4 ms·

In your eyes, what would be the mechanism for a US citizen to sue a manufacturer who has no presence outside of China other than the Amazon marketplace?

by ctrl-j 8y ago

asfasgasg 8y ago
I could imagine maybe a law requiring foreign companies to obtain a bond when selling consumer goods, if they don't have substantial presence in the U.S. This bond would be a surety that consumers could recover damages in the case of negligence, at least up to a certain amount. I don't see the argument for requiring Amazon to perform that service, though.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- sk5t 8y ago
  Suppose the foreign entity decided to flout that law, and never did acquire a bond, or reported a nonexistent bond. Would it be Amazon's responsibility to detect this situation, and what remedy would be available to the customer regardless?
  - scarface74 8y ago
    It should be a registered bond with a trusted source. You wouldn't trust escrow funds that weren't held by a trustworthy party if you were involved in real estate.
    - sk5t 8y ago
      Would Amazon then check and enforce the status/claims against the bond as part of processing each order? It's an interesting idea for sure. It seems like this would put a total stop to inventory commingling, which does sound attractive, at an abstract level.
- mohdmasd 8y ago
  Letter of Guarantee? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/letter_of_guarantee.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/letter_of_guarantee.asp
umanwizard 8y ago
This isn't a hypothetical; you can already buy stuff from tons of Chinese companies online -- good luck getting any recourse in a Chinese court if you have a dispute.
- josho 8y ago
  That is why I bought from Amazon and not Chinese companies. little did I know Amazon is No better.
  - nordsieck 8y ago
    > That is why I bought from Amazon and not Chinese companies. little did I know Amazon is No better. There is a big difference between buying from Amazon and buying from company X, fulfilled by Amazon.
    - Symbiote 8y ago
      That difference is not obvious, especially for infrequent users or less-technical users.
    - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
      Not from a consumer point of view: same website, same listing, same cart, same checkout and payment process. "AMAZON" even appears on the bank statement. Literally the only difference is a tiny icon on the product page saying "Marketplace".

In your eyes, what would be the mechanism for a US citizen to sue a manufacturer who has no presence outside of China other than the Amazon marketplace?

by ctrl-j 8y ago

In your eyes, what would be the mechanism for a US citizen to sue a manufacturer who has no presence outside of China other than the Amazon marketplace?

asfasgasg 8y ago

I could imagine maybe a law requiring foreign companies to obtain a bond when selling consumer goods, if they don't have substantial presence in the U.S. This bond would be a surety that consumers could recover damages in the case of negligence, at least up to a certain amount. I don't see the argument for requiring Amazon to perform that service, though.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
sk5t 8y ago
Suppose the foreign entity decided to flout that law, and never did acquire a bond, or reported a nonexistent bond. Would it be Amazon's responsibility to detect this situation, and what remedy would be available to the customer regardless?
- scarface74 8y ago
  It should be a registered bond with a trusted source. You wouldn't trust escrow funds that weren't held by a trustworthy party if you were involved in real estate.
  - sk5t 8y ago
    Would Amazon then check and enforce the status/claims against the bond as part of processing each order? It's an interesting idea for sure. It seems like this would put a total stop to inventory commingling, which does sound attractive, at an abstract level.
mohdmasd 8y ago
Letter of Guarantee? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/letter_of_guarantee.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/letter_of_guarantee.asp

umanwizard 8y ago

This isn't a hypothetical; you can already buy stuff from tons of Chinese companies online -- good luck getting any recourse in a Chinese court if you have a dispute.

josho 8y ago
That is why I bought from Amazon and not Chinese companies. little did I know Amazon is No better.
- nordsieck 8y ago
  > That is why I bought from Amazon and not Chinese companies. little did I know Amazon is No better. There is a big difference between buying from Amazon and buying from company X, fulfilled by Amazon.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    That difference is not obvious, especially for infrequent users or less-technical users.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    Not from a consumer point of view: same website, same listing, same cart, same checkout and payment process. "AMAZON" even appears on the bank statement. Literally the only difference is a tiny icon on the product page saying "Marketplace".