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Is it possible there's a gulf between Amazon.com and Amazon.ca when it comes to these issues? Maybe it's just in what I shop for but I haven't received a singl

Is it possible there's a gulf between Amazon.com and Amazon.ca when it comes to these issues? Maybe it's just in what I shop for but I haven't received a single counterfeit item, or come across fraudulent listings. I've seen my fair share of imitation (and probably trademark-infringing) products and cheap crap, but I try and avoid that stuff. So my experience has largely been positive—but there's no shortage of horror stories. That seems the norm around this board. So I wonder is it just worse on the American side? (for reasons of volume or targeted marketing or whatever)

colejohnson66 8y ago
I’m in America and I too am confused at all the negative comments about counterfeits. I’ve personally ordered hundreds of items from Amazon, but never a counterfeit
- rattlesnakedave 8y ago
  HN is legitimately the only place I’ve seen this complaint. I really wonder if it’s HNs buying practices that are the problem.
  - daniel-cussen 8y ago
    Well I suppose this comment is HN too from your perspective, but I also thought it was all HN until it happened to me. I was looking for Apple earphones, and found Apple earphones, and ordered them and it all looked great until they showed up, with a little cable tie in a clear plastic bag. And they worked, but when I then ordered Apple earphones off the Apple Apple branded Apple part of Amazon (which took a while to find and is covered in ads of knockoff Apple) I ordered them at the much higher price of $29.99. They arrived packaged in legit Apple trade dress, and I unfolded them from the cardboard packaging which I then used for the first Apple-but-not-Apple-Apple earphones. I first compared the two and sure enough they had minute differences and the Apple-Apple earphones sounded better...hard to say why but noticeably, and were louder at max volume, which is a difficult technical accomplishment. And the mic and buttons worked properly. Plus that packaging was as beautiful as Apple packaging has always been, I regarded it when it was empty as a paper insect that could be pinned to framed insectologist menagerie. At any rate, I didn't lose much money and got more or less what I wanted, but... Acting as a basic Joe Consumer I can tell fakes from reals with nothing but a browser, three minutes, and a simple checklist. Why can't Amazon which has a fucking battalion of mercenary machine learning cyborgs do the same a trillion times faster and cheaper and save me the (I can't believe I'm logging on to Amazon to check how much I wasted...) $12.70 I blew buying from "CR Land"?
- astura 8y ago
  Would you be able to tell if you got this fake? I probably wouldn't unless I already had one. https://www.wideopenspaces.com/fake-yeti-ramblers-on-the-rise-find-out-how-to-spot-the-not/ https://www.wideopenspaces.com/fake-yeti-ramblers-on-the-ris...
- EForEndeavour 8y ago
  Maybe it's paranoia induced by the topic at hand, but I can't tell if your positive Amazon experience is genuine or counterfeit.
- dehue 8y ago
  Maybe you have just been lucky. I am in Amerina and have gotten poor quality items before from Amazon. I now try to check everything I buy from there and avoid the site altogether if I can. Some examples of bad products I have gotten are cheap usb cables which did not work, phone cases which peeled after 2 weeks of use and a coffee mug with a blurry poor picture printed on it. I have also found many very suspicious products that are very underpriced and have all 5 star reviews which get an F on fakespot.
- sytelus 8y ago
  Try getting things like Duracell and other frequently consumables. I think most people are rarely aware that they are actually buying counterfeits. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/amazon-may-have-a-counterfeit-problem/558482/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/amazo... https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zero/ https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zer... https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/amazon-announces-project-zero-to-reduce-counterfeit-products.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/amazon-announces-project-zer... https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-ups-its-anti-counterfeit-game/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-ups-its-anti-co... https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/amazon-caught-selling-counterfeits-of-publishers-computer-books-again/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/amazo...

colejohnson66 8y ago

I’m in America and I too am confused at all the negative comments about counterfeits. I’ve personally ordered hundreds of items from Amazon, but never a counterfeit

rattlesnakedave 8y ago
HN is legitimately the only place I’ve seen this complaint. I really wonder if it’s HNs buying practices that are the problem.
- daniel-cussen 8y ago
  Well I suppose this comment is HN too from your perspective, but I also thought it was all HN until it happened to me. I was looking for Apple earphones, and found Apple earphones, and ordered them and it all looked great until they showed up, with a little cable tie in a clear plastic bag. And they worked, but when I then ordered Apple earphones off the Apple Apple branded Apple part of Amazon (which took a while to find and is covered in ads of knockoff Apple) I ordered them at the much higher price of $29.99. They arrived packaged in legit Apple trade dress, and I unfolded them from the cardboard packaging which I then used for the first Apple-but-not-Apple-Apple earphones. I first compared the two and sure enough they had minute differences and the Apple-Apple earphones sounded better...hard to say why but noticeably, and were louder at max volume, which is a difficult technical accomplishment. And the mic and buttons worked properly. Plus that packaging was as beautiful as Apple packaging has always been, I regarded it when it was empty as a paper insect that could be pinned to framed insectologist menagerie. At any rate, I didn't lose much money and got more or less what I wanted, but... Acting as a basic Joe Consumer I can tell fakes from reals with nothing but a browser, three minutes, and a simple checklist. Why can't Amazon which has a fucking battalion of mercenary machine learning cyborgs do the same a trillion times faster and cheaper and save me the (I can't believe I'm logging on to Amazon to check how much I wasted...) $12.70 I blew buying from "CR Land"?
astura 8y ago
Would you be able to tell if you got this fake? I probably wouldn't unless I already had one. https://www.wideopenspaces.com/fake-yeti-ramblers-on-the-rise-find-out-how-to-spot-the-not/ https://www.wideopenspaces.com/fake-yeti-ramblers-on-the-ris...
EForEndeavour 8y ago
Maybe it's paranoia induced by the topic at hand, but I can't tell if your positive Amazon experience is genuine or counterfeit.
dehue 8y ago
Maybe you have just been lucky. I am in Amerina and have gotten poor quality items before from Amazon. I now try to check everything I buy from there and avoid the site altogether if I can. Some examples of bad products I have gotten are cheap usb cables which did not work, phone cases which peeled after 2 weeks of use and a coffee mug with a blurry poor picture printed on it. I have also found many very suspicious products that are very underpriced and have all 5 star reviews which get an F on fakespot.
sytelus 8y ago
Try getting things like Duracell and other frequently consumables. I think most people are rarely aware that they are actually buying counterfeits. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/amazon-may-have-a-counterfeit-problem/558482/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/amazo... https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zero/ https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fake-products-project-zer... https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/amazon-announces-project-zero-to-reduce-counterfeit-products.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/amazon-announces-project-zer... https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-ups-its-anti-counterfeit-game/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-ups-its-anti-co... https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/amazon-caught-selling-counterfeits-of-publishers-computer-books-again/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/amazo...