Amazon Japan Raided by JFTC

[Samurai_Jerk]

Amazon Japan raided on suspicion of antitrust practices

Japan's Fair Trade Commission has raided the offices of Amazon.com Inc's local unit on suspicion of pressuring retailers to offer products at lower prices than on rival sites, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.

The paper, which cited unidentified sources with knowledge of the case, did not say when the raid took place.

A Japan Fair Trade Commission spokesman said he could not confirm the report but added: "I won't say the contents are incorrect."

An Amazon Japan spokeswoman declined to comment.

[legion]

I'm getting really tired of this compulsion to force down prices. It is so lacking in class.

I never shop at Amazon, their treatment of their own staff is appalling.

[Russell]

I'm getting really tired of this compulsion to force down prices. It is so lacking in class.

I never shop at Amazon, their treatment of their own staff is appalling.

And they don't properly pay their taxes.

I try to minimize shopping at them, preferring local shops or other net shops.

Anyway, these alternatives are often cheaper.

[matsuki]

Selling on Amazon is a pain in the ass and yes, they negotiate with an iron fist, not just with retailers but with their shipping (ask a kuroneko driver about how they feel about Amazon)...but they never demanded we sell to them cheaper than other retailers or anything like what's being described. If anything, it's great for consumers as they aren't pocketing that difference and many things tend to end up on Amazon cheaper than their local shops who sell at full retail. Still, kakaku.com for everything first...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wage Slave]

If it's anything like couriers in the UK they are all "self employed" these days. So, they get paid by the parcel which explains their perpetual hurry and yeah, Amazon may have used their market power to demand a discounted rate that gets passed straight to the poor guy at the bottom of the chain.

[matsuki]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.

Quite the opposite....according to the ones I talked to, when they were delivering the tsunami of Amazon packages Amazon didn't give an option for the customers to choose delivery dates/times. (not sure if it's still the case now) So if you're a driver, you can imagine the exponential increase in workload from all the missed deliveries, calls, etc.

[Coligny]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.

Quite the opposite....according to the ones I talked to, when they were delivering the tsunami of Amazon packages Amazon didn't give an option for the customers to choose delivery dates/times. (not sure if it's still the case now) So if you're a driver, you can imagine the exponential increase in workload from all the missed deliveries, calls, etc.

it's an "amazon prime" option I think....

[Wage Slave]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.

Quite the opposite....according to the ones I talked to, when they were delivering the tsunami of Amazon packages Amazon didn't give an option for the customers to choose delivery dates/times. (not sure if it's still the case now) So if you're a driver, you can imagine the exponential increase in workload from all the missed deliveries, calls, etc.

it's an "amazon prime" option I think....

It is, but not being able to specify delivery day and time is no different to any other store or business so I don't see why Amazon should be especially unpopular with the delivery guys. OK, there are more parcels to deliver perhaps because of Amazon but that's not a bad thing in itself.

[matsuki]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.

Quite the opposite....according to the ones I talked to, when they were delivering the tsunami of Amazon packages Amazon didn't give an option for the customers to choose delivery dates/times. (not sure if it's still the case now) So if you're a driver, you can imagine the exponential increase in workload from all the missed deliveries, calls, etc.

it's an "amazon prime" option I think....

It is, but not being able to specify delivery day and time is no different to any other store or business so I don't see why Amazon should be especially unpopular with the delivery guys. OK, there are more parcels to deliver perhaps because of Amazon but that's not a bad thing in itself.

Usually it's just a standard option? Anyhow, what I was told was an crazy high % of non-deliveries and a crazy large amount of extra parcels so I can see their gripe, especially in the summer.

...and then you come to the angry execs part where they are getting paid less than usual for the deliveries because Amazon negotiated down the shipping rates.

[legion]

it's great for consumers as they aren't pocketing that difference and many things tend to end up on Amazon cheaper than their local shops who sell at full retail. Still, kakaku.com for everything first...

Consumers who go to their local shops to check out the item, then buy it on Amazon. Nice, shops have to pay rent, often in the more expensive locations.

Interweb shopping is great for stuff you can't buy locally, but if you check stuff in the store then buy it online somewhere else you are a short sighted money grubber.

No class.

[Wage Slave]

it's great for consumers as they aren't pocketing that difference and many things tend to end up on Amazon cheaper than their local shops who sell at full retail. Still, kakaku.com for everything first...

Consumers who go to their local shops to check out the item, then buy it on Amazon. Nice, shops have to pay rent, often in the more expensive locations.

Interweb shopping is great for stuff you can't buy locally, but if you check stuff in the store then buy it online somewhere else you are a short sighted money grubber.

No class.

