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| Author | Topic: Amazon.com (AMZN) |
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JHirsch |
posted 03-28-2000 02:18 PM
 
Does Amazon need both HomeGrocer and Kozmo? It seems that either one could end up doing the same thing... (getting the goods to peoples' homes) and Amazon is heavily invested in both. |
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trendy |
posted 03-27-2000 10:46 AM
Very interesting. A lot of Amazon investors believe that as soon as Amazon wants to it could be profitable simply by cutting back on its marketing expenses. Order fulfillment is probably not one of those "marketing expenses" that they can easily do away with  |
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newsman |
posted 03-24-2000 07:40 PM
Just read this in Fortune: Amazon.com, eToys, and 1-800-flowers are among the many e-commerce companies playing a shell game with "fulfillment costs," which are the expenses associated with warehousing, packaging, and shipping products. Offline companies usually record the expense on their income statements as cost of sales. But not dot-coms. A lot of them classify fulfillment costs as a "marketing expense." Why? Because cost of sales cuts directly into a company's gross profit margin. Many e-commerce companies already operate with extremely narrow margins and have little interest in seeing them trimmed further. The other benefit: The practice enables dot-coms to hide operational expenses amid the huge marketing costs that investors believe are a temporary splurge associated with establishing brand recognition. If investors realized that these "marketing" numbers concealed large portions of the business' permanent cost structure, they might change their opinion about the company's prospects. Textbook e-tailer Varsitybooks.com went so far as to dismiss auditor KPMG in October when it objected to lumping fulfillment costs under marketing expenses. The company's new auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, approved the practice. |
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dude |
posted 03-24-2000 06:14 PM
I'm pretty sure you're joking. Bezos isn't saying that a given patent holder would be better off with a shorter patent lifespan; he's saying that the system as a whole would be better off with a shorter patent lifespan. The idea is that the patent lifespan has to be long enough to sufficiently incentivize inventors to develop new inventions, but not so long that it prevents others from also benefitting from those inventions. 17 years may make sense for old-school inventions, but the internet moves so fast that 10 years (or maybe even 5) would be enough of a head start for internet inventors to still be motivated to invent.
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heister |
posted 03-24-2000 03:37 PM
Here is what the Industry Standard thinks of Bezos' plea to reform the patent system and shorten the patent lifespan for technology and software patents (as Amazon continues to apply for them). "The Patent Office says a shorter patent can be yours right now for the low, low price of doing nothing: after four, seven and 11 years, patent-holders pay a maintenance fee. Think a 17-year patent is unfair? Just pay for four. Or, better yet, don't apply for one at all." Jeff, why not put your money where your mouth is? |
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bobcobb |
posted 03-24-2000 02:02 PM
Jeff Bezos earned $81,840 last year, the same amount as 1998, and for the third year in a row, he didn't receive a bonus or stock options, according to documents filed with the SEC. That's one way to keep costs under control. Now if only they could get their marketing cost under control. I do REALLY like the Kozmo.com partnership. I've thought for a long time that they need a bricks and mortar partner. This might be the best bricks and mortar partner for them. |
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InvestorGuide Daily Administrator |
posted 03-22-2000 09:36 AM
March 21: Online convenience store Kozmo.com, on the heels of a partnership with Amazon.com, filed today to raise $150 million in an initial public offering. The company sells entertainment, food and household products online and dispatches delivery people in vans, on bicycles and on motor scooters to carry the purchases to customers' doors within one hour. (source: Cnet) |
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smario |
posted 03-21-2000 01:58 PM
I just read that CDNow has surpassed Amazon as the e-tailer on the Net with the largest number of people buying while at home, according to market research firm PC Data. I am wondering why this didn't get more press than it did. Is it even significant? It sounds like it is... |
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InvestorGuide Daily Administrator |
posted 03-20-2000 06:43 PM
Amazon.com has invested $60 million in Kozmo.com as part of a deal that will allow it to use the online convenience store’s fleet of bicycle couriers to deliver some Amazon products to customers’ doors within one hour. (source: MSNBC) [url]http://msnbc.com/news/384668.asp/[url] |
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InvestorGuide Weekly Administrator |
posted 03-20-2000 12:00 PM
If you want to invest in internet companies, you should know about some recent patents and the lawsuits they're causing. (source: Policy.com) http://www.policy.com/news/dbrief/dbriefarc559.asp In a related story, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, has a plan for patent reform. (source: Salon) |
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JHirsch |
posted 03-16-2000 11:14 AM
Its a winner take all (or at least most) game in the e-commerce sector and Amazon will be the winner. Its a consolidation and shakeout of all the flash-in-the-pan IPOs of the past year. The mentality is true for the companies, but even more magnified for their stocks. That's my opinion anyway. |
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newguy |
posted 03-16-2000 10:51 AM
Can someone explain to me why Amazon is being treated differently from all the other etailers? The whole sector has been crushed recently, except for Amazon. |
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trentr |
posted 03-15-2000 06:30 PM
Considering Amazon filed for a patent with this program in april of 1996, maybe that makes it more valid. At that time it really was a new and innovative technology. If patents were processed in a more timely manner who knows how many companies which rely on affiliate programs for all or part of their revenue would have been hit with injucntions. Here's an interview with Jeff Bezos about the patent issue and some other things as well |
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InvestorGuide Weekly Administrator |
posted 03-13-2000 12:41 PM
Faced with increasing furor over his company's recent patent victories, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos embarked on a campaign for patent process reform. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/news/articles2000/000310-5.shtml |
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heister |
posted 03-09-2000 04:42 PM
bobcobb and sittingbull, Amazon already issued got an injunction issued by the courts against Bn.com last year for the patented "1-click" technology. If they can win that one they should almost have an easier time winning this one. Not the case, but the preliminary injucntion to keep other sites from using any kind of affiliate program. |
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