Oh, I think there are a lot of people who would be buying and selling online today that go up there and they get the information, but then when it comes time to type in their credit card they think twice because they’re not sure about how that might get out and what that might mean for them.

People concerned about inflation today tend to buy big houses and nice cars.

I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things.

A thing is worth what it can do for you, not what you choose to pay for it.

Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? Is it a legacy of our colonial years? We want foreign television sets. We want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported?

If you’re entering anything where there’s an existing marketplace, against large, entrenched competitors, then your product or service needs to be much better than theirs. It can’t be a little bit better, because then you put yourself in the shoes of the consumer… you’re always going to buy the trusted brand unless there’s a big difference.

Everyone knows that when you look at a television ad, you do not expect to get information. You expect to see delusion and imagery.

How long most people would look at the best book before they would give the price of a large turbot for it?

The Internet is the easiest thing to get into. To be an Internet retailer, you just get that URL.

Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don’t have for something they don’t need.

The problem with car dealerships is you’ve already decided what you want to buy before you even go there, and you’re really just going there to talk through some annoying negotiation.

I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.

Now everyone takes it for granted that you can look up movie reviews, track locations, and order stuff online. I wish there was a way we could take it away from people for a day so they could remember what it was like without it.

How come anything you buy will go on sale next week?

One of the things it was obvious you could do with an online store is have a much more complete selection.

I don’t believe that the public knows what it wants; this is the conclusion that I have drawn from my career.

Amazon.com strives to be the e-commerce destination where consumers can find and discover anything they want to buy online.

If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn’t have to advertise them.

Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren’t so exciting.

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

Nobody wants to buy a $60,000 electric Civic. But people will pay $90,000 for an electric sports car.

Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.

What we want to be is something completely new. There is no physical analog for what Amazon.com is becoming.