Can an e-commerce platform have its own brand?

There was a discussion on Twitter about e-commerce platforms selling their own brand products . Netizens discussed whether this was a "violation of antitrust laws and unethical behavior ." Many people are indeed opposed to e-commerce platforms having their own brands .

We view e-commerce platforms as markets, where multiple buyers come together and interact with many sellers. Online e-commerce is very similar to the real free market , with complete information, real-time prices, and interaction between buyers and sellers. Unlike the traditional free market, the online platform and its trading rules are determined by the platform itself .

These platform rules can have their own special rules under the premise of complying with national trade and business regulations . When these platforms are controlled by a few companies , the problem may be more obvious and the interests of merchants on the platform may be greatly suppressed .

Online marketplaces are a great facilitator for connecting buyers and sellers , however, they are very different from free markets . Such platforms have huge data coverage and traffic support , which enables them to accurately estimate consumer demand for specific goods in a specific period of time .

Thanks to their scale of operation, they can launch related products under their own brands , then purchase raw materials from factories around the world for mass production and sell them on the platform . The problem here is not that they will replace the middlemen, but that they can monopolize production .

For this reason, it is necessary to re-examine whether e-commerce platforms should be allowed to have their own brands.

E-commerce has indeed provided great convenience to our lives . The problem we face is how to make both the platform and the sellers benefit while maintaining market freedom .

The market itself will discipline all players , and developing more such e-commerce platforms to create greater competition will help .

However, given the capital-intensive nature of the industry , there is limited room for new entrants to develop . We can only create a relatively fair competitive environment through measures such as regulation and restrictions on unfair trade practices .

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