Agreed but the problem is that for a lot of stuff I don't need to check it out in the store, don't need advice and I don't need it this minute. In that case, buying it cheaper online from someone who doesn't have an expensive showroom and high overheads is a very attractive proposition. And it saves me time. Masuki is right about checking kakaku instead of just using Amazon though. We just bought a digital voice recorder to record conversations with doctors - kakaku threw up a little shop a lot cheaper than anything on Amazon (4,400 vs 5,400, including delivery in both cases) so that's who got the business of course. The problem is that the process on Amazon is seamless. Click, click and it's all done. Little shop on the prairie it's a matter of emailing them the order and address details. They email back with an invoice and payment instructions. You go onto your bank's website and work your way through the clunky half width katakana process to pay them. They email to say they have got the money and have dispatched the goods. I'll do it for a substantial discount but if the price is almost the same Amazon are very tempting.

The swine should be forced to pay their fair share of tax though. It's really time to get draconian on that score.

[Grumpy Gramps]

Little shop on the prairie it's a matter of emailing them the order and address details. They email back with an invoice and payment instructions. You go onto your bank's website and work your way through the clunky half width katakana process to pay them. They email to say they have got the money and have dispatched the goods.

Very rarely would I do this. I have a few accounts, as with Amazon, Rakuten, Tokyu Hands and some others, but if I get through someone's clunky "shop system", just to be lead to a page that I am supposed to print out and fax them, then I am out.

But then, if I see a nice item, which doesn't need much explanation or support from someone, who is more than a sales drone - especially if its on special - in a "brick and mortar" store, then I would usually pick my keitai and quickly check on kakaku et al, if the price is special enough. And if it's not, then buy online. This is, how a free market works, the consumers' power grows with their online capabilities and the brick and mortar stores will have to deal with this "new" competition.

And I think, the stores do react to this "new" reality. Their assortments are getting smaller and smaller, carrying only the mainstream stuff and they don't bother with any specialty item any more. No bad conscience here, I have to deal with competition too and my money is just as hard earned as theirs.

[matsuki]

it's great for consumers as they aren't pocketing that difference and many things tend to end up on Amazon cheaper than their local shops who sell at full retail. Still, kakaku.com for everything first...

Consumers who go to their local shops to check out the item, then buy it on Amazon. Nice, shops have to pay rent, often in the more expensive locations.

Interweb shopping is great for stuff you can't buy locally, but if you check stuff in the store then buy it online somewhere else you are a short sighted money grubber.

No class.

Isn't that what is commonly known as shopping? If checking out a display or trying on some wear at your local shop X before ordering it online is classless, more women are classless than I though and many retailers must assume we're all classless as many offer price matching type deals to keep your business. (which is definitely worth taking advantage of) If they're smart, they offer some sort of additional warranty and support to justify going with them over ordering online.

WS put it very well but I'll just add that the allocation of overhead at local retail shops here is often bizarre, unnecessary, and overdone. One place I stopped going to after their 5th rearrangement of the product layout in a few months. What a waste of time...even the staff didn't know where anything was. Limited selection/inventory due to limited size of the shops, passing on the OH to customers, often not so fresh edibles...buying online is more than just a financial decision in many cases.

All that being said, when it comes to handmade goods and such, of course I'll support the local manufacturers and service shops but that's a different case as they bring something more to the table than just doing the ordering for you at full retail.

[Coligny]

I love going to the store to check an item. Decide to buy it.
And then be told to go to pay at the cashier so they will order the item and receive it in one or two weeks they will call me when i can go to their store to pick it up...

No class... Sure... But i'm not sure it's me who is lacking... Fuck these suckers into oblivion... Amazon all the way...

[Hijinx]

it's great for consumers as they aren't pocketing that difference and many things tend to end up on Amazon cheaper than their local shops who sell at full retail. Still, kakaku.com for everything first...

Consumers who go to their local shops to check out the item, then buy it on Amazon. Nice, shops have to pay rent, often in the more expensive locations.

Interweb shopping is great for stuff you can't buy locally, but if you check stuff in the store then buy it online somewhere else you are a short sighted money grubber.

No class.

It's called "showrooming" in case you didn't know. Yeah, I'm a money grubber. Why the fuck should I pay an extra 10,000 yen when I don't have to? Do you know how much beer that buys? I'll check Kakaku right in the store, right in front of the clerk--I don't give a shit. Since when do Japanese pay their employees more than they have to? When in Lome...and all that.

[Grumpy Gramps]

Was at Edion once and wanted to buy a clear filter lense for my camera that I had bought there. They didn't even bother with the challenge of ordering one for me and just told me to go to a "real" camera shop for something so peculiar. Amazon had it...

