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I've been burned multiple times by this; the worst was a pair of remote control off-road trucks for my sons' Christmas presents. They had hundreds of 5-star re

I've been burned multiple times by this; the worst was a pair of remote control off-road trucks for my sons' Christmas presents. They had hundreds of 5-star reviews and both units worked for maybe 5 minutes each. Within days of Christmas, the listing was flooded with 1-star reviews from other conned parents with very similar stories. The number of products impacted must be far over the 1% claimed. There are whole categories that have been ruined by Fake China and kids' toys is probably the worst. Headphones, as mentioned by another commenter here, are another. This problem is quickly destroying Amazon's credibility with a lot of customers. I went to a Best Buy for the first time in a decade to buy a pair of iPhone headphones, just so I'd be assured a genuine product. I now buy my kids' toys at Target, just so I can be assured that there's a reasonable chance that they aren't crap.

Waterluvian 8y ago
I can handle getting some crappy set of headphones but a big let down for a child's Christmas is just so upsetting to a point that maybe I've got unaddressed issues. I have a toddler and I think I'll gladly pay the premium to buy Toys R Us stuff I can touch and play with in the store.
- monocularvision 8y ago
  > Toys R Us Um, I have some bad news for you.
  - sebastianavina 8y ago
    wut?
  - Waterluvian 8y ago
    They seem to be strong here in Canada. I hope that lasts. Walmart is the only other option and it's not really an enjoyable experience.
    - kurthr 8y ago
      Hilariously, ToysRUs are still big in China. Lots of kids and parents shopping. How did the vultures only get the US stores?
      - Lio 8y ago
        They got the UK stores too. :(
  - barking 8y ago
    What I always disliked about toysrus was that no matter if you went at the quietest time you had to queue forever at the checkout. There'd be just the one till open and they'd only open a second one if people were getting restless.
- cptskippy 8y ago
  As of the last decade, the quality of products from Toys R Us wasn't that great either. If there was a name brand they had it and also a cheap inferior clone. If no name brand existed then it was just inferior junk. The only real exception was there stuffed animals which were all pretty nice. Water toys were mostly all garbage.
- dragontamer 8y ago
  > pay the premium to buy Toys R Us Toys R Us is NOT "premium". Even back when it existed a few years ago. Melissa and Doug is "premium" for toddler toys. Spend a little bit more, and you get quality toys that is even a bit fun to use as an adult. Plenty of those stores around, and their webstore (https://www.melissaanddoug.com https://www.melissaanddoug.com) is well featured. Based on my experience with buying kid's toys... Toys R Us failed to stock good enough quality for me. If I wanted crap toys, Walmart and CVS had plenty. Target's selection of toys is mediocre, but I find a few dolls here and there worthwhile. A "major" gift is almost-always a Melissa and Doug splurge moment. I've never trusted Amazon for kids toys either. But Toys R Us was also in a similar boat for me of low-trust low-quality products.
dylan604 8y ago
> This problem is quickly destroying Amazon's credibility with a lot of customers It has totally destroyed their credibility with me personally. I used to be an avid Amazon shopper. It was just too easy. I now actively find stores locally to shop. Does it make a difference to Amazon's bottom line, not in the least. While it might be less convenient, I feel less dirty than supporting Amazon. There are times where local stores do not carry something, and I still have purchase from Amazon but only if I can't find it anywhere else first.
- williamscales 8y ago
  I still buy a lot of stuff from Amazon but I have found that I cannot trust their review system at all. So all research is outside Amazon or else I'm basically treating it the same as Alibaba. The thing that utterly destroys credibility in my eyes is that fraudulent sellers are able to target name brand listings by offering fakes at a slightly cheaper price than the original manufacturer. There are apparently some mitigations against this but their use must not be widespread among sellers or something because I've been burned by this.
Nition 8y ago
Does Amazon accept these faulty items back and refund the customers if they ask? Do they pay the return shipping cost? Assuming yes, surely this is costing them a lot as well.
- dmitriy_ko 8y ago
  Amazon accepts returns for 30 days and pays for shipping if you select "Item defective or doesn't work" for your return reason. However, that kind of con may still be very profitable for merchant since many buyers won't bother returning. 1. Pay for couple hundred 5-star reviews before Christmas 2. Get tens of thousands of orders 3. Send people cheap defective items that costs 1/10 of price to manufacture 4. Profit! Even if 80% of buyers return, it could still be profitable.
  - felix_nagaand 8y ago
    The seller can also just hit and run leaving Amazon with the losses.
    - muro 8y ago
      Not if they only get the money after the return period is over.
      - gambiting 8y ago
        Exactly - any big company will usually pay for the stock 30, 60 or even 120 days after the delivery. I can't imagine Amazon pays their suppliers immediately.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - rasz 8y ago
      "sellers", toy was comingled and Amazon doesnt track inventory source.
akuji1993 8y ago
The thing is, you really can't buy from anyone but Amazon directly anymore. The marketplace is flooded by chinese off brands that break the moment you touch them. At least that's the situation here in Europe.
- majewsky 8y ago
  Don't know which European country and which product category you're thinking of, but e.g. for tech that's not true. There are plenty of reputable tech online stores in Germany (e.g. Mindfactory, Alternate, Reichelt, Cyberport, Arlt in no particular order). I expect all of these to be able to ship to at least all of the continental EU.
  - akuji1993 8y ago
    What I meant with "can only buy from Amazon directly" is that I don't use Amazon's marketplace features. Of course, OUTSIDE of Amazon there is competition especially in the electronics category. I actually usually order my electronics at Alternate, if their prices aren't way above market which sometimes seems to happen with them.
- tim333 8y ago
  Is there a way to actually do that for most stuff? I actually want to buy some real Apple EarPods and the first 30 results seem to say supplied by some random outlet for about 25% the regular price. Dunno if there's a only show direct from Amazon button somewhere?
  - akuji1993 8y ago
    Of course there isn't, they would lose a lot of sales that way. For the Apple EarPods, they've been out of stock for months now, since everyone wants to get their hands on them and Apple seems to be not be up for the demand, dunno why.
0xcafecafe 8y ago
Ever since BestBuy has started price matching amazon, I have started going there a lot. And the purchases have been significant: a modem/router, a laptop and a couple of fitbits. Nothing better than being assured that the product you receive is genuine and well priced.
citation_please 8y ago
For things like headphones you should definitely try to find domain experts who have put significant effort into researching and documenting the difference between products, and then purchase based on their review until you're able to make the purchase on your own based on trying the product out in person. I knew nothing about headphones, bought a few based on expert reviews (maximizing quality in my price range), and now I feel confident when trying out "floor models" at my local audio store. If anyone's interested in the head phone website, I can provide it. Just didn't want to seem like I was shilling a blog. If you search Google "site:reddit.com in ear monitor review blog" you'll find it, and this is a pretty good formula in my experience for researching consumer products that have a high information asymmetry.
- artificial 8y ago
  When researching a pair I blindly sleuthed around before asking an audiophile friend of mine who referred me to http://head-fi.org http://head-fi.org which is where I ended up narrowing my selection down prior to finally examining models at stores. Build quality and noise cancelling were significant factors in my purchase.
abawany 8y ago
My approach has been (1) to filter the reviews by critical reviews and read them quickly - that has tended to show the real problem that the shallow 5-star (or 1-star) reviews hide. The aggregate rating (4.5 stars) is totally useless now. I also look at the product's fakespot rating when I remember to do so. 1: when I have to buy from Amazon, i.e. none of my other options such as Walmart (90 day returns, fast shipping with no membership), Best Buy, etc. have the item

