35 ms·
The problem with Amazon listings is that any seller (official reseller or not) can put a product up for sale. Amazon defaults to the cheapest seller listed as
by ascagnel_ 9y ago
The problem with Amazon listings is that any seller (official reseller or not) can put a product up for sale. Amazon defaults to the cheapest seller listed as new (if you have Prime, sellers that offer Prime shipping will chosen over a cheaper seller that charges separately for shipping).
The problem here is that when you buy from Amazon, you expect that you're buying it from Amazon. But with they way they have it set up, it's also very likely that you'll buy from another seller that's a few pennies cheaper than Amazon, with Amazon facilitating the sale.
- ValentineC 9y agoFrom what I understand, Amazon also commingles its own "Sold by Amazon" inventory with other sellers who use the Fulfilled By Amazon programme, without checking for counterfeits. [1][2][3][4] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16003872 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16003872 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15944675 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15944675 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15774793 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15774793 [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15589274 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15589274
- brewdad 9y agoRight. It's this commingling that makes the whole exercise futile. I can check and double check that I am buying from Amazon directly, but if fake goods are mixed in the same bin as real ones it becomes a game of roulette to see what I'll actually receive.
- tux1968 9y agoThis is so obviously problematic and yet Amazon fails to correct it -- leaves me feeling very suspicious of their motivations and erodes the goodwill i had for them.
- Bartweiss 9y agoYep. I note that the LifeHacker article here gives tips on avoiding fakes, but none of those tips apply to the very guy in the article! I'm plenty willing to be a diligent buyer, it's not much different than avoiding phishing attacks, but at this point any item with Amazon as the seller may be compromised, and there's no way to tell in advance.
- AJ007 9y agoIf someone really didn’t like amazon (Walmart) they would spend a lot of money testing products for dangerous materials and chemicals. Anyone want to bet counterfeit products and food from China has no lead or other contaminants in them? I don’t.