That can happen anywhere, through any medium (e.g. bricks in a box instead of a PS4 from Best Buy). It seems amply evident, despite the recurring horror stories

That can happen anywhere, through any medium (e.g. bricks in a box instead of a PS4 from Best Buy). It seems amply evident, despite the recurring horror stories on HN, that most customers are having a pretty decent time of using Amazon. In any case, isn't the author's scenario pretty bizarre? I had no idea that Amazon served as a mechanism for selling one-off small scale used items. Further the author mentions that it would be cheaper buying and selling than renting...only this is precisely the risk you need to factor in buying and selling (which could have been a fake cheque, getting rolled during the exchange, etc).