Yep, basically they've used every mechanic at their disposal to crush their competition (price matching, aggressive pricing vs. competitors and their own marketplace sellers, promos, digital platforms, delivery service etc.), and now there is pretty much no competition left, they can do what they like and the majority of people will still use them.
Also, with taking money for pre-order's straight away, it can now be earning interest in their accounts for months, helping them pay off their tax bill rather than sat in our accounts.
I've been using Amazon less and less over the years, and pre-order very little from them. I generally use them for their marketplace - itself becoming a dying area with merchants disappearing, the amount of physical media on offer declining, and prices becoming higher amongst the few sellers that remain. Most of the purchases I used to make on Amazon are now getting diverted to Wow or eBay sellers. Amazon's loss is their gain.
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