Waterluvian 8y ago

I can handle getting some crappy set of headphones but a big let down for a child's Christmas is just so upsetting to a point that maybe I've got unaddressed issues. I have a toddler and I think I'll gladly pay the premium to buy Toys R Us stuff I can touch and play with in the store.

monocularvision 8y ago
> Toys R Us Um, I have some bad news for you.
- sebastianavina 8y ago
  wut?
- Waterluvian 8y ago
  They seem to be strong here in Canada. I hope that lasts. Walmart is the only other option and it's not really an enjoyable experience.
  - kurthr 8y ago
    Hilariously, ToysRUs are still big in China. Lots of kids and parents shopping. How did the vultures only get the US stores?
    - Lio 8y ago
      They got the UK stores too. :(
- barking 8y ago
  What I always disliked about toysrus was that no matter if you went at the quietest time you had to queue forever at the checkout. There'd be just the one till open and they'd only open a second one if people were getting restless.
cptskippy 8y ago
As of the last decade, the quality of products from Toys R Us wasn't that great either. If there was a name brand they had it and also a cheap inferior clone. If no name brand existed then it was just inferior junk. The only real exception was there stuffed animals which were all pretty nice. Water toys were mostly all garbage.
dragontamer 8y ago
> pay the premium to buy Toys R Us Toys R Us is NOT "premium". Even back when it existed a few years ago. Melissa and Doug is "premium" for toddler toys. Spend a little bit more, and you get quality toys that is even a bit fun to use as an adult. Plenty of those stores around, and their webstore (https://www.melissaanddoug.com https://www.melissaanddoug.com) is well featured. Based on my experience with buying kid's toys... Toys R Us failed to stock good enough quality for me. If I wanted crap toys, Walmart and CVS had plenty. Target's selection of toys is mediocre, but I find a few dolls here and there worthwhile. A "major" gift is almost-always a Melissa and Doug splurge moment. I've never trusted Amazon for kids toys either. But Toys R Us was also in a similar boat for me of low-trust low-quality products.

