One spring 2004 walking-the-store email that Jeff wrote ended up making a direct contribution to the Prime conversation, though we didn’t know it at the time. It addressed an issue that was seemingly nontechnical in nature: making too much profit on an item. Jeff browsed our electronics and jewelry stores. The prices for flat-screen TVs and precious jewelry ran into the hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. We had little pricing flexibility on many of these items due to supplier relationships. Since we couldn’t offer lower prices, Jeff felt we should do the next best thing: offer free
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