And I think this is the future of most of these shops; they can only afford to stock things that they can sell that day/week; anything more would break their back. The days when you could go into a hardware store to ask for one little screw of exotic measurements that would cost you 10 or 20 yen and the ironmonger even takes the time to go round the back to dig it out for you, because he surely has one somewhere, are over -- go buy it online, in batches of at least 200 plus shipping

[kurogane]

I have a few accounts, as with Amazon, Rakuten, Tokyu Hands and some others, but if I get through someone's clunky "shop system", just to be lead to a page that I am supposed to print out and fax them, then I am out.

Well put. I would much prefer to buy my various food items and toys on TaroShop-pia.net but I also feel that by doing so I encourage their antedeluvian self-satisfaction: printing and faxing are not part of an online shopping arrangement I will participate in, there is no longer any Benri to be enjoyed, and having to actually phone them to inquire about getting stuff shipped to an outlying large island in Okinawa is ludicrous. It's not northern Sakhalin. It's on a map, has a Kuroneko office, and I can type the address clearly.
I think the sales aversion attitude Matsuki, SJ and others have mentioned permeates a lot of the smaller online operations, or they're just rank amateurs, and the fear of normal credit card payment tips it and drives me to the Big 3, or the Furriner Buyers Club guys.
Are there legitimate business reasons for not accepting normal credit card payments online like it's the 20th century, or is it just the standard issue fear of credit cards, the commission rate, and mental inertia (otherwise known as Japanese Service)

As for trying shit on at actual shops then bargain hunting online...........meh. If it's right there in my size and "colorway" ( ) and within 10-15% of any online price, fine. If they tell me that size or colour isn't as important as The Shoe Itself and even hint at shifting me into something I don't like that doesn't fit I run to the Webz, even though buying shoes online is usually a recipe for disappointment.
BTW, Amazon Canada sucks the ass juice off swollen dog balls for price and shipping charges. I think they use the NAFTA loopholes to just ship stuff direct from the states at comically inflated prices, which certainly confirms their leechy parasite image.

[matsuki]

Are there legitimate business reasons for not accepting normal credit card payments online like it's the 20th century, or is it just the standard issue fear of credit cards, the commission rate, and mental inertia (otherwise known as Japanese Service)

Depends on the type of business but sometimes it's clearly obvious they are just being ketchi with insignificant CC merchant account fees. One of the restaurants I love...the owner is a friend of my bosses so when out drinking with him and asked him, he basically said he's always got more customers than he can handle and they are willing to pay cash so there is no incentive for him to add in CC acceptance and all that entails. (paying legit taxes? =P) Anyhow, his food is just thaaat good but unless you have a mad following like him, it's probably not the best business decision.

[kurogane]

Sure, but that's an actual shop. I get why those types might just pass on CCs, and if we remember, I have no problem with the cash only tendency when out and about, which is how I usually operate there. But online shopping that requires you to print, fax, and go to the PO, etc. to pay for the goods you wish to buy online? Even with the laughable Japanese Customer Service mentality that just seems begging for sales to fall. Spock would never pander to that level of Dr. McCoy logic, and I won't either. I am a huge fan and supporter of small and micro busyness, but logic alone dictates I boycott places that don't get it.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.

Quite the opposite....according to the ones I talked to, when they were delivering the tsunami of Amazon packages Amazon didn't give an option for the customers to choose delivery dates/times. (not sure if it's still the case now) So if you're a driver, you can imagine the exponential increase in workload from all the missed deliveries, calls, etc.

it's an "amazon prime" option I think....

It is, but not being able to specify delivery day and time is no different to any other store or business so I don't see why Amazon should be especially unpopular with the delivery guys. OK, there are more parcels to deliver perhaps because of Amazon but that's not a bad thing in itself.

Usually it's just a standard option?

If you buy something from a brick-and-mortar store, yes, it often is. However, not when shopping online in my experience so I don't see how Amazon is worse than other online businesses.

[Grumpy Gramps]

Sometimes, it's also the service companies who make life complicated for the shop-owners with ominous "rules"

Example: Arkbark.net

arkbark_screenshot.jpg

Source...

An NPO will likely have to put up with shit like being bullied and subjugated by the likes of PayPal, but a shop-owner might just show them the stinky finger, and rightly so.

[matsuki]

Why would the Kuroneko drivers care? The executives maybe but not the drivers.

Quite the opposite....according to the ones I talked to, when they were delivering the tsunami of Amazon packages Amazon didn't give an option for the customers to choose delivery dates/times. (not sure if it's still the case now) So if you're a driver, you can imagine the exponential increase in workload from all the missed deliveries, calls, etc.

it's an "amazon prime" option I think....

