5 ms·

Try buying a PS4/PS3/Xbox controller. There is a good chance it is a good looking fake. Apple accessories are another hit or miss target.

by GurnB 8y ago

deminature 8y ago
Even if you're buying directly from Amazon, or does this only apply to marketplace sellers?
- treis 8y ago
  The problem is that inventory from different sellers is commingled unless the seller pays extra. So Amazon's controllers are in the same bin as the ones from Real Good Fakes Inc. Even if you buy from Amazon the actual product you get might have been supplied by Real Good Fakes.
  - jhenkens 8y ago
    Is it not still shown as "Fullfilled by Amazon" but all grouped under the same product page? I presumed "Sold by Amazon.com" meant procured, shelved, and shipped directly via Amazon.com, none of this third party fulfillment crap.
    - treis 8y ago
      It is. The issue is that for the "shelved" step there is only one shelf per piece of inventory. So once it is one the shelf there is no guarantee about the origin. Amazon does allow sellers to pay extra to keep their inventory separate. I don't know if the stuff Amazon sells is kept that way, but there's no guarantee it is.
    - mehrdadn 8y ago
      I want to know this too. "Fulfilled by Amazon" to me sounds very different than sold by Amazon.
      - dragonwriter 8y ago
        FBA and Sold By Amazon are commingled (unless the FBA seller pays for it not to be; Amazon doesn't segregate SBA because the commingling is part of Amazon's logistical efficiencies, which is why it costs money for sellers to opt out of it.)
  - dwild 8y ago
    Source? That doesn't make sense. They would then need to make sure "Real Good Fakes" products are cheaper than what they send... At anytime "Real Good Fakes" can ask for his stuff back and that has to be "Real Good Fakes" stuff or there may be a big problem (used vs refurbished vs new). They automate everything, there's no way there's no barcode for this kind of thing.
    - lozaning 8y ago
      I can confirm this as someone who used to do 6 figures plus of business on amazon every quarter. Unless I mark that I dont want my inventory commingled (which is an option more expensive than general FBA) once my product shows up at the various warehouses it's dumped into a bin along with everyone else who sent in the same part in for FBA fulfillment. I got all my product from HP via Synnex, all factory sealed brand new genuine parts. The number of times I got burned by people leaving shitty feedback or returning stuff because what they got when they placed there order for the part I was selling was some knockoff that was close but not exactly it was high enough that I no longer sell on there.
      - dognotdog 8y ago
        Commingling is certainly something I wasn't aware of, it looks as if most consumers are in the same boat. The idea that FBA doesn't actually get me parts from the seller I picked has never crossed my mind. I certainly wouldn't have bought quite a few things if I knew that possibility existed.
        lozaning 8y ago
        It's part of their distribution strategy. I'd generally send 500 units to their warehouses a week. When you're dealing with quantities that large they have you split it up to several shipments to different warehouses throughout the country. Usually it would be many small quantities near me, and then one large one to the other coast which they would then distribute amongst their warehouses on that coast themselves. So as the number of vendors stocking inventory increases, the cost to amazon to distribute inventory widely enough to hit SLAs goes down because more of the cost is borne by the vendors.
Grazester 8y ago
This is true of the PS3 controller(same on ebay). I dont know about the PS4 and Xbox
- ensignavenger 8y ago
  But on ebay, the seller and the shipper are the same (well, actually, a lot of ebay sellers use third parties- even Amazon, to ship, but the seller is still responsible for the product that gets shipped).

Try buying a PS4/PS3/Xbox controller. There is a good chance it is a good looking fake. Apple accessories are another hit or miss target.

by GurnB 8y ago

Try buying a PS4/PS3/Xbox controller. There is a good chance it is a good looking fake. Apple accessories are another hit or miss target.

deminature 8y ago

Even if you're buying directly from Amazon, or does this only apply to marketplace sellers?

treis 8y ago
The problem is that inventory from different sellers is commingled unless the seller pays extra. So Amazon's controllers are in the same bin as the ones from Real Good Fakes Inc. Even if you buy from Amazon the actual product you get might have been supplied by Real Good Fakes.
- jhenkens 8y ago
  Is it not still shown as "Fullfilled by Amazon" but all grouped under the same product page? I presumed "Sold by Amazon.com" meant procured, shelved, and shipped directly via Amazon.com, none of this third party fulfillment crap.
  - treis 8y ago
    It is. The issue is that for the "shelved" step there is only one shelf per piece of inventory. So once it is one the shelf there is no guarantee about the origin. Amazon does allow sellers to pay extra to keep their inventory separate. I don't know if the stuff Amazon sells is kept that way, but there's no guarantee it is.
  - mehrdadn 8y ago
    I want to know this too. "Fulfilled by Amazon" to me sounds very different than sold by Amazon.
    - dragonwriter 8y ago
      FBA and Sold By Amazon are commingled (unless the FBA seller pays for it not to be; Amazon doesn't segregate SBA because the commingling is part of Amazon's logistical efficiencies, which is why it costs money for sellers to opt out of it.)
- dwild 8y ago
  Source? That doesn't make sense. They would then need to make sure "Real Good Fakes" products are cheaper than what they send... At anytime "Real Good Fakes" can ask for his stuff back and that has to be "Real Good Fakes" stuff or there may be a big problem (used vs refurbished vs new). They automate everything, there's no way there's no barcode for this kind of thing.
  - lozaning 8y ago
    I can confirm this as someone who used to do 6 figures plus of business on amazon every quarter. Unless I mark that I dont want my inventory commingled (which is an option more expensive than general FBA) once my product shows up at the various warehouses it's dumped into a bin along with everyone else who sent in the same part in for FBA fulfillment. I got all my product from HP via Synnex, all factory sealed brand new genuine parts. The number of times I got burned by people leaving shitty feedback or returning stuff because what they got when they placed there order for the part I was selling was some knockoff that was close but not exactly it was high enough that I no longer sell on there.
    - dognotdog 8y ago
      Commingling is certainly something I wasn't aware of, it looks as if most consumers are in the same boat. The idea that FBA doesn't actually get me parts from the seller I picked has never crossed my mind. I certainly wouldn't have bought quite a few things if I knew that possibility existed.
      - lozaning 8y ago
        It's part of their distribution strategy. I'd generally send 500 units to their warehouses a week. When you're dealing with quantities that large they have you split it up to several shipments to different warehouses throughout the country. Usually it would be many small quantities near me, and then one large one to the other coast which they would then distribute amongst their warehouses on that coast themselves. So as the number of vendors stocking inventory increases, the cost to amazon to distribute inventory widely enough to hit SLAs goes down because more of the cost is borne by the vendors.

Grazester 8y ago

This is true of the PS3 controller(same on ebay). I dont know about the PS4 and Xbox

ensignavenger 8y ago
But on ebay, the seller and the shipper are the same (well, actually, a lot of ebay sellers use third parties- even Amazon, to ship, but the seller is still responsible for the product that gets shipped).