I am working off not enough sleep, so this may already exist or be a bad idea, but this thread got me thinking and so I posted this idea on Mastodon:
What if there was an interoperability commerce-focused protocol (built like ActivityPub does for content) where sellers could connect their single listing/post/etc. to many websites without having to manage the item individually on each website and the websites made money by commissions through a sort of affiliate program if the purchase was made through them?
I’m not a tech/programmer person, I’m more of a systems person, so I’m a bit out of my element.
But also, I think Amazon’s website is just the visible part of their value. I have helped my wife set up shipping for a webshop, even just within Japan and it is a major pain. Automated interfacing with shipping, with customs (a pain of their own), owning warehouses, having a variety of payement options and litigation helps, all of that is part of the package.
If you are seriously going into this, first, I want to say good luck because I hope something like that exists, and second a recommendation: try Amazon as a seller, to see how it works on this side as well and have an idea of the experience to emulate.
Those are great points, too. I know a few sellers and have noticed their complaints about Amazon have increased in recent years at the same time my satisfaction with the platform as a buyer has been going down. You have all given me a lot ot think through. Greatly appreciated!