Bezos Goes To Washington To Answer Amazon Questions

I watched some of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, give testimony to congress.

His disbelief at Amazon launching products based on third-party data strains credibility. Seriously.

I did find his ownership of various issues refreshing, and I do believe he is earnest in his passion for customers and their long-term benefits.

I was a little surprised he asked Congress to pass stricter counterfeiting laws. Particularly since it won't matter - how will you charge all the foreign sellers that Amazon is bringing on the platform? What are the estimates now of foreign sellers in the top 10 sellers of Amazon? Last I heard it was above 30%.

I also found the discussion about Amazon's advertising program fascinating. It's a double-edged sword here. Should Amazon not have an advertising business, and if so, what should be the treatment be if not to promote products?

I will say the cost of doing business on Amazon has gone up dramatically since this has gotten more popular. It used to be that you wanted to be on Amazon because traffic was already there. Now that is still true, but you need to pay extra to get it, which naturally means the seller value proposition has declined somewhat in the last 10 years. George Reid added “even just looking at the % Amazon takes going up from 18% to 30% highlights the value proposition has gone down. I don’t believe that’s even baked in the ad cost in that average either. Factoring that into the comparison over 5 years would be fascinating.” Fascinating or grim.