Amazon takes over half of an average sale in the various fees and charges and things that it accumulates. A lot of these third party sellers are benefiting from public policies and public supports so kind of indirectly that is benefiting Amazon as well though that's not often considered a direct subsidy to Amazon. We have the Amazon Flex program which is like a program to platformize delivery there at least six or 12 months ago I can't remember what exactly I was looking at the Flex app applications. There were these really sinister sort of classic predatory inclusion type glossy stories on the Amazon Flex page about how if you were a black Latinx or indigenous you could apply for a loan from Amazon to start your own
Paris Marx is joined by Moira Weigel to discuss the third-party sellers who supply many of the goods sold through Amazon, how the company’s policy decisions reshape small businesses to act like mini-Amazons, and what that means for regulatory responses.
Moira Weigel is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard Law School, and a founding editor of Logic Magazine. Her most recent book is Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk about What They Do--And How They Do It, co-edited with Ben Tarnoff. Follow Moira on Twitter at @moiragweigel.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.
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