Should monopolies be broken up and it is a monopoly if a company has 5% of the market and more then $1 billion in sales?

[Kelley1]

[WhiteSteve]

I think your standard is probably too low to execute, but I agree in spirit.

Its more like “If I need sporting goods, why do I have to go to Dick’s, and if they don’t have it, I have to go to the few Dick’s (es?🤔😂) in a 25 mile radius of me, where it’ll just be almost all the same stuff, maybe a little more or less of this or that, but basically no variety.

There’s no more “Joe’s Sporting Goods, one location”, or very few, anyway, and they probably can’t carry the kind of inventory needed to effectively compete. At best, there are a couple niche sports like hockey and lacrosse that might have a sport-specific mom & pop store, or at least a much smaller sized chain such as “Pure Hockey”

Or how about hardware? I remember there was always a little hardware store or two in every town, maybe they had an affiliation with Ace or True Value, but you’d walk in and some hardware lifer or retired handyman would be right there asking what you needed and took you right over to it. Now you’ve got Home Depot or Lowe’s, pick your poison. All of our homes are going to eventually have one of the 50 porch light models available between Lowe’s and Home Depot, lmao, hope no one notices.

But yes, we live as veritable robots in a capitalist nightmare, and creating a situation where we could return to working for actual humans that probably live in and around our communities and might have a heart for you as an employer, vs some giant corporation where you’re just an employee ID number.

[Red_Arrow]

I live near a couple of Home Depots and also a Lowes, but there are also Ace and True Values stores close by. So I have the best of both worlds. But I have also found that when in Lowes or Home Depot there are employees walking around straightening or restocking products that seem to be experts on certain lines. If you can't find one walking around, walk to a customer service desk or checkout line and they will page one of the experts in what you are looking for who will come get you and take you to the products you are looking for and help you with them. I think most people get overwhelmed by the size of the store and do not realize how much help is close to them if they ask someone.

[hahahmm]

It's about the impact on customers, I think. You could have a company that is just 1% of an industry but 100% of provider in a given city and that would be a problem.

Or you could have a company that has 30% of a market but customers can easily switch to competitors.

[standardguy]

No, a monopoly is it if they have like 60% of the market. And yes, it would be better if there would be competition and independent competitors. But how to do that? Only the very rich have enough capital to buy a 50% ratio of such big companies. So it would turn from a monopoly to an oligopoly, no much difference.

[ProbablyClueless]

Monopolies should be broken up, yes. But the question of whether 5% market share and $1B in sales is a monopoly isn't straight forward to answer.

[Surely]

When a company or corporation is the only one that offers certain merchandise or services. Like the cable company that is forced down my throat. Then they need to be watched closely and kept in line.

[HungTexan]

I don’t think 5% qualifies as a monopoly, even with $1bn in sales.

[RealMarek]

Yes, 10% marketshare would be a good enough threshold. Huge sectors of the economy are run by monopolies or duopolies.

[TallAnon]

Focus on allowing others to enter the market, not on destroying the current one.

[msc545]

Yes and yes. Monopolies are inherently evil.

[Abbycado]

How is 5% a monopoly?

[DryGermanGuy]

5% share is obviously not a monopoly.

[NathanDavis]

no, that would be stupid

[Kelly6]

@Kelley1 5% is not monopoly.