More than one million American small businesses use Amazon’s platform to sell their products and services, the tech giant announced Thursday, the first time it’s ever disclosed such information.
Amazon has revealed statistics regarding how many total third-party sellers use its online marketplace around the world. But now it has added details for the U.S., providing a state-by-state breakdown of where the most smaller-sized merchants are, and how many. California, for example, has the most with more than 175,000, while New York and Florida are somewhat far behind, but still in second and third, respectively, with 81,000 and 75,000. Other states’ counts span anywhere from roughly 1,000 up to 60,000.
Amazon bases its denotation of small to medium-sized business off of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s criteria, which lists those of having $7.5 million of less in annual revenue.
The timing of the information’s release may be due to an apparent snowballing of skepticism for Amazon, and Silicon Valley in general. Amazon has been the recipient of ire from President Donald Trump — for a purportedly unfair business deal with the United States Postal Service — and portions of the public, especially the left — for corporate power percolating through so many aspects of society.
Some of the public, seemingly more so than ever, feels that certain antitrust stipulations could apply to Amazon, which has steadily and quickly grown into a powerhouse with stakes in multiple industries — far different than its advent as a relatively simple e-commerce platform. The company’s uniquely-designed campaign to find a location for its second headquarters have led many to believe that its just an unseemly showcase of a corporation causing cities to adapt to its every preference. And more recently, Amazon has been criticized for not paying certain lower-level employees a sufficient amount of money, all while the CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world and his company allegedly receives substantial tax breaks. (RELATED: There’s A Newfound Hatred Of Silicon Valley)
Not everyone feels this way, of course.
Amazon included some people’s personal stories in its press release.
‘Here I am in my house in a rural Idaho, selling vinyl wall decals to people in New York or Pennsylvania, and even the UK. I never dreamed that I would be able to expand my business like this and live in the area that I love,’ said Jodi Lewis, founder of LucyLews, based in Caldwell, Idaho. ‘Beyond my family, I’m now able to support other local businesses. I have a local guy that makes frames for me and a photographer that takes pictures for me, we’re all part of this growing business community in rural Idaho.’
Amazon also says that it “lent more than $1B to U.S-based small and medium-sized businesses through the Amazon Lending Program” in 2017.
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