4 ms·

It’s the dangerous products that concern me more than the counterfeit ones. I’m more lenient than you, but yes there are huge category groups I won’t even bothe

• extralego 8y ago
  What examples of ‘dangerous items’ come to mind? (Not to suggest the list is short by any means. I’m just curious.) As an American company, and with so much power, and with the issue being so dispersed and untraceable, I imagine safety is not sufficient cause for regulation.
  • dawhizkid 8y ago
    Baby formula is a classic one. Electronics with flammable batteries.
  • ridgeguy 8y ago
    Counterfeit nutritional supplements. No way to tell what's really in them. Edited for clarity
    • Shikadi 8y ago
      That's true in grocery stores too though
      • woobar 8y ago
        What grocery store let random people stock their shelves?
        • zrobotics 8y ago
          There is no oversight of supplements (at least in the US). You just have to trust the brand, because legally there's nothing stopping a supplement manufacturer from using entirely different ingredients from what is claimed.
          • jjeaff 8y ago
            Yes, but at least you can trust the brand or not at most brick and mortar stores. On Amazon, you can buy your trusted brand and not actually be getting that brand. Granted, this happens at brick and mortar on occasion, but they generally have a relationship with most of their suppliers and it would be unwise to allow counterfeits through.
  • inapis 8y ago
    Cosmetics. Supplements. Medical devices. Bike helmets. Just to start the list.
  • fernly 8y ago
    In a well-known incident in 2016, Apple sued a company making fake "Apple" power adapters, and in the suit alleged that 90% of the "Apple" products on Amazon were fake. That such adapters are literally dangerous is clearly documented in Ken Shirrif's teardown: http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pr... http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2016/10/apple-sues-mobile-star-for-selling-counterfeit-power-adapters-and-charging-cables-through-amazon.html http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2016/10/apple-su... http://www.businessinsider.com/majority-apple-accessories-amazon-fake-2016-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/majority-apple-accessories-am... https://lifehacker.com/how-to-spot-a-counterfeit-apple-lightning-cable-or-appl-1788029181 https://lifehacker.com/how-to-spot-a-counterfeit-apple-light...
  • leephillips 8y ago
    Surprised nobody else mentioned the possibly counterfeit eclipse glasses: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/lawsuit-amazon-sold-eclipse-glasses-that-cause-permanent-blindness/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/lawsuit-amazon-s... Amazon did in fact try to avoid shipping fake glasses, but some may have gone out.
  • astura 8y ago
    Hoverboards were a big one a couple years ago - burned a few houses down and killed at least one kid. The vast majority of brands of hoverboards sold on Amazon, as far as I know, were private labels from the same handful of Chinese factories. I would also especially worry about cosmetics and baby products/toys and I hope nobody's buying power tools from Amazon. There was an article here on hacker news a couple weeks ago that mentioned a lady who was (partially?) blinded by an unsafe dog leash she bought on Amazon.
  • greglindahl 8y ago
    Electronics which have a UL sticker but are nowhere near UL standards of design. It probably won't burn your house down, but it's a lot more likely than with a UL-approvable design.
• cm2187 8y ago
  And some of these categories are surprising. A lot of the intel 10gbe NIC are counterfeit. I wouldn't expect a niche and sophisticated product like that to be affected, but twice I received a counterfeit card and forums are full of comments of people with the same experience.