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Shopping on Amazon has become like shopping on Canal Street in NYC (e.g. street lined with shops selling counterfeit goods). You never know what you’re going to

Shopping on Amazon has become like shopping on Canal Street in NYC (e.g. street lined with shops selling counterfeit goods). You never know what you’re going to get.

benjaminwootton 7y ago
I honestly think this is overblown on HN. We must have placed more than 100 orders a year as a family for approaching a decade, and I don’t think we’ve ever had a counterfeit. Not sure if it’s different in the UK.
- Alterlife 7y ago
  There's definitely a problem with fake or badly made goods on Amazon India. Scanning through some of the phone reviews a significant percentage of reviews will be talking about having received refurbished goods. I bought my iphone from Flipkart (another online retailer in India) because there were multiple reports that Apple will sometimes not honor the warranty for iphones purchased from Amazon
- randomacct3847 7y ago
  It is definitely not overblown. Easy to do simple searches on Amazon and compare to a site that doesn’t rely on 3rd party sellers like Best Buy. If you searched “wireless headphones” the top results are all knock off airpods and other suspect cheap Chinese made electronics with thousands of likely fake reviews. It’s a joke
  - pault 7y ago
    This is my biggest pet peeve with Amazon. I have given up on buying electronics multiple times because every search returns hundreds of no name Chinese knockoffs for every one reputable brand that I'm actually looking for. There is the option to select only certain brands, but if there are more than a few (which there always are because of the hundreds of knockoffs) it takes you to a page that only allows you to select one brand at a time. It's maddening and makes buying electronics on Amazon impossible. I don't know how they can not see how much friction they have in an industry where even the most trivial inconveniences cause exponential increase in bounce rates.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    > If you searched “wireless headphones” the top results are all knock off airpods and other suspect cheap Chinese made electronics with thousands of likely fake reviews. But isn't it a feature of all on-line shopping? If you type a generic query like this, you'll always get generic garbage as results. If you want to buy quality items, you search directly for those items - by their exact name or SKU. E-commerce storefronts are not useful for product discovery.
    - 52-6F-62 7y ago
      > E-commerce storefronts are not useful for product discovery. Probably a notable paradigm. E-commerce storefronts aren't so much for shopping as they are purchasing. There's definitely a bit of a difference. (That said I've actually had some luck on Amazon being able to get some lotion I liked from Hawaii here in Toronto and finding a deodorant I actually like. The former is an example of "purchasing", the latter "shopping".)
    - superhuzza 7y ago
      Amazon commingles inventory, so counterfeits end up in the same bins as real products. So even by ordering a specific product or SKU, from a reputable seller, you can still have a decent chance of getting a counterfeit. https://sellercentral.amazon.ca/gp/help/external/G200141480?language=en_CA https://sellercentral.amazon.ca/gp/help/external/G200141480?... https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zero/ https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zer... https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knockoffs-harm-outdoor-brands/ https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knoc...
- jesseb 7y ago
  Yeah I'm in the same boat. Easily over 100 orders and everything has been great, other than the occasional item damaged from shipping (which isn't exactly their fault). I am in Canada, though.
- traek 7y ago
  I thought so too, but I’ve had (non-tech, non-Bay Area) friends start ordering household items from Target instead of Amazon because of experiences like knockoff nail clippers and purple shampoo. It could just be my circle of friends, but from my vantage point it feels like Amazon is starting to do serious damage to their brand.
- superhuzza 7y ago
  Definitely not overblown. I personally know people who have ordered sports equipment from Amazon and found it be fake. Extremely dangerous because some of it was climbing equipment. Luckily they were wary of the Amazon goods, got refunded and went to the MEC instead. "Firstly, Amazon commingles fake and genuine goods in their warehouses. Here’s what happens: You buy a real Arc’teryx jacket, paying the full price, from an approved Arc’teryx retailer selling on Amazon, but you get shipped a substandard copy. This occurs because, in the warehouse, the “same” items have identical internal reference codes independent of the retailer." https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knockoffs-harm-outdoor-brands/ https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knoc...
  - username223 7y ago
    That's surprisingly evil. Someone selling niche maps with a market in the hundreds or low thousands was ripped off by counterfeiters on Amazon.
  - erik_seaberg 7y ago
    Arc'teryx is the manufacturer. Amazon is the retailer, they're adding fulfillment and collections. Why are these randoms even involved? If I wanted eBay I know where to find it.
- aussiegreenie 7y ago
  You did receive fake goods. About 3-5% of all sales are counterfeit.

