The sad decline of Amazon into sleaziness.

Time was,way back in 1995, Amazon sold books only.  The company and founder, Jeff Bezos, enjoyed a (perhaps perceived) reputation of adhering to high ethical standards, as well asking the lowest prices for titles in its enormously deep catalog. That policy continued when Bezos added CDs to its product line, a godsend to this then broke music lover.

30 years later, the company is barely recognizable, compared to its old self, selling just about every consumer product and service imaginable. That is not necessarily a bad thing, especially to those of us living in the boonies, but sadly, the company’s putative reputation for at least reasonably ethical behavior seems to have become obsolete, out of stock, no longer available.

Consider the experience of the excellent blogger Christopher Greene of PJ Media and his quest for an accessory for his re ently purchased Mac Mini, “a matching hub with a built-in SSD slot to go with it.”

Amazon had no shortage of hubs to choose from — but like walking into Hobson’s stable, there was no real choice at all.

Here’s a nice-looking one from an Amazon vendor named RayCue for $89.99 marked down from $109. Here’s an identical model from GIISSMO for the same price but marked down from only $99 and with a nifty $10 coupon. Here’s a third identical model from PULWTOP for just $84.99, also marked down from $99 but without the coupon.

Also, are they kidding me with some of these names?

Good question, and there is the nub of Amazon’s rejection ethics: doing business with Chinese merchants with their  phony-balony marketing practices, especially pricing (have you ever dealt with the loathsome outfit called Temu, with its plethora of pricing gimmicks, including seemingly infinite digital “coupons” offering an infinite variety discounts and even a “wheel of fortune” gadget offering same?). The company doesn’t seem the least bit troubled by these unethical Chinese companies, thus endorsing their behavior.

Greene gives us an example of Amazon’s adaption of Chinese marketing. After buying a Mac mini, he went looking for an accessory for it on Amazon, “a matching hub with a built-in SSD slot to go with it.” His experience:

Amazon had no shortage of hubs to choose from — but like walking into Hobson’s stable, there was no real choice at all.*

Here’s how it works — and why they’re so cheap despite having some very nice specs.

There’s a factory somewhere in China, maybe using Uighur slave labor, probably using stolen intellectual property (IP), and certainly with a CCP stamp of approval. It churns out jillions of identical consumer goods, but it doesn’t export them. Export companies wink in and out of existence, set up shop on Amazon with some semi-random name, selling identical goods at near-identical prices.

The problem of course is that there is virtually no manufacturing in the US anymore, for a variety of reasons, including the aforementioned Chinese companies using slave labor, thus enabling to greatly undercut western firms. It can be argued, of course, that Chinese corporations simply filled the vacuum left by so many American manufacturers forced to close owing to the opposite and ever-increasing burden of labor and environmental regulations, and taxes heaped on them by both Democratic and Republican politicians (though the Democrats are responsible for the lion’s share of them).