Just one mans opinion
As a consumer
I shop at at Amazon and find it convenient as well as a place I can get a good deal.
I live in a somewhat rural area and shopping for anything is not always easy.
As a seller of merchandise
While I appreciate Richards review and personally agree with most all of it, one thing stands out.
Richard Beecher wrote on Dec 24
th, 2017 at 1:52pm:
3. Amazon will exert almost total control over the sales process.
While many of us (myself included) may perceive this as a negative, this is one of the things that makes Amazon so popular. Using Amazon as your payment system is exactly what some people look for. Many times it's easier and less time consuming to pay someone to deal with the sales.
A little Devil's advocate
As an example only, I'm a woodworker not a internet sales person. My time is more likely better spent on my craft of creating wooden items to sell than dealing with how or where to sell them on the internet. If I spend an hour in the shop just about any work completed goes toward items to sell at X dollars. If i spend an hour dealing with sales issues to save Y amount of dollars, it must exceed what I lost (X) by not working on my craft.
(you should all know what your time is worth, especially if selling on the internet)