In a previous post, called "Reseller Nation", I demonstrated that an abused intellectual property system has created a thicket that inhibits innovation and minimizes the public domain. Through a bit of serendipity, I've found that there is a giant ecosystem devoted to helping resellers.
Here's an example: Amazon. Most of us know that Amazon is a great place to shop for and buy what we want. Same with eBay. When we buy from them, we get quick, efficient service for purchases of new and used consumer items.
But there is something that I've learned about Amazon that was a genuine surprise: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). FBA allows anyone to sell anything by just doing two things: sourcing and promoting.
FBA allows a seller to source items to sell, have them shipped to Amazon, then Amazon will store them, take orders and collect the money. This system almost completely externalizes the labor and expense of fulfilling orders from say, a home based business.
eBay is another intermediary that supports the reseller nation. Google Shopping is also supporting the reseller nation. I'm sure we could find more if we looked, but Google, Amazon and eBay are the biggest players out there.
If you want to set up your own eCommerce website, both Google and Amazon can do it for you. You can hire your own dev if you want, but they will handle the security. They're the best. Amazon is legend for its resilience against attacks. Google has uptime that most system admins only dream of.
Such is the state of the reseller nation. If we can't make our own products because some troll with an idea patent might sue, we can sell someone else's product without fear and with plenty of support to do it.
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