Middlemen Role Debate

Comments debate the value, necessity, and drawbacks of middlemen in business, transactions, and platforms, questioning whether they should be eliminated, replaced, or provide essential services.

📉 Falling 0.5x Startups & Business
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Keywords

e.g OR ondc.org SURE ONDC LinkedIn OpenTable NOMIDDLEMAN USA COVID middleman middlemen middle man middle farmers eliminating cut fees man retailer

Sample Comments

thfuran Mar 14, 2023 View on HN

What's the benefit of adding a profit-seeking middleman?

mistercow Mar 20, 2012 View on HN

Eliminating the middleman is not the point. Avoiding the negative consequences of having a middleman is the point, and eliminating the middleman is merely a means to that end. If you can be a middleman without (or with fewer of) those negative consequences, then you're working toward the same goal.

meheleventyone Dec 14, 2021 View on HN

I thought the idea was to have less middlemen?

mdda Mar 20, 2012 View on HN

Could you give some examples of the value added by middlemen? And the headaches?

Suppafly Sep 20, 2024 View on HN

That's literally what middlemen do, they wouldn't exist if they couldn't extract value from the items they pass along.

jrockway May 24, 2014 View on HN

This is a great way of putting it. Their business doesn't need a middleman. They added a middleman. Now they don't like the middleman.The tears, they just aren't coming.

paxys Mar 25, 2022 View on HN

There are middlemen extracting fees at every step

Laaas Feb 25, 2023 View on HN

Why do you need a middleman in the first place?

DomreiRoam Apr 20, 2017 View on HN

Middleman have some utility but I think often they extract more money than the value they provide.

aqme28 Dec 27, 2016 View on HN

By "eliminate that middleman" do they mean "become that middleman"?