It is, but not being able to specify delivery day and time is no different to any other store or business so I don't see why Amazon should be especially unpopular with the delivery guys. OK, there are more parcels to deliver perhaps because of Amazon but that's not a bad thing in itself.

Usually it's just a standard option?

If you buy something from a brick-and-mortar store, yes, it often is. However, not when shopping online in my experience so I don't see how Amazon is worse than other online businesses.

Depends on where you're buying from but I'd say a decent % of online order forms I've used have you select the delivery time/date or at least have a memo area where you can type it in as a request. What I don't understand is why this isn't standard on Amazon if it was such an issue for the drivers and seems like such an easy fix? (Originally Amazon used to be exclusively with Sagawa before the backlash, cancelled the arrangement, and they went to Kuroneko.)

Grumpy - I wonder why they don't just open up a merchant account and take CC donations directly? Paypal is far from the only option there.

[Coligny]

all these talks...
and now 2 fuckup from amazon in 1 week while it has been flawless since 2009...
yesterday I received a portable car GPS instead of an iphone holder. and this morning the order for a neighbour instead of my stick on mirror film...

i have to go to the post office for the gps. who is now closed at night and there is no way I can do this during the day with this weather...

[yanpa]

Japan's Rakuten losing shine as business model grows rusty

[wuchan]

BUT IT"S NOT FAIR!!!!!

Amazon’s Dispute with Japanese Publishers Intensifies
http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-dispute-with-japanese-publishers-intensifies-1475498559

A fight between Amazon.com Inc. and Japanese publishers escalated Monday as the nation’s largest publisher protested the deletion of its books and magazines from Amazon Japan’s all-you-can-read subscription service.

Kodansha Ltd. said more than 1,000 titles were deleted from Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service in Japan. Kodansha called the move “one-sided” and said it didn’t believe Amazon was authorized to delete the titles.

Kodansha said that at first, about a dozen or so popular titles were taken down from Kindle Unlimited without notice. The publisher said that after it protested, all of the titles it had made available were deleted Friday night

my favorite part:

“We don’t think Amazon is authorized to halt distribution of our titles without permission,” a Kodansha spokesman said.

Welcome to global business. No million meeting marathon to make you feel better, no J-inc life support. Money talks, bullshit walks.

[matsuki]

Can't read the article behind that paywall...but what is the reason behind the deletion? Some unreasonable licensing demands or something of that nature?

my favorite part:

“We don’t think Amazon is authorized to halt distribution of our titles without permission,” a Kodansha spokesman said.

Welcome to global business. No million meeting marathon to make you feel better, no J-inc life support. Money talks, bullshit walks.

[insert teeth sucking here] unforeseeable, regrettable....

[wuchan]

Can't read the article behind that paywall...but what is the reason behind the deletion? Some unreasonable licensing demands or something of that nature?

my favorite part:

“We don’t think Amazon is authorized to halt distribution of our titles without permission,” a Kodansha spokesman said.

Welcome to global business. No million meeting marathon to make you feel better, no J-inc life support. Money talks, bullshit walks.

[insert teeth sucking here] unforeseeable, regrettable....

The story is they deleted between 12 and 15 books. No reason was given. I suspect that they were probably offensive, no one even downloaded them or they were fake japanese history. It was only a few books tho. Then when the publisher complained that they were taken down Amazon decided to say fuck you and took down all their e-books (over 1,000)

[inflames]

I have to say, I love Amazon. So much easier to buy stuff than having to go to Aeon or a drug store, wait in line for 10 minutes to pay 10% more than Amazon.

Just order it online, have it sent to Family Mart and get it on the way home. Missus doesn't get it but I suspect it is more of a planning thing with her (have to order face wash a few days before you actually run out of it)

[matsuki]

Can't read the article behind that paywall...but what is the reason behind the deletion? Some unreasonable licensing demands or something of that nature?

my favorite part:

“We don’t think Amazon is authorized to halt distribution of our titles without permission,” a Kodansha spokesman said.

Welcome to global business. No million meeting marathon to make you feel better, no J-inc life support. Money talks, bullshit walks.

[insert teeth sucking here] unforeseeable, regrettable....

The story is they deleted between 12 and 15 books. No reason was given. I suspect that they were probably offensive, no one even downloaded them or they were fake japanese history. It was only a few books tho. Then when the publisher complained that they were taken down Amazon decided to say fuck you and took down all their e-books (over 1,000)

I remember talking to my bosses publisher friend a few year ago and it was bizarre how powerful he though they were. I asked him about the inevitable decline in printed media and the denial was soooo strong with him, talmbout ojiichan still needing to feel the paper in their hands and being computer illiterate.