Why Amazon will (and should) put Performance Bike out of business

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by 19wisconsin64

I like Performance Bike. I've shopped with them since the 1980's, and have always had good experiences, even with returns.
Recently they sold me some great long sleeve summer white jerseys at a great price, and some good tires too.
They may not be as perfect with the online experience as other sellers, but they have always done right by me.
They also have house brands that are very good for the money, especially when on sale....which is often.
Performance bike more than almost any other company in the US has always had a great selection cycling products at great prices shipped to your door. To me that's great customer service. I'd be sad to see them go.

Ditto on the house brands, some decent stuff. They have a good mix of name brand and house brand consumables with great prices.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

WHEN they have a monopoly on bike part sales, their prices are going to be whatever they want it to be. And there's nothing you can do about it.

We already had that before Amazon. It's called MAP.

Only MAP is more insidious - Amazon is only a supply channel, and can only affect one path between manufacturer and consumer. With MAP, the price fixing happens directly from the single point source, the manufacturer.

[cetuximab]

There was a Performance Bike a few block away from my apartment in Denver. There was a Performance in Albuquerque that I could hit with a slightly longer ride home from work.

Some Amazon returns are free, but sometimes the price of return shipping is prohibitive.

The nice thing about an order from Performance Bike was the convenience to return a part if I ordered incorrectly.

[LexG213]

Originally Posted by 415km

Do some research into Amazon's practices, how they treat their workers, the shark tank environment, ect. Ask yourself if that's conditions you'd want to work under and if not why would you want someone else to work like that.
The race to the bottom of prices has many not so obvious costs to our world.
I personally don't buy anything from Amazon and while I don't judge those who do I would encourage you to look into the ethics behind these very large companies and make a choice for yourself.

Love this. Seattleite here, I treat these workers in my clinic regularly and that 'frictionless' ease you all love is on the backs of under paid over worked labor. Amazon is slowly but surely eliminating local businesses everywhere. But what's different from the labor involved in our fancy cycling gear made in Bangladesh or fresh picked strawberries I guess...

[froze]

Originally Posted by Burnette

Ditto on the house brands, some decent stuff. They have a good mix of name brand and house brand consumables with great prices.

ditto again, I got a pair of house brand Nashbar Flume MTB shorts and they are the best shorts I've ever bought for less than 1/2 the price of the cheapest name brand (on sale of course), and it had very high reviews.

Their in house brand label is getting better as time goes on, I bought a pair of shoes from them about 8 years ago and they were just so so, but I used them for commuting so it wasn't a big deal; but later I paid about $75 more than for the Performance brand and got a pair of Mavic's and they too were just so so; but the when I got the Nashbar Flume shorts last year I was very happy and still am with those. I also read that their bibs got very high ratings, and they beat out much more expensive bibs for less cost than any brand bib.

If you read the reviews on their stuff you can weed out the so so stuff from the good stuff, like their socks get rave reviews. Some areas of cycling you can save a ton of money and never notice you bought something inexpensive instead of expensive, jerseys, socks, outer shorts, etc are huge areas you can save money.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by LexG213

Love this. Seattleite here, I treat these workers in my clinic regularly and that 'frictionless' ease you all love is on the backs of under paid over worked labor. Amazon is slowly but surely eliminating local businesses everywhere. But what's different from the labor involved in our fancy cycling gear made in Bangladesh or fresh picked strawberries I guess...

I never worked at Amazon but I interviewed with Fulfillment. Their goal is to eliminate as many of these overworked, underpaid employees as possible. They are spending big bucks to fully automate as much of the supply chain as possible. So they are actively working to eliminate jobs, all jobs.

[54ny77]

that is the future.

it's not exactly a pretty future for many people--retailers, workers, etc.

amazon has helped considerably to decimate retailing, and all the related jobs and industries and income multipliers that go with it. it's certainly not the sole contributor, but it's a big one. incremental death by billions of clicks.

the expectation of amazon as being an employer of gazillions of people is a false expectation. that's not their business model. better cheaper faster doesn't correlate with human capital as a key input.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I never worked at Amazon but I interviewed with Fulfillment. Their goal is to eliminate as many of these overworked, underpaid employees as possible. They are spending big bucks to fully automate as much of the supply chain as possible. So they are actively working to eliminate jobs, all jobs.

[shovelhd]

So when a company is actively working to eliminate jobs, and actively working to dominate every market they enter, then why aren't they an antitrust violation?

[jlwdm]

Amazon occupies 19% of all prime office space in Seattle. Their space is expected to increase by 50% in the next 5 years.

Jeff

[54ny77]

DARNED good question and one which, I'll guess at $1,500+ per billable hour by senior partners, has been kept at bay for as long as possible.

I'm not an antitrust law expert, nor do I play one on t.v., but I would venture a guess that if, after all these years where nothing of consequence has occurred that would force a structural change at the company, perhaps the law can't keep up (or doesn't know what to do) with Amazon.

I will take a wild-arsed guess that their foray into brick and mortar grocery via Whole Foods acquisition will introduce some more buzz on the subject.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

So when a company is actively working to eliminate jobs, and actively working to dominate every market they enter, then why aren't they an antitrust violation?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

So when a company is actively working to eliminate jobs, and actively working to dominate every market they enter, then why aren't they an antitrust violation?

and why none of this at Amazon places?? Where's the outrage about amazon, here? Some I guess but a sliver of what any post that says 'Walmart' on it.

[Vientomas]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

and why none of this at Amazon places?? Where's the outrage about amazon, here? Some I guess but a sliver of what any post that says 'Walmart' on it.

Is the issue employee pay and benefits that is represented by the image you posted? How does Amazon employee pay and benefits compare to that of Walmart? My understanding is that Walmart pays employees less than does Amazon.

"Walmart last year boosted the hourly rate of its sales associates, but the average pay stands at $9.39 per hour, or about $19,531 per year -- below the official poverty line for a family of three." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-...-hiring-wages/

Amazon around $12.50 hr.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay...-Pay-E6036.htm

Where's the outrage? I dunno, you tell me.

[shovelhd]

The protest picture concerned wages, but we weren't discussing wages. We were discussing employee count.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Vientomas

Is the issue employee pay and benefits that is represented by the image you posted? How does Amazon employee pay and benefits compare to that of Walmart? My understanding is that Walmart pays employees less than does Amazon.

"Walmart last year boosted the hourly rate of its sales associates, but the average pay stands at $9.39 per hour, or about $19,531 per year -- below the official poverty line for a family of three." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-...-hiring-wages/

Amazon around $12.50 hr.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay...-Pay-E6036.htm

Where's the outrage? I dunno, you tell me.

[amazon has helped considerably to decimate retailing, and all the related jobs and industries and income multipliers that go with it. it's certainly not the sole contributor, but it's a big one. incremental death by billions of clicks[/QUOTE]

$26,000, hardly gold plated wages at amazon.

[GregL]

This thread has been interesting in that it shows the changing perception of jobs in our country. When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, many retail and fast food jobs were not (IMO) intended to provide a living wage for a family. They typically supplemented a family's income or provided part-time work. A strong manufacturing economy provided the primary basis for family income. Now that manufacturing jobs have moved offshore, people are looking to retail and food service jobs to provide a primary income. How can this be sustainable? Rather than blaming the Walmarts and Amazons of the world for economic problems, why aren't we seriously questioning how US manufacturing jobs have declined? And who has benefitted from this change?

Greg