[Crew Review] More Amazon sellers plead guilty to price fixing

New year, old challenges

Amazon sellers are fixing prices of DVDs and Blu-Rays. One of them already admitted to the crime.

Get to know the others who followed suit.

Lockdowns and Delays

Last year, importers were worried about delivery delays and increasing freight costs. By the looks of it, we’re going to have the same narrative in 2022.

Although the Omicron variant was found to not be as bad in terms of symptoms, it does spread faster than the virus’ previous versions. China has seen a surge in the number of positive cases, and it doesn’t help that 1) the first patient in the outbreak worked in the international supply chain, and 2) China is adamant in implementing its zero-COVID policy.

There’s a partial lockdown in Ningbo, its third one in the past six months. Fabric factories had to close in Shaoxing, a city in the Zhejiang province. Shenzhen is also on high alert after more workers tested positive for the coronavirus.

China is still the “world’s factory,” but with more lockdowns in place, you may want to look for alternative countries to source your products from. You might even find one in your locality.

Facebook vs. FTC

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) failed to convince the court of the existence of Facebook’s monopoly. However, its amended complaint was given the go signal earlier this week, with the Memorandum Opinion stating “the facts alleged this time around. . . are far more robust and detailed than before.”

The FTC alleges that Facebook has a monopoly mainly because of two reasons:

• It’s acquiring competitors and potential competitors, and
• It implements policies that prevent interoperability between it and other apps that it views as threats.

This complaint is just one of the many moves by the FTC that aims to regulate Big Tech more. However, while the complaint has been accepted by the court, whether the alleged monopoly can be proven or not is another story.

Rolling Away

Amazon delivery drivers already have to contend with long hours, sketchy neighborhoods, and not-so-friendly dogs. Now, they have another problem: delivery vans rolling away on their own.

It’s easy to blame the drivers who already have a million things on their minds. However, a report by the Safety Research & Strategies, Inc. shows it’s not always their fault.

According to the report, there were enough incidents of Amazon’s Mercedes Sprinter vans rolling away that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finally got wind of the issue. Apparently, there are times that even if the parking brake is activated, the vehicles would roll away, giving surprised drivers a chance to catch up on their workouts.

This is very disappointing (and concerning), especially for a vehicle that has an auto-shift-to-park function. This feature can detect if a driver attempts to leave the van without first securing Park.

The problem, according to a mechanical engineer who studied the vans, lies with the park pawls that are designed for lighter vehicles. So Mercedes—and Amazon—have some explaining to do.

Other News

Fake review factories. Tweets and memes are not the only ones traded on sites like Facebook and Twitter. They’ve included fake Amazon reviews in the mix.

Rerun election. Workers from the Amazon warehouse in Alabama whose unionization efforts failed last year are getting a second chance. Findings of labor law violations of last year’s union elections entitle them to a rerun next month.

More warehouses. The logistics/e-commerce giant is opening another warehouse in Johnson County in Indiana and is set to provide hundreds of jobs to locals.

Buying and Building an Online Business

The year’s just starting, but we’re expecting it to be as unpredictable as 2021. There are a lot of challenges up ahead, so why not start the year right by hearing from some of the best in the industry?

Jaryd Krause and his team have assembled 12 speakers for the 2022 Buying & Building Online Businesses Summit. This includes Flippa CEO Blake Hutchison, Content Marketing authority Joe Pulizzi, and our very own Michael Jackness.

This year, the summit will cover

• What changes are happening in our industry and how to prepare for what’s to come
• The riskiest vs. least risky sites to buy and build in 2022 and why
• The changes in how people will be buying and selling sites in 2022 and beyond
• What’s working and not working when building a successful online business in 2022
• Evergreen strategies to grow websites, from paid marketing to SEO from some of the best digital marketers and SEO consultants/agencies.

The event will run from January 28 to 31.

Claim your free ticket.