When Big Business becomes Big Bully

I'm disturbed by a rash of recent developments involving major Internet-based businesses. It seems that greed is getting the upper hand over good sense, and the interests of consumers and customers be damned.

Amazon.com has instituted a new policy. Publishers of print-on-demand (POD) books are being told that they must either print their books through Booksurge, Amazon's recently-acquired POD operation, or Amazon will remove the ability for customers to buy their books through its Web site. Never mind the fact that there have been persistent problems with Booksurge's quality, or that its service is much more expensive than other POD outlets. Amazon's position is clearly that since it dominates the online book trade, others must do what it wants - or it'll give them (and customers wanting their books) the finger. It's greed, pure and simple.

eBay.com is apparently considering something similar. It bought PayPal, the online payment service, some time ago. It's reportedly considering making PayPal the required payment medium for all purchases on eBay. This means that eBay will get a 3% commission on all auctions, plus another 3% commission from PayPal for processing the transaction. Guess who ends up paying both commissions? That's right - you and I, the consumer. Again, nothing but greed.

I'm very angry about both developments. I hope you, dear readers, will be just as angry. I hope you'll join me in making it clear to these companies (and any others who try to adopt similar greedy, predatory practices) that we won't put up with it. I, for one, plan to buy most of what I need from other vendors. Since I spend several thousand dollars each year on books and other items that Amazon sells, I can at least make sure that they don't benefit from my money.

One hopes both Amazon and eBay will remember that in business, the customer comes first - not their fat, bloated wallet. It's time such greed was exposed, and stopped.

Peter