Amazon has found a trick to distort competition and circumvent the law on book delivery costs. Historically, Amazon offered shipping on Books. As the price of books is set by publishers, for the customer, it did not cost more to receive a book at home than to go to a bookstore.
It was obviously a form of unfair competition for stores. This is why 10 years ago, there was a first so-called anti-Amazon law. This was to prohibit free delivery costs, therefore in short, to force Amazon to charge delivery costs. The American giant applied the law because it had no choice, but he charged one cent and not the actual price of the cost of shipping the books.
It was already a form of circumvention of the law, at least in spirit. This is why there was a new law, a year ago now, which fixed this time a minimum of three euros for delivery costs. This means that when you buy a paperback book on Amazon for 10 euros, the brand is obliged to add three euros for delivery costs. It was done to put websites at a disadvantage compared to physical stores and therefore Amazon.
A law circumvented
This law also says: “shipping costs may be free when the book is collected from a book retail store.” This is where the flaw lies, becauseWith Amazon automatic withdrawal lockers, the famous lockers, you can get around this famous law.
This is what Amazon has done since it considers that if the locker is installed in a business that sells books: a large brand, a shopping mall of a supermarket, this authorizes it not to charge delivery costs.
When choosing a pickup location, Amazon clearly indicates pickup lockers where there may not be a delivery fee. It has been operational for a few days and This annoys traditional competitors to the highest degree.
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