You gotta have nerves of steel to start an Internet business with your own money where you ship stuff out and lose money on each thing you ship. Or maybe you have to have a lot of money.
When Quidsi launched Soap.com in July, adding an additional 25,000 products to their lineup, the site was strafed almost from the minute it went live by price bots dispatched by Amazon. Quidsi network operators watched in amazement as Amazon pinged their site to find out what they were charging for each of the 25,000 new items they initially offered, and then adjusted its prices accordingly. Bharara and Lore knew that would happen. "If we put something on sale, we usually see Amazon respond in a couple of hours," says Bharara.
Or as Rohan puts it: "A price bot attack truly is the sincerest form of flattery."
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_42/b41...