Shopping on Amazon has become like shopping on Canal Street in NYC (e.g. street lined with shops selling counterfeit goods). You never know what you’re going to get.

benjaminwootton 7y ago

I honestly think this is overblown on HN. We must have placed more than 100 orders a year as a family for approaching a decade, and I don’t think we’ve ever had a counterfeit. Not sure if it’s different in the UK.

Alterlife 7y ago
There's definitely a problem with fake or badly made goods on Amazon India. Scanning through some of the phone reviews a significant percentage of reviews will be talking about having received refurbished goods. I bought my iphone from Flipkart (another online retailer in India) because there were multiple reports that Apple will sometimes not honor the warranty for iphones purchased from Amazon
randomacct3847 7y ago
It is definitely not overblown. Easy to do simple searches on Amazon and compare to a site that doesn’t rely on 3rd party sellers like Best Buy. If you searched “wireless headphones” the top results are all knock off airpods and other suspect cheap Chinese made electronics with thousands of likely fake reviews. It’s a joke
- pault 7y ago
  This is my biggest pet peeve with Amazon. I have given up on buying electronics multiple times because every search returns hundreds of no name Chinese knockoffs for every one reputable brand that I'm actually looking for. There is the option to select only certain brands, but if there are more than a few (which there always are because of the hundreds of knockoffs) it takes you to a page that only allows you to select one brand at a time. It's maddening and makes buying electronics on Amazon impossible. I don't know how they can not see how much friction they have in an industry where even the most trivial inconveniences cause exponential increase in bounce rates.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  > If you searched “wireless headphones” the top results are all knock off airpods and other suspect cheap Chinese made electronics with thousands of likely fake reviews. But isn't it a feature of all on-line shopping? If you type a generic query like this, you'll always get generic garbage as results. If you want to buy quality items, you search directly for those items - by their exact name or SKU. E-commerce storefronts are not useful for product discovery.
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    > E-commerce storefronts are not useful for product discovery. Probably a notable paradigm. E-commerce storefronts aren't so much for shopping as they are purchasing. There's definitely a bit of a difference. (That said I've actually had some luck on Amazon being able to get some lotion I liked from Hawaii here in Toronto and finding a deodorant I actually like. The former is an example of "purchasing", the latter "shopping".)
  - superhuzza 7y ago
    Amazon commingles inventory, so counterfeits end up in the same bins as real products. So even by ordering a specific product or SKU, from a reputable seller, you can still have a decent chance of getting a counterfeit. https://sellercentral.amazon.ca/gp/help/external/G200141480?language=en_CA https://sellercentral.amazon.ca/gp/help/external/G200141480?... https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zero/ https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zer... https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knockoffs-harm-outdoor-brands/ https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knoc...
jesseb 7y ago
Yeah I'm in the same boat. Easily over 100 orders and everything has been great, other than the occasional item damaged from shipping (which isn't exactly their fault). I am in Canada, though.
traek 7y ago
I thought so too, but I’ve had (non-tech, non-Bay Area) friends start ordering household items from Target instead of Amazon because of experiences like knockoff nail clippers and purple shampoo. It could just be my circle of friends, but from my vantage point it feels like Amazon is starting to do serious damage to their brand.
superhuzza 7y ago
Definitely not overblown. I personally know people who have ordered sports equipment from Amazon and found it be fake. Extremely dangerous because some of it was climbing equipment. Luckily they were wary of the Amazon goods, got refunded and went to the MEC instead. "Firstly, Amazon commingles fake and genuine goods in their warehouses. Here’s what happens: You buy a real Arc’teryx jacket, paying the full price, from an approved Arc’teryx retailer selling on Amazon, but you get shipped a substandard copy. This occurs because, in the warehouse, the “same” items have identical internal reference codes independent of the retailer." https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knockoffs-harm-outdoor-brands/ https://www.climbing.com/gear/counterfeited-how-illegal-knoc...
- username223 7y ago
  That's surprisingly evil. Someone selling niche maps with a market in the hundreds or low thousands was ripped off by counterfeiters on Amazon.
- erik_seaberg 7y ago
  Arc'teryx is the manufacturer. Amazon is the retailer, they're adding fulfillment and collections. Why are these randoms even involved? If I wanted eBay I know where to find it.
aussiegreenie 7y ago
You did receive fake goods. About 3-5% of all sales are counterfeit.