling it “Scamazon.”
If the economics no longer work for your business, selling here is voluntary. But the opportunity Amazon provides is also enormous, which is exactly why millions of us continue choosing to participate.
Seller_uYb7iz22yJwRb
Amazon's end game is to crush all other sellers. That is why they hide some much data from us. They own the marketplace, they own the data, then they use that data to make their own products and undermine everyone else. They only want small businesses to farm their data....
Seller_xo4Akj7FBBnfC
As @Seller_0EiTWTPC4Lbig keeps saying, Amazon's relentless efforts to squeeze more "value" (aka pain) from sellers are the natural result of being responsive to its shareholders.
While a few well-publicized cases involving questionable business practices have caught the eye of regulators— including cases of ad bid manipulation and seller price fixing— overall, Amazon's behavior toward sellers is what you'd expect from a public company.
It's the ensh*ttification of this platform from a buyers' perspective that has me much more concerned.
For the first time, our Amazon sales are declining relative to our direct channels, and I'm starting to believe that the deteriorating buyer experience — including search that increasingly fails to return relevant results, pages flooded with irrelevant listings and ads, and AI-generated slop everywhere — could mark the beginning of the platform's long-term decline.
Seller_guCaS93YGnu0t
I don't think it matters if you are a big seller or small seller. I imagine that we all get the same "industry leading" service from Amazon. Over the years I have seen forum posts griping about all the regular problems, but with numbers that have a lot of zeroes.
Seller_qTJiCxRI8PpIZ
I think the general misunderstanding is that anything Amazon does is unique to Amazon. Most businesses are largely run by AI now. Even pharmacies, which should be way more personable, are largely run by AI or have phones answered by people who are working from home and relaying information to an AI run program. An even bigger misconception is that Amazon is a get rich quick place to sell, which it's not. Yes, it is hard to sell here. Yes, sellers have to be ready to put in an insane amount of work in order to be successful, but if you pay attention at all you should know that before you get started. The biggest misconception that a lot of sellers have is that Amazon will miss you if you stop selling here, they won't. If you can't cut it here you'll be replaced by thousands of other sellers before the day even ends.
Seller_uegrw9t4BikOA
Funny as you used flawed logic, just because a seller uses language you disapprove of doesn't mean it is emotional.
Seller_qTJiCxRI8PpIZ
Most people don't develop a product though. The amount of sellers actually selling their own products pales, by far, in comparison to the ones that are attempting to sell a specific bran'ds products. Those that have legitimately created a product and are the only ones selling that product are probably doing quite well (handmade products aside maybe). I think the only 3P sellers amazon no longer wants are the ones who are trying to take advantage of well known brands, even if Amazon themselves sometimes does the same thing. Still, Amazon usually makes their own version and slaps their name on it, so one could argue that it is Amazon's own product.
We take the risk.
We develop the product.
Seller_bPqNLG6VShvB5
amazon has made more money from penalties they've inflicted upon me than actual mistakes i've made. MAINLY returns. 1/3 of my profit goes to returns that are fraudulent. it's DESTROYING me
