> Thousands will buy the Basics version and never hear of PD in their lives though and that’s fine. They were never going to be PD customers.
Even if it were true that no overlap could have occurred between the cohorts and the pricing/existence of the AB product has no externalities upon the PD product, it's not "fine." It’s a total ripoff by a company that's supposed to be their partner.
> It’s a total ripoff by a company that's supposed to be their partner.
But Amazon is not their partner.
They are a reseller and like resellers have done since the beginning of time they will take the opportunity to cut you out if your product is successful and it's profitable for them to do so.
You’ve never walked down the cereal aisle of the grocery store, have you? For nearly every variety of cereal, you can buy the name brand sucker version, or the generic cheapskate version for $1.50 less.
Amazonbasics is just the generic version of much of the overpriced junk they sell. The only people being ripped off are the ones buying the name brand versions.
That would be the case if PD were the ones manufacturing the bags for Amazon. They do not.
Amazon is certainly allowed to make their own bags that fulfill the same function as PD's bags. What they're not allowed to do is to copy a design without permission.
I mean, in the case of cereal you’re buying garbage so any price you pay you’re still getting garbage. I don’t believe cereal and durable goods are equivalent here.
It's not just a difference in branding though if the quality varies between both products. In case of cereal you may get the exact same product coming from the exact same production line under a generic label. In case of the camera bag there are clearly differences in quality.
Even if it were true that no overlap could have occurred between the cohorts and the pricing/existence of the AB product has no externalities upon the PD product, it's not "fine." It’s a total ripoff by a company that's supposed to be their partner.