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Co-mingling refers to inventory pooling, where physical units can exchange ownership at amazon's discretion. For example, let's say that SellerA has a fake iPad

Co-mingling refers to inventory pooling, where physical units can exchange ownership at amazon's discretion. For example, let's say that SellerA has a fake iPad for sale via FBA and it is located in Philly, and Amazon has a real iPad located in Los Angeles. If someone from New York buys an iPad from Amazon, Amazon may swap ownership of their iPads in order to ship it a shorter distance. Then, in their records, SellerA now owns a real iPad, and the Amazon-only buyer in New York just got a fake.

chrisper 10y ago
Oh wow. That sounds super shady.
- saosebastiao 10y ago
  They only do it with standardized products (like those that have registered UPC codes), so that they should be indistinguishable. They try to control the situation, but it has gotten so bad with some product types due to chinese knockoffs that they have had to shut it off for entire categories. A particularly humorous situation has evolved from this with matchbox toy cars. With matchbox cars, any 1 car box is entirely indistinguishable electronically from another 1 car box, as all 1 car boxes share the same UPC (as well as 2 car boxes and so on). Collectors now refer to buying from amazon as 6 bullet roulette, because it is now virtually impossible to actually get what you think you bought.
  - lisper 10y ago
    > they should be indistinguishable That seems to me to be missing the point rather badly (by Amazon, not by you). Counterfeits are designed to be indistinguishable, at least to casual inspection. Forging a UPC code is trivial.
    - hrktb 10y ago
      The system was not designed to fight counterfeit, but to optimize delivery for industrialy produced goods. Think ipod earbuds for instance, imagining they all actually Official ones, you wouldn't care which seller the one you ordered came from, as long as the product reference is the good one.
    - tehwebguy 10y ago
      Also, categories like Health are gated to keep noobs out. So are high-counterfeit categories like clothes and fashion accessories.
Zuider 10y ago
Could SellerA withdraw his iPad from stock, effectively trading a fake iPad for a real one? Let's say there was a SellerB with a real iPad for sale, located closer to the buyer. Could Amazon swap ownership in that case? Would SellerB be liable for fraud and damaged reputation if his real iPad was switched with a fake?
- ikeboy 10y ago
  They'll still be liable, as the buyer will report it and Amazon will track it back to Seller A.
  - saosebastiao 10y ago
    Maybe they're better at tracking now, but at least while I was there tracking them down was a massive problem.
    - ikeboy 10y ago
      You worked for Amazon, or you were a seller? My info comes from https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200243180 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=..., which says commingled stuff is tracked by seller under "How Amazon Tracks Stickerless, Commingled Inventory".
      - Zuider 10y ago
        While Amazon does clearly state under the heading you gave that they do track commingled inventory, they do not explain how. It is still possible that doing so presents a 'massive problem' as the previous comment, apparently from an ex-Amazon employee states. On the face of it, I cannot see how it would present a problem, except for the obvious one of scale. It would be interesting to learn the precise details of how Amazon implements its tracking policy.

chrisper 10y ago

Oh wow. That sounds super shady.

saosebastiao 10y ago
They only do it with standardized products (like those that have registered UPC codes), so that they should be indistinguishable. They try to control the situation, but it has gotten so bad with some product types due to chinese knockoffs that they have had to shut it off for entire categories. A particularly humorous situation has evolved from this with matchbox toy cars. With matchbox cars, any 1 car box is entirely indistinguishable electronically from another 1 car box, as all 1 car boxes share the same UPC (as well as 2 car boxes and so on). Collectors now refer to buying from amazon as 6 bullet roulette, because it is now virtually impossible to actually get what you think you bought.
- lisper 10y ago
  > they should be indistinguishable That seems to me to be missing the point rather badly (by Amazon, not by you). Counterfeits are designed to be indistinguishable, at least to casual inspection. Forging a UPC code is trivial.
  - hrktb 10y ago
    The system was not designed to fight counterfeit, but to optimize delivery for industrialy produced goods. Think ipod earbuds for instance, imagining they all actually Official ones, you wouldn't care which seller the one you ordered came from, as long as the product reference is the good one.
  - tehwebguy 10y ago
    Also, categories like Health are gated to keep noobs out. So are high-counterfeit categories like clothes and fashion accessories.

Zuider 10y ago

Could SellerA withdraw his iPad from stock, effectively trading a fake iPad for a real one? Let's say there was a SellerB with a real iPad for sale, located closer to the buyer. Could Amazon swap ownership in that case? Would SellerB be liable for fraud and damaged reputation if his real iPad was switched with a fake?

ikeboy 10y ago
They'll still be liable, as the buyer will report it and Amazon will track it back to Seller A.
- saosebastiao 10y ago
  Maybe they're better at tracking now, but at least while I was there tracking them down was a massive problem.
  - ikeboy 10y ago
    You worked for Amazon, or you were a seller? My info comes from https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200243180 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=..., which says commingled stuff is tracked by seller under "How Amazon Tracks Stickerless, Commingled Inventory".
    - Zuider 10y ago
      While Amazon does clearly state under the heading you gave that they do track commingled inventory, they do not explain how. It is still possible that doing so presents a 'massive problem' as the previous comment, apparently from an ex-Amazon employee states. On the face of it, I cannot see how it would present a problem, except for the obvious one of scale. It would be interesting to learn the precise details of how Amazon implements its tracking policy.