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Sellers petition for antitrust probe over Rakuten free shipping

10 Comments

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Rakuten bullies.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I wonder if it has to do with the mega popularity of Mercari which makes sellers send with Free Shipping. I always set the price of things I sell so that I don't feel like I am getting burned by the Free Shipping.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Perhaps the sellers could form a union and threaten to leave en masse if rakuten doesn't negotiate.

Perhaps they could form their own shopping platform.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You can set items as pay on delivery postage on Mercari, which is for mostly second-hand stuff anyway.

This will be mostly aimed at Amazon Prime, which of course is free shipping, for 7000 yen or whatever a year subscription. The streaming stuff on Amazon Prime is so terrible in Japan that its not a sales point, even if you can rewatch the Sopranos.

These people are fighting against abuse of near-monopoly power. Some of the postage on Rakuten is annoyingly expensive, 700 yen for a tubeless bike valve that will fit in the smallest envelope and take a 90 yen stamp, but that does not mean all sellers should have to take a big hit just because something costs 4000 yen.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Free Shipping within Seller's locality but to anywhere... More profits for the go-between company (Amazon/Rakuten) and less to the Seller. Seems like it's one way to curtail a Global Marketplace...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If a seller disagrees with Rakuten's policy change then they have two choices - suck it up and work out what they need to do to continue making money via the Rakuten platform, or leave.

It's simple really, and countless businesses are faced with similar decisions every day - be it a supplier increasing prices, a competitor reducing prices etc. Businesses have to adjust to an ever changing world.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

welcome to leave rakuten....

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Perhaps the sellers could form a union and threaten to leave en masse if rakuten doesn't negotiate.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

A group of merchants on Rakuten Inc's online shopping mall on Wednesday submitted a petition

Just curious. Which country are these sellers mostly from? Any of them associated with Rakuten's foreign competitors?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

As an online shopper having a "certain" number of yen to buy before receiving "free shipping" is not enticing at all. This is like forcing me to spend up to the quota to get a carrot. Not fair to other merchants.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

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