dylan604 8y ago

> This problem is quickly destroying Amazon's credibility with a lot of customers It has totally destroyed their credibility with me personally. I used to be an avid Amazon shopper. It was just too easy. I now actively find stores locally to shop. Does it make a difference to Amazon's bottom line, not in the least. While it might be less convenient, I feel less dirty than supporting Amazon. There are times where local stores do not carry something, and I still have purchase from Amazon but only if I can't find it anywhere else first.

williamscales 8y ago
I still buy a lot of stuff from Amazon but I have found that I cannot trust their review system at all. So all research is outside Amazon or else I'm basically treating it the same as Alibaba. The thing that utterly destroys credibility in my eyes is that fraudulent sellers are able to target name brand listings by offering fakes at a slightly cheaper price than the original manufacturer. There are apparently some mitigations against this but their use must not be widespread among sellers or something because I've been burned by this.

Nition 8y ago

Does Amazon accept these faulty items back and refund the customers if they ask? Do they pay the return shipping cost? Assuming yes, surely this is costing them a lot as well.

dmitriy_ko 8y ago
Amazon accepts returns for 30 days and pays for shipping if you select "Item defective or doesn't work" for your return reason. However, that kind of con may still be very profitable for merchant since many buyers won't bother returning. 1. Pay for couple hundred 5-star reviews before Christmas 2. Get tens of thousands of orders 3. Send people cheap defective items that costs 1/10 of price to manufacture 4. Profit! Even if 80% of buyers return, it could still be profitable.
- felix_nagaand 8y ago
  The seller can also just hit and run leaving Amazon with the losses.
  - muro 8y ago
    Not if they only get the money after the return period is over.
    - gambiting 8y ago
      Exactly - any big company will usually pay for the stock 30, 60 or even 120 days after the delivery. I can't imagine Amazon pays their suppliers immediately.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
  - rasz 8y ago
    "sellers", toy was comingled and Amazon doesnt track inventory source.

akuji1993 8y ago

The thing is, you really can't buy from anyone but Amazon directly anymore. The marketplace is flooded by chinese off brands that break the moment you touch them. At least that's the situation here in Europe.

majewsky 8y ago
Don't know which European country and which product category you're thinking of, but e.g. for tech that's not true. There are plenty of reputable tech online stores in Germany (e.g. Mindfactory, Alternate, Reichelt, Cyberport, Arlt in no particular order). I expect all of these to be able to ship to at least all of the continental EU.
- akuji1993 8y ago
  What I meant with "can only buy from Amazon directly" is that I don't use Amazon's marketplace features. Of course, OUTSIDE of Amazon there is competition especially in the electronics category. I actually usually order my electronics at Alternate, if their prices aren't way above market which sometimes seems to happen with them.
tim333 8y ago
Is there a way to actually do that for most stuff? I actually want to buy some real Apple EarPods and the first 30 results seem to say supplied by some random outlet for about 25% the regular price. Dunno if there's a only show direct from Amazon button somewhere?
- akuji1993 8y ago
  Of course there isn't, they would lose a lot of sales that way. For the Apple EarPods, they've been out of stock for months now, since everyone wants to get their hands on them and Apple seems to be not be up for the demand, dunno why.

0xcafecafe 8y ago

Ever since BestBuy has started price matching amazon, I have started going there a lot. And the purchases have been significant: a modem/router, a laptop and a couple of fitbits. Nothing better than being assured that the product you receive is genuine and well priced.

citation_please 8y ago

For things like headphones you should definitely try to find domain experts who have put significant effort into researching and documenting the difference between products, and then purchase based on their review until you're able to make the purchase on your own based on trying the product out in person. I knew nothing about headphones, bought a few based on expert reviews (maximizing quality in my price range), and now I feel confident when trying out "floor models" at my local audio store. If anyone's interested in the head phone website, I can provide it. Just didn't want to seem like I was shilling a blog. If you search Google "site:reddit.com in ear monitor review blog" you'll find it, and this is a pretty good formula in my experience for researching consumer products that have a high information asymmetry.

artificial 8y ago
When researching a pair I blindly sleuthed around before asking an audiophile friend of mine who referred me to http://head-fi.org http://head-fi.org which is where I ended up narrowing my selection down prior to finally examining models at stores. Build quality and noise cancelling were significant factors in my purchase.

abawany 8y ago

My approach has been (1) to filter the reviews by critical reviews and read them quickly - that has tended to show the real problem that the shallow 5-star (or 1-star) reviews hide. The aggregate rating (4.5 stars) is totally useless now. I also look at the product's fakespot rating when I remember to do so. 1: when I have to buy from Amazon, i.e. none of my other options such as Walmart (90 day returns, fast shipping with no membership), Best Buy, etc. have the item