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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (42397)	2/24/1999 11:48:00 PM
From: KeepItSimple	Respond to of 164684

>Your arguments are the exact same arguments we heard when we started >directly >selling 50-100lb monitors to consumers with razor thin profit margins. Once again, your attempt at debate falls flat. Monitors are a relatively high margin commodity. And they are perhaps the heaviest thing that is currently purchased online. The monitors that DONT have high profit margins are the off-brand ones that are bundled with computer systems that _do_ have high profit margins. And monitors aren't exactly the sort of purchase one makes several times a month. Perhaps once every 3-4 years for most people, if that much. Of course, monitors are quickly moving to LCD, so the whole weight argument doesnt apply. > The reason shipping charges are high now is because the business model for >shipping has not been challenged yet, but that is in the process of changing so >shipping charges are coming down too. Once again, you fail in debate. Lets talk physics and math, shall we? 100 lbs of items. 100 customers. How much gasoline does it take to drive 1 truck to one location with 100 items on it? How many truckers does it take to drive this 1 truck on 1 trip? How much does he earn for wages? (i'll give you a hint to the answer- the CUSTOMER does the final-mile fulfilment and the transportation) Now, how much does it cost to ship 1 item weighing 1 lb to 100 different customers? How much farther does the truck have to drive to reach all 100 customers? Does the truck use 100 times less gas when it is carrying only 1 item instead of 100 items? Or would you prefer we just get 100 trucks? Glenn understands this. The final-mile and fulfilment costs are ALWAYS going to be higher than shipping a gross of product to a centralized location where customers can drive and pick them up. Of course, a centralized warehouse where customers can drive and pick stuff up already exists- it's called a Best Buy or a Grocery Store. Superstores were all the rage 10 years ago, and their stocks all soared and collapsed. Many of the original players are out of business. Turns out many people dont like shopping in warehouses.