It makes sense that a carrier would discount for its best customer. But Amazon has access to rates and services that are probably net losses to their carriers. The carrier pushes these losses into small businesses and individuals. To understand this, price out the cost of one of your prime shipments as an individual. Depending on what you buy, shipping at normal rates can easily exceed the cost of the product alone. Chinese shippers on eBay are either directly subsidized by their govt, or stealing postal service from their employers. Again, price out the cost of sending the item back to see how it works.

In an earlier age, similar abuses led to the ICC regulating rail rates. If all the talk about helping small business isn’t just wind, then some sort of control has to be put in place over the primary carriers.

The same rationale can be applied to the automotive sales business, grocery or any other commercial enterprise.

There are always "loss leaders" which are compensated by mark-ups on other products.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

Not the same. A can of tomato sauce on sale this week has insignificant impact on general commerce. But the price of transportation underlies everything. Amazon can't offer "free" shipping without massive price concessions from the shippers, and the shippers can't offer those concessions without making up for it every place else. Again, investigate this yourself. Price out the undiscounted cost of returning an item on your own dime. That cost is the subsidy which small shippers are indirectly paying to their larger competitor. Not just on prime day, but every day.

One thing to consider is when you go out shopping, just about everything you drive to the store for is available on Prime without having to leave the house.
Most of the time, cheaper too, plus eliminating the cost of fuel and insurance driving to and from the store.

I was under impression Tom liked to drive.

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Jim

Of course.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I picked up a new clutched AC compressor for the C320 on Amazon to replace unreliable clutchless compressor. $200 retail, $86 open box. Not even fleabay can compete with that.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

they have now started the Data mining angle with their web hosting and their little digital spy alexa or whatever its called JUST LIKE GOOGLE, but to guys like you TBO there is no concerns, because there is no such thing as privacy anymore anyway,




this is why google has started the massive move to get their hooks into as many as possible ahead of having to comply with the new EU regulations on privacy,, cant really keep track of whatever I used to do that was hijacked --the operating systems were GUTTED and now if you want to do anything you "have to _uPgrade_ to chrome" in other words you have to sign away your right NOT to have google sucking up any and all of your data, and sending ot to their data processing center to decide whats sellable to the brokers............................................................................................. .................................

You have literally no idea what you're talking about, that much is apparent.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

So persons personal data is --Not the oil of the 21st century?


Google is NOT mining as much personal Data from the populace as they possibly can ?




Google does not have huge "data centers".........


and Facebook does Not have huge "data centers"..........


And they are Not selling persons data to data brokers?

Really, why then did the EU put a stop -set limits- to the tech companys personal data mining abuses?

So I have no idea what im talking about ~~ because as far as peeps like you are concerned,, there is really no such thing as people protecting their privacy anymore?


Because- that was such a , uh, 20th century kind of thing anyway?


https://www.nasdaq.com/article/how-the-eus-new-privacy-law-will-impact-big-tech-in-2018-cm893605

And what's really weird is none of those are AWS, which is what the topic is....

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

wow...triggered much panzz?

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I have been to googles data center in Goose Creek SC. Its pretty huge