OT If you can't find the damn thing you can't buy it. And yet they have sales going through the roof quarter after quarter... someone is finding stuff. Their search needs a lot of improvement, but you have the realize the nature of what makes it poor. It works great for what they stock and ship, but they don't stock and ship everything themselves. Tiny variations in third party merchant products and listings give apples-to-oranges comparisons that must be avoided. If you use the search function for similar retailers, you'll find that they typically aren't much better. And, if you become a little familiar with Amazon's search quirks, it's actually quite powerful.
But its becoming more and more of a scam as retailers realize that, sell cheap for awhile then raise their prices and hope you won't notice. I don't understand why you keep saying this. Their prices are often the lowest, and margins are not rising much. They continue to improve shipping efficiency. Astute shoppers can buy many household items more cheaply from Amazon than from Costco. An hour ago, I just had a bucket of mouse poison delivered that was cheaper through Amazon than from any local source (I know because I get an automated alert as shipments progress - a nice feature they offer).
Their P/E has compressed to only: 469
P/E is very relevant for Coke vs Pepsi, McDonalds vs Burger King. Not so much for Amazon. If profits drop to a cent per year, PE would be well into four-figures, and yet they could be doubling sales every couple years and setting themselves up for unheard of profits later.
Vet all your products and limit your selection and inventory. Apple gets it. There's no doubt you pay more for Apple and in some respects, you get more for it. But not everyone shares that desire, and from a value perspective, it's not fiscally sound (e.g., if you pay 3x as much for something that you can get 2x better warranty value out of it, you end up behind in the long run.) |
