The idea that a company can do anything to create or perpetuate a monopoly so long as its prices go down and/or its quality goes up is directly to blame for the rise of Big Tech. These companies burned through their investors’ cash for years, selling goods and services below cost, or even giving stuff away for free. Think of Uber, who lost $0.41 on every dollar they brought in for their first 13 years of existence, a move that cost their investors (mostly Saudi royals) $31 billion.
The monopoly cheerleaders in the consumer welfare camp understood that these money-losing orgies could not go on forever, and that the investors who financed them weren’t doing so for charitable purposes. But they dismissed the possibility that would-be monopolists could raise prices after attaining dominance, because these prices hikes would bring new competitors into the market, starting the process over again.
Maybe a rip-off, but Amazon and other online retailers shook up the Australian market and I’m thankful for that.
Before we were so small there was no competition and local stores would gauge consumers, now they’re challenged and have to compete with the rest of the world.
You could say the prices were… Criminal.
Yeah, so far, it’s been OK here. Not incredible, not shit - just OK. We still have an issue of range of selection with Amazon here in Australia. I’m finding plenty of things I search for have to come from international sellers, with longer deliveries and/or at higher prices.
But, for average crap (need that replacement USB cable for my daughter’s tablet tomorrow, can’t find the time to get to the shops today), it’s hard to beat Amazon in Australia right now.