Oh there is a very clear distinction, and even one aspect of it that is even super clear for an end user like you and me: warranty (it's not the only or even ma

Oh there is a very clear distinction, and even one aspect of it that is even super clear for an end user like you and me: warranty (it's not the only or even main one, but it's one that as direct effect for you and me when we buy things). Current law for electronics is, 2 year warranty minimum, your point of contact is the seller. Oftentimes after a few month they redirect you to the manufacturer for the warranty, but if you get in conflict with him, in terms of the law, the onus of the 2 year warranty is on the seller. So if I buy a Samsung phone in Carrefour, and my phone fails, usually after the first week they will redirect me to Samsung, but if Samsung refuses to deal with me for one reason or another, it's Carrefour that has the obligation to fix my issue. The law was made that way with the benefit of the end user in sight, I used Samsung but I could have used "random brand with no presence here and very hard to contact", so since it's the store that sold it to you, they are the one responsible to fix the issue. When going through a marketplace, the seller is not the marketplace. Now, Amazon is rather clean on that one, and they deal with it as if they were, but buy from Cdiscount's or Fnac.com's marketplace and quickly you realize that hiding behind "I'm a marketplace" covers their ass since you need to deal with the actual seller, even if it's some random chinese import company. And in the end, whether the distinction are large or not doesn't matter, they're two different things with different rights and obligations, and you're one, you can't benefit of being the other.