Former Nintendo Executive Says Amazon Once Requested 'Illegal' Price Discounts 28
Amazon once tried to pressure Nintendo to break the law, says former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé. At a recent NYU lecture, he describes a conversation with an Amazon executive, Kotaku reports:
"Amazon was looking to get bigger into the video game space," said Fils-Aimé. "Amazon's mentality back then is they wanted to have the lowest price out in the marketplace, even lower than Walmart... Essentially what Amazon wanted (was an) obscene amount of support, financial support, so they could have the lowest price and beat Walmart. I literally said to the executive, 'You know that's illegal, right? I can't do that'...."
At the time, the Wii and DS were Nintendo's best selling hardware in history. Amazon originally sold books, but in the 2000s rapidly expanded with cheaper discounts to became a one-stop shop for almost everything. Everything except Nintendo, that is.... "Literally we stopped selling to Amazon," Fils-Aimé continued, "and it's because I wasn't going to do something illegal. I wasn't going to do something that would put at risk the relationship we have with other retailers."
"The two sides have since made amends," notes the Verge, "and you can buy a Switch 2 through Amazon. But for a long time, Nintendo consoles had been largely unavailable on the site."
At the time, the Wii and DS were Nintendo's best selling hardware in history. Amazon originally sold books, but in the 2000s rapidly expanded with cheaper discounts to became a one-stop shop for almost everything. Everything except Nintendo, that is.... "Literally we stopped selling to Amazon," Fils-Aimé continued, "and it's because I wasn't going to do something illegal. I wasn't going to do something that would put at risk the relationship we have with other retailers."
"The two sides have since made amends," notes the Verge, "and you can buy a Switch 2 through Amazon. But for a long time, Nintendo consoles had been largely unavailable on the site."
Illegal? (Score:3)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
Why would it be illegal to give them a discount? I understand not wanting to undermine the relationship with the other vendors, but illegal?
Discounts are fine.Companies collaborating with each other to fix prices is not. Price Fixing per the FTC [ftc.gov] :
Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, or inferred from conduct) among competitors to raise, lower, maintain, or stabilize prices or price levels. Generally, the antitrust laws require that each company establish prices and other competitive terms on its own, without agreeing with a competitor.
It's the difference between "let's do a discount" and "let's always be cheaper for this product anywhere, but only on this platform"
Re: (Score:2)
actually what many companies do is the products (say TV) being sold at different stores at almost the exact same thing. Almost., just different enough to not be the exact same thing.
Can't price match different items(even if they are really the same thing)
Amazon edition box could say free skin, when everyone can unlock it anyways.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
The 1936 Robinson-Patman Act "prohibits price discrimination, preventing sellers from charging different prices to different buyers for goods of 'like grade and quality' if it harms competition."
It's extremely rarely enforced, but ... there you go. You can read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
if it harms competition
This must be the sticking point.
Supply houses to the various trades (in America) charge each customer a different price, mostly based on annual purchases.
Re: (Score:2)
Illegal abuse of monopoly power by an EVIL company. My second and final Amazon purchase was decades ago because the evil was too obvious. Simple example:
"Be a shame if something happened to this potential bestseller because you didn't give us a better price than that..."
Publishers used to profit from bestsellers and lose money on the large majority of books they published. Amazon broke that system. Not a perfect system, but a lot of good books got published on the (slim) hope they might become a bestseller.
Wal Mart is Da Bomb (Score:3)
For anyone wondering, Fils-Aimé is referring to the 2001 Wal Mart is Da Bomb bill, which clearly states that no retailer is allowed to beat Wal Mart prices.
Nintendo (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Nintendo's scorched-earth policy might not be moral but it is legal: The law allows them to punish people using Nintendo's IP a little too cleverly.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Because price collusion is illegal under several jurisdictions.
Re: (Score:2)
Immoral is much worse than illegal (Score:3)
Legal violation is not morally superior to moral violation. That is courthouse idolatry.
“Illegal” only means someone with power wrote it down and attached punishment. It does not mean wrong. “Legal” only means the machine currently permits it. It does not mean good.
History is a graveyard of legal atrocities: slavery, the Fugitive Slave Act, Jim Crow, bans on interracial marriage, criminalized homosexuality, forced sterilization, Japanese-American internment, apartheid. All legal. All
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds more like they are simply refusing to allow Nintendo products to be used for something that is illegal?
And I am guessing what you would consider 'unethical' by nintendo is also them refusing to allow Nintendo products to be used for something that's illegal?
Seems pretty consistent to me.
How many did? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How many did? (Score:5, Informative)
It's even worse than you think.
Read what happens to your Amazon listing if you advertise your product on another site for even 1 penny less.
https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com]
Re: (Score:1)
In a world where regulators do their job, this should have been a giant flag that a thorough investigation into Amazon's practices were warranted. Because I'd expect for every nintendo, there were 100 others who bent over.
That long-ago "world where regulators do their job" can only continue to exist when:
- lobbying becomes a crime tantamount to treason
- individual net worth in excess of $100 million is taxed at 100%
- laws against price-fixing and the like are both draconian and ruthlessly enforced
- and probably a dozen other things I can't think of just now
As I've said repeatedly, it's long past time for the dog to start wagging the tail, rather than the tail beating the dog bloody against the nearest tree. Corporatocrac
Take a bite out of THAT DELICIOUS LOOKING PIE (Score:1)
McGruff, The Crime Dog, is SHOCKED at how much this pays. Shocked!
Handover Phist, you say? (Score:1)
I mean it's so stunningly obvious that amazon is up to their ass in illegal shit you'd have to be a total luddite to not realize it. Everything they've "banned" is still available on the site somewhere, their inventory at this point seems to exclusively include unlabelled returns which don't work; the last thing I bought was an electric drill with no battery, no wire, and no port... fraud is the name of the game Amazon's playing, and those slaps on the wrist are chump change compared to what they're raking
Re: (Score:2)
Once again don't buy from parties that ship their own product - generally if it is 'shipped by Amazon' they (Amazon) will handle the return without problems.
Re: (Score:1)
Good news - your assumptions are all wrong! So keep at it, you'll find out eventually!
Re: (Score:2)
He heard Jeff Bezos might lose out on twenty-five cents in revenue, grabbed a hanging wad of network cables, and swung to the rescue.
Re: (Score:2)
I had a bag of grass seed that was supposed to be delivered on a Sunday, with Prime 2-day shipping. On Saturday, they gave it to the Post Office, who doesn't deliver on Sunday, advancing the delivery day to Tuesday, 4 days later. I actually managed to get someone on the phone and laid into them for it, but I
Re: (Score:2)