Putting legalities aside since IANAL, how would a PopSockets -> third party -> Amazon -> customer supply chain ever be cheaper than PopSockets -> Amazon -> customer? Besides abstract "fairness", what's the benefit of allowing third party resellers here?
Usually some sort of price discrimination. Let's say Brand X pays $5 to produce something and sells it wholesale for $15 to stores, for a retail price of $30. Assume Amazon fees selling at $30 are $10, so Brand X can sell on Amazon at $30 and get back $20. A third party could divert goods from a retail store, say they pay an extra $1, and price at $28, and will net $18 from Amazon and be left with a profit of $2.
Alternatively, maybe a store had overstock and sold the goods in bulk at a loss.
Or sometimes they sell the same products cheaper in another country, and it turns out to be cheaper to buy there and import to resell here.
