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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John May who wrote (10594)	7/16/1998 10:54:00 AM
From: UFGator93	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

John, I agree with much of what you say. I do think, however, that Amazon differs from Yahoo in what it might gain by getting big fast. I think Yahoo is going to maintain customer (visitor) loyalty much better since many people will view their service as good enough and have no need to look elsewhere. Amazon, however, will have to compete with every other book and CD seller on price for a large part of the market for the lifetime of their existence. There will be some who just bookmark Amazon and never bother checking prices anywhere else as well, I'd imagine. Hopefully for those of us that are short, the latter number will be relatively few. Damon

To: John May who wrote (10594)	7/16/1998 11:11:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

JM<And I'm betting it will work.> How much?

To: John May who wrote (10594)	7/16/1998 11:20:00 AM
From: Rob S.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

The BIG difference between Amazonianut.com and Yahoo! is that AMZN is an inet retailer while Yahoo! is an inet advertising and information broker (portal). Amazon had 22% gross margins which they say are shrinking (even before having to make huge infra-structure investments). Yahoo! has 70%-80% gross margins which are not shrinking. Amazonianut.com must put in a warehousing and distribution network. Yahoo! does not. Amazonianut.com must invest increasingly in inventory. Yahoo! does not - as a hub on the internet, they can serve as the interface to many e-tailers, getting a 10%-15% commission from each of them; Amazonianut.com cannot. The Forbes article was simplistic in it's analysis of the internet commerce wave; A discredit to their sometimes brilliant work. It was topical and will probably sell a lot of mags. I wish these comparisons between Amazonianut.com and Yahoo! would either stop or be more thorough. My prediction: Amazon management will either tone down the rhetoric and throw cold water on the rampant, under-educated and thought out speculation, or they will be faced with massive class-action lawsuits in the coming months. This degree of wild speculation based on "virtual" sales and profits as the company is being forced to become a structured, facilities based marketer or products will entice a flood of law firms to go after them.

To: John May who wrote (10594)	7/16/1998 11:45:00 AM
From: BayPig	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

John: I have no problem with the growth strategy of Yahoo or Amazon. What I have a problem with is their promotion a valuation method that ignores marketing expenses while at the same time throwing most of their expenses into this category. You say you have read the 10Ks and 10Qs. If these are so detailed, perhaps you could tell me under what category payments to Amazon's associates are under? Are they under cost of goods sold? Why is this not made clear in their filings? Do you think these payments should go under marketing? If so, why? Is it also Amazon's contention that they could stop payments to their associates and maintain the same amount of revenue? BayPig

To: John May who wrote (10594)	7/17/1998 2:44:00 AM
From: Mark Fowler	Respond to of 164684

And I'm betting it will work.<< I'm with you!