6 ms·

> I used to regard the "ships from Amazon" or "Prime" logo as markers for quality You need to look for (or limit your search to ) "Sold by Amazon". Not so say

> I used to regard the "ships from Amazon" or "Prime" logo as markers for quality You need to look for (or limit your search to ) "Sold by Amazon". Not so say that Amazon doesn't sell some duff products, and they have some "private label" products of their own (Amazon Basics), but all of those will have had some degree of vetting.

shiven 10y ago
This. Only if the product is "Shipped from and Sold by Amazon.com" is there a good chance I will buy it. Even at 1.5-2x the lowest price from other vendors (FBA, direct shippers etc.). I'd rather trust Amazon directly than anyone else on amazon.com
- ryanhuff 10y ago
  You certainly pay for that trust. Last week, I found a product that I bought on Amazon was available locally for 11% cheaper. Fast forward to today, I was about to buy something else on Amazon (prime item sold by 3rd party), and decided to check eBay. The manufacturer was selling the item direct on eBay for 30% less. Amazon does provide a lot of protection value to the buyer, but its previous value proposition (save by ordering online), doesn't seem to apply any longer.
  - uberrr 10y ago
    I have found that it's always worthwhile to check eBay before making an Amazon purchase.
danudey 10y ago
Even Apple power adapters sold by Amazon and not by a third party are 90% fake: https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-cables/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-ca...
- nitrogen 10y ago
  Does Amazon commingle third-party stock with their own, or are their vendors selling them fake chargers? When I was looking at selling my creations on Amazon, they had an option to commingle stock with other sellers of the same item, but I don't know if that includes Amazon's own stock.
  - massysett 10y ago
    Yes. They have a webpage somewhere describing this. They do not commingle select categories, such as food. Everything else is fair game for commingling. Sold By Amazon is no guarantee of authenticity or even an indicator that your product came through a legitimate supply chain.
Peretus 10y ago
It's true that they will have some vetting-- All products that Amazon sells itself are evaluated through becoming a seller through Vendor Central. Just because a product is labeled as 'Ships from and sold by Amazon' does not mean that it's not a private label product; Vendor Express is available for exactly the purpose of getting vendors to sell directly to Amazon. I am a mid-volume seller on their platform and I probably see 2-3 offers a week from them encouraging me to list my products with them. Another trick for the best price is to not always go with the buy box by default. Amazon doesn't give up the buy box unless the competitor's price is significantly lower than theirs. It's always worth taking a look at what else is listed in the 'Other sellers' box, especially on products where Amazon is the vendor. It's likely their the cheapest, but that's not always the case.
notyourwork 10y ago
This is reminding me of the last few years I used ebay. At first it was great, and by the end I was constantly worried about quality.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  The quality listings are easy to find on eBay though and impossible to find on Amazon. eBay still has a lot of quality.
  - cptskippy 10y ago
    Care to elaborate?
x0x0 10y ago
Amazon will happily continue selling Aukey chargers with fake ETL (UL Labs competitor) marks, even after I notified them of this! You just can't trust amazon for electronics. Link to my original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12832605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12832605

shiven 10y ago

This. Only if the product is "Shipped from and Sold by Amazon.com" is there a good chance I will buy it. Even at 1.5-2x the lowest price from other vendors (FBA, direct shippers etc.). I'd rather trust Amazon directly than anyone else on amazon.com

ryanhuff 10y ago
You certainly pay for that trust. Last week, I found a product that I bought on Amazon was available locally for 11% cheaper. Fast forward to today, I was about to buy something else on Amazon (prime item sold by 3rd party), and decided to check eBay. The manufacturer was selling the item direct on eBay for 30% less. Amazon does provide a lot of protection value to the buyer, but its previous value proposition (save by ordering online), doesn't seem to apply any longer.
- uberrr 10y ago
  I have found that it's always worthwhile to check eBay before making an Amazon purchase.

danudey 10y ago

Even Apple power adapters sold by Amazon and not by a third party are 90% fake: https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-cables/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-ca...

nitrogen 10y ago
Does Amazon commingle third-party stock with their own, or are their vendors selling them fake chargers? When I was looking at selling my creations on Amazon, they had an option to commingle stock with other sellers of the same item, but I don't know if that includes Amazon's own stock.
- massysett 10y ago
  Yes. They have a webpage somewhere describing this. They do not commingle select categories, such as food. Everything else is fair game for commingling. Sold By Amazon is no guarantee of authenticity or even an indicator that your product came through a legitimate supply chain.

Peretus 10y ago

It's true that they will have some vetting-- All products that Amazon sells itself are evaluated through becoming a seller through Vendor Central. Just because a product is labeled as 'Ships from and sold by Amazon' does not mean that it's not a private label product; Vendor Express is available for exactly the purpose of getting vendors to sell directly to Amazon. I am a mid-volume seller on their platform and I probably see 2-3 offers a week from them encouraging me to list my products with them. Another trick for the best price is to not always go with the buy box by default. Amazon doesn't give up the buy box unless the competitor's price is significantly lower than theirs. It's always worth taking a look at what else is listed in the 'Other sellers' box, especially on products where Amazon is the vendor. It's likely their the cheapest, but that's not always the case.

notyourwork 10y ago

This is reminding me of the last few years I used ebay. At first it was great, and by the end I was constantly worried about quality.

nommm-nommm 10y ago
The quality listings are easy to find on eBay though and impossible to find on Amazon. eBay still has a lot of quality.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  Care to elaborate?

x0x0 10y ago

Amazon will happily continue selling Aukey chargers with fake ETL (UL Labs competitor) marks, even after I notified them of this! You just can't trust amazon for electronics. Link to my original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12832605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12832605