China Courts US Consumers Through a Familiar Storefront in Amazon

In past decades, that term referred to a major branded product sold at U.S. stores manufactured by factories located in China. For example, a Matchbox car bought from Toys ‘R Us and made in China by Mattel. Today, U.S. consumers are increasingly purchasing Chinese-branded products from Chinese stores directly over the internet, and both Beijing and the world’s biggest online retailer—Amazon.com—have been facilitating that trend. On Amazon, 50 percent of all global sellers are based in China, according to data from Marketplace Pulse, a website that provides e-commerce market data. They warehouse their goods and products in the United States, at Amazon’s warehouses, so the items are shipped domestically and qualify for fast “Prime” shipping (also dubbed as the “Fulfillment by Amazon” program).and pay Amazon fees and commissions and sell an item for $3 when it costs more than an American seller can even buy it for wholesale?” A U.S.-based seller wrote in a post on Amazon’s seller forums. “We have an item manufactured for us in China and we sell it at $10 and make only a couple of bucks after all the costs. The same company that makes our product sells it on Amazon 5 for $10 ($2 a piece). How is that possible?”-- More...