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The solution doesn't have to be ditching 3rd parties as these can create great shopping value. Amazon should create a hurdle that keeps scammers away. While obv

The solution doesn't have to be ditching 3rd parties as these can create great shopping value. Amazon should create a hurdle that keeps scammers away. While obvioudly there are better solutions than my off the cuff comment you could for example require a significant deposit for new sellers which is lost on sale of fake goods. Or payment terms are 120 days until you reach X reputation (supplier or item) allowing for full refunds to customers and zero payment to suppliers should fakes show up.

lotsofpulp 8y ago
Solution is simple, create a filter to only show items shipped and sold Amazon.com, and never commingle inventory. But amazon wants to have its cake and eat it too. It wants to offload all that inventory risk into others and it wants its customers to pay the same or more as other retailers who you can trust to not sell counterfeit goods. A consumer’s only solution is to switch your purchases to actual retailers who are selling goods you can trust.
- flotzam 8y ago
  > never commingle inventory At the very least, Amazon should mark the commingled vs. non-commingled status for each offer. Right now, you only see this once you hold the item in your hands - if there's a barcode starting with "X" on the package, it's non-commingled AFAIK. (But I wonder if Amazon actually authenticates X-labeled incoming merchandise, e.g. by requiring a shared secret on the package slip. Otherwise, if an attacker sends in a fake item that's X-labeled as if it came from an honest seller, they would still be able to tank the reputation of the honest seller. Maybe this could even be done from the position of an Amazon customer, i.e. they would apply the fraudulent X-label to a swapped "returned" item. Who would believe the honest seller in this circumstance?)
- ReconBob 8y ago
  I agree commingling is a problem. The unknowing customer buys a branded counterfeit, the brand loses a customer, but Amazon does not. Check out ReconBob- chrome extension that provides seller transparency. You can read about the company behind ReconBob in Google Cloud's case study: 3PM Solutions: Using data to detect, remove, and protect against online marketplace fraud. https://cloud.google.com/customers/3pm/ https://cloud.google.com/customers/3pm/

lotsofpulp 8y ago

Solution is simple, create a filter to only show items shipped and sold Amazon.com, and never commingle inventory. But amazon wants to have its cake and eat it too. It wants to offload all that inventory risk into others and it wants its customers to pay the same or more as other retailers who you can trust to not sell counterfeit goods. A consumer’s only solution is to switch your purchases to actual retailers who are selling goods you can trust.

flotzam 8y ago
> never commingle inventory At the very least, Amazon should mark the commingled vs. non-commingled status for each offer. Right now, you only see this once you hold the item in your hands - if there's a barcode starting with "X" on the package, it's non-commingled AFAIK. (But I wonder if Amazon actually authenticates X-labeled incoming merchandise, e.g. by requiring a shared secret on the package slip. Otherwise, if an attacker sends in a fake item that's X-labeled as if it came from an honest seller, they would still be able to tank the reputation of the honest seller. Maybe this could even be done from the position of an Amazon customer, i.e. they would apply the fraudulent X-label to a swapped "returned" item. Who would believe the honest seller in this circumstance?)
ReconBob 8y ago
I agree commingling is a problem. The unknowing customer buys a branded counterfeit, the brand loses a customer, but Amazon does not. Check out ReconBob- chrome extension that provides seller transparency. You can read about the company behind ReconBob in Google Cloud's case study: 3PM Solutions: Using data to detect, remove, and protect against online marketplace fraud. https://cloud.google.com/customers/3pm/ https://cloud.google.com/customers/3pm/