4 ms·

Small makers might not have the resources to effectively police Amazon's massive inventory, and some brands might abuse this power to squash smaller competitors

Small makers might not have the resources to effectively police Amazon's massive inventory, and some brands might abuse this power to squash smaller competitors. I just bought a small physical device/tool for a particular task. (Magazine reloader.) Apparently, this small niche manufacturer has serious problems with Chinese knock-offs. However, all of the knock offs could be found with a simple generic search on Amazon. Furthermore, most of the knock offs really relied on also knocking off the branding of the original, so searching on the brand name very specifically found all of the knock offs. So this can cut both ways. Strong brands, even from small manufacturers, can cope without Amazon's intervention, but this could well raise the barriers to entry for new brands. It's really Amazon's job to keep fakes out off of its platform, and I think they should do the work themselves. I ordered 1 Gerber keychain multitool from Amazon awhile back, and I got 3 of them. The runner who grabbed the box didn't realize she/he grabbed a pack of 3. If they are operating at a pace where they get quantity wrong, just who at Amazon is going to take the time to inspect items and distinguish the fakes? This can be a serious problem, with potentially health damaging effects. There was a problem with knockoffs of a leading brand of electronic hearing protection. These knockoffs had electronics that were too slow to clamp down on noise signals, and so could actually amplify quite dangerous levels of noise for a few milliseconds. Just last night, I was watching a YouTube video about knockoff green laser pointers. It turns out, all of the cheaper ones tested leave out a necessary filter and so leak a lot of energy as invisible infrared light. This can be quite dangerous, as it's potentially eye damaging and yet invisible, so it's far too easy to expose yourself from a back reflection, without even knowing it. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/420214/the-danger-of-green-laser-pointers/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/420214/the-danger-of-gree...

CharlesColeman 8y ago
> Furthermore, most of the knock offs really relied on also knocking off the branding of the original, so searching on the brand name very specifically found all of the knock offs. That's only one class of knock off, and the easiest kind to police. > If they are operating at a pace where they get quantity wrong, just who at Amazon is going to take the time to inspect items and distinguish the fakes? That's a really weird assertion, since Amazon's current practices are totally irrelevant. It also makes no sense to talk about order pickers being the key part of any solution. Amazon has total freedom to reform its business practices in all relevant parts of its organization to solve this problem, and I would argue it's their responsibility. Those changes would likely not be at the order fulfillment level, but at the SKU creation/inventory acquisition/seller account approval level. Personally, I think Amazon should completely separate Amazon Marketplace from their main online store, and push it onto an entirely different site that's excluded from searches by default. Then they should rework the FBA into a program that has very high standards and accountability, and make it the only way 3rd party sellers can get things listed on the main Amazon site.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  That's only one class of knock off, and the easiest kind to police. What are the other classes of knock offs? That's a really weird assertion, since Amazon's current practices are totally irrelevant. I don't think it's weird at all. If Amazon is going to have human beings checking for knock-offs, they are going to have to look at physical items at one point. I have seen many complaints that in many cases, the original manufacturer's Amazon Fulfillment stocks are intermixed with the counterfeits. The people working knock-off policing are going to be running around the same space as the item runners. They are going to have high workloads. Why wouldn't Amazon's current practices be relevant? Amazon has total freedom to reform its business practices in all relevant parts of its organization to solve this problem, and I would argue it's their responsibility. Those changes would likely not be at the order fulfillment level, but at the SKU creation/inventory acquisition/seller account approval level. Why not start a competing online marketplace, with better policing of knock-offs? I think this is already happening, with niche manufacturers opting to sell on their own websites instead of selling on Amazon because of these problems. Whoever is offering fulfillment services to such businesses is effectively doing this. In the future, perhaps Amazon will once again declare, "Your margins are our opportunity," once again and move in to the niche. Perhaps one day Amazon will use this maneuver one too many times.
  - CharlesColeman 8y ago
    > I have seen many complaints that in many cases, the original manufacturer's Amazon Fulfillment stocks are intermixed with the counterfeits. The people working knock-off policing are going to be running around the same space as the item runners. They won't be if Amazon stops commingling stock from different sources. Dumping everything into a big pile, then expecting pickers (or some other kind of hurried low-level worker) to sort out the fake/counterfeit items is probably the most impractical and inefficient way possible of addressing this problem. Amazon's problem is on the "input" side, so they should solve it there. > Why not start a competing online marketplace, with better policing of knock-offs? Someone could totally do that, but I was talking about fixing the problem at Amazon. No marketplace should be offering fakes and knockoffs, so competition isn't going to be a panacea.

CharlesColeman 8y ago

> Furthermore, most of the knock offs really relied on also knocking off the branding of the original, so searching on the brand name very specifically found all of the knock offs. That's only one class of knock off, and the easiest kind to police. > If they are operating at a pace where they get quantity wrong, just who at Amazon is going to take the time to inspect items and distinguish the fakes? That's a really weird assertion, since Amazon's current practices are totally irrelevant. It also makes no sense to talk about order pickers being the key part of any solution. Amazon has total freedom to reform its business practices in all relevant parts of its organization to solve this problem, and I would argue it's their responsibility. Those changes would likely not be at the order fulfillment level, but at the SKU creation/inventory acquisition/seller account approval level. Personally, I think Amazon should completely separate Amazon Marketplace from their main online store, and push it onto an entirely different site that's excluded from searches by default. Then they should rework the FBA into a program that has very high standards and accountability, and make it the only way 3rd party sellers can get things listed on the main Amazon site.

stcredzero 8y ago
That's only one class of knock off, and the easiest kind to police. What are the other classes of knock offs? That's a really weird assertion, since Amazon's current practices are totally irrelevant. I don't think it's weird at all. If Amazon is going to have human beings checking for knock-offs, they are going to have to look at physical items at one point. I have seen many complaints that in many cases, the original manufacturer's Amazon Fulfillment stocks are intermixed with the counterfeits. The people working knock-off policing are going to be running around the same space as the item runners. They are going to have high workloads. Why wouldn't Amazon's current practices be relevant? Amazon has total freedom to reform its business practices in all relevant parts of its organization to solve this problem, and I would argue it's their responsibility. Those changes would likely not be at the order fulfillment level, but at the SKU creation/inventory acquisition/seller account approval level. Why not start a competing online marketplace, with better policing of knock-offs? I think this is already happening, with niche manufacturers opting to sell on their own websites instead of selling on Amazon because of these problems. Whoever is offering fulfillment services to such businesses is effectively doing this. In the future, perhaps Amazon will once again declare, "Your margins are our opportunity," once again and move in to the niche. Perhaps one day Amazon will use this maneuver one too many times.
- CharlesColeman 8y ago
  > I have seen many complaints that in many cases, the original manufacturer's Amazon Fulfillment stocks are intermixed with the counterfeits. The people working knock-off policing are going to be running around the same space as the item runners. They won't be if Amazon stops commingling stock from different sources. Dumping everything into a big pile, then expecting pickers (or some other kind of hurried low-level worker) to sort out the fake/counterfeit items is probably the most impractical and inefficient way possible of addressing this problem. Amazon's problem is on the "input" side, so they should solve it there. > Why not start a competing online marketplace, with better policing of knock-offs? Someone could totally do that, but I was talking about fixing the problem at Amazon. No marketplace should be offering fakes and knockoffs, so competition isn't going to be a panacea.