Amazon's Next-Day Delivery System Has Brought Chaos And Carnage To America's Streets -- But The

[MineralMan]

31. No, it's not the Amazon model. People working as individual

contractors predates Amazon by a lot. As a freelance writer since 1974, I always worked as an individual contractor. I could have worked on a magazine's staff, but I preferred my independence, despite it costing me lots of money. People like barbers, hairdressers, and others are independent contractors. Typically, they rent a chair in an established business, and that comes out of what they are paid. Couriers and other delivery people have also long worked as independent contractors, with another company getting work for them.

It's really a very old model, one that has existed for centuries, really. The auto mechanic brings his own tools to the job, as does the carpenter. Typically, they are working as a subcontractor for the main contractor on the project. In exchange for not having to run their own businesses, they accept less money to work.

Is it a fair model? That depends. Often, it is not fair at all. The piece worker, the crop picker, and many, many others are not paid a wage or salary. They are paid according to what they produce. Often, they are charged for things an employee wouldn't be charged for. The full-commission car salesman or insurance agent is also an independent contractor.

Amazon will also sell your goods on its website. In exchange for using their marketing and sales engine, you pay a commission on every sale you make. Tens of thousands of small businesses sell on Amazon's website. Most do not do that well, but would do worse if they had to create a website and attract customers to it. Some, on the other hand, do very well with specialty and niche products that do not sell in volumes high enough for Amazon to want to compete with the smaller company.

I think, perhaps, you do not understand the overall Amazon model very well. Nor do you appear to understand the role of the independent contractor in our economy. Amazon has done very well by presenting an almost unlimited range of products to the consumer in a convenient way, and then delivering those products promptly and for a price that compares with anyone else. What Amazon sells is convenience. Nothing could be easier than searching for exactly the thing you want to buy and purchasing it with a click, knowing that it will arrive at your door in short order. So, Amazon is very successful, from the consumer's point of view.

I have a book on Amazon that they publish on-demand for me as an e-book or a paperback. Once my work was done on the content of it and formatting of it, anyone can find it and buy it. I earn 70% of the list price, which I set myself. Every month, money is deposited in my checking account, based on its sales. I've also published books through traditional publishers. My royalties on those were 10% or less of the retail price. Guess which method I prefer. Of course, marketing is up to me, if I want people to go look for and buy my book, but most sales are from topic searches, not the book's title.

That's also part of Amazon's model.

I think you understand this only dimly.