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> Absolutely none of that is Amazon's fault. This is 100% Amazon's fault. If you are going to be a seller, a platform and a supplier you need to verify the au

by ProAm 7y ago

> Absolutely none of that is Amazon's fault. This is 100% Amazon's fault. If you are going to be a seller, a platform and a supplier you need to verify the authenticity of the goods provided. Especially if you set prices, shipping options and take a cut of sales. This has been going on for years, its just be exacerbated now. I placed an order and was given a estimated delivery 5 weeks out.

crazygringo 7y ago
Does eBay verify authenticity? No. No reasonable 3rd party marketplace dealing with millions of products can. And again... estimated delivery 5 weeks out is because of a pandemic. Or because you ordered something from a third party that shipped from China. Or it was out of stock, which is a normal thing to happen sometimes in any business.
- bnjms 7y ago
  Then Amazon shouldn’t mix being a first party marketplace with being a third party marketplace. They take care of distribution and refunds so at least some of the responsibility falls on them as long as they keep playing peekaboo with who the source of Amazon items is. Amazon should have a separate logo style for pages not sold by Amazon.
  - burrows 7y ago
    > Then Amazon shouldn’t mix being a first party marketplace with being a third party marketplace. If this bothers people, they should stop using Amazon. Problem solved.
    - tguedes 7y ago
      How does that solve the problem? By showing 3rd party products next to their own, they make it seem like Amazon has given their approval of that product, when that is absolutely not the case. Walmart is responsible for every product sold in their store, the same is not case for Amazon. This is the problem with so many internet companies, they want all the upside without the responsibility.
      - sokoloff 7y ago
        Walmart has third-party sellers in their online store as well.
- scoopdewoop 7y ago
  Ebay has seller reviews, and I know who the seller actually is. More importantly, ebay doesn't mix the inventory of every seller. I buy everything I can on AliExpress now, because if I'm gonna get chinese knock-offs, they should at least be cheap.
  - ganstyles 7y ago
    To your first point, eBay has started the dark pattern of not really displaying seller reviews. You can still see them if you're looking for them specifically, but the main stars they post at the top is now a review for the item itself, not the seller. I just got burned last week, complete with fake UPS tracking number. When my item didn't arrive, I checked with the seller and the seller no longer existed and the item was removed for ToS violations. To its credit, eBay gave me an immediate refund, but had I realized the seller had been brand new with zero reviews, I would have thought twice.
  - crazygringo 7y ago
    > Ebay has seller reviews, and I know who the seller actually is. So does Amazon, when fulfilled by the seller, which many are. They're exactly the same in this regard.
    - erik_seaberg 7y ago
      Amazon commingles inventory with the same SKU. You can choose a legit manufacturer, and they get credit for the sale, but you could still receive a counterfeit item that was actually stocked by some scammer. (Later someone may choose to buy from the scammer and get a genuine item by mistake.)
- brandon272 7y ago
  eBay and Amazon are apples and oranges. eBay is an auction site where all the products you buy are from a random third party seller. Period. Amazon is a mix of of their own products, products they sell and fulfill on behalf of third parties and transactions they merely facilitate while the third party is responsible for fulfillment. While the distinction between these products may seem obvious to you or I, many typical consumers I talk to who use Amazon seem baffled when I mention that not everything Amazon sells actually comes from or is fulfilled by Amazon. Their UI to describe these different purchasing scenarios is vague at best.
- ardy42 7y ago
  > Does eBay verify authenticity? No. No reasonable 3rd party marketplace dealing with millions of products can. Not exactly, but IIRC eBay puts seller reputation front and center, while Amazon greatly obscures it. Amazon's focus on "product reputation" and near-total lack of emphasis on "seller reputation" also enables certain kinds of fraud (e.g. using inventory commingling to launder counterfeits, transferring ratings from one product to an entirely unrelated one by rewriting the listing).

by ProAm 7y ago

crazygringo 7y ago

Does eBay verify authenticity? No. No reasonable 3rd party marketplace dealing with millions of products can. And again... estimated delivery 5 weeks out is because of a pandemic. Or because you ordered something from a third party that shipped from China. Or it was out of stock, which is a normal thing to happen sometimes in any business.

bnjms 7y ago
Then Amazon shouldn’t mix being a first party marketplace with being a third party marketplace. They take care of distribution and refunds so at least some of the responsibility falls on them as long as they keep playing peekaboo with who the source of Amazon items is. Amazon should have a separate logo style for pages not sold by Amazon.
- burrows 7y ago
  > Then Amazon shouldn’t mix being a first party marketplace with being a third party marketplace. If this bothers people, they should stop using Amazon. Problem solved.
  - tguedes 7y ago
    How does that solve the problem? By showing 3rd party products next to their own, they make it seem like Amazon has given their approval of that product, when that is absolutely not the case. Walmart is responsible for every product sold in their store, the same is not case for Amazon. This is the problem with so many internet companies, they want all the upside without the responsibility.
    - sokoloff 7y ago
      Walmart has third-party sellers in their online store as well.
scoopdewoop 7y ago
Ebay has seller reviews, and I know who the seller actually is. More importantly, ebay doesn't mix the inventory of every seller. I buy everything I can on AliExpress now, because if I'm gonna get chinese knock-offs, they should at least be cheap.
- ganstyles 7y ago
  To your first point, eBay has started the dark pattern of not really displaying seller reviews. You can still see them if you're looking for them specifically, but the main stars they post at the top is now a review for the item itself, not the seller. I just got burned last week, complete with fake UPS tracking number. When my item didn't arrive, I checked with the seller and the seller no longer existed and the item was removed for ToS violations. To its credit, eBay gave me an immediate refund, but had I realized the seller had been brand new with zero reviews, I would have thought twice.
- crazygringo 7y ago
  > Ebay has seller reviews, and I know who the seller actually is. So does Amazon, when fulfilled by the seller, which many are. They're exactly the same in this regard.
  - erik_seaberg 7y ago
    Amazon commingles inventory with the same SKU. You can choose a legit manufacturer, and they get credit for the sale, but you could still receive a counterfeit item that was actually stocked by some scammer. (Later someone may choose to buy from the scammer and get a genuine item by mistake.)
brandon272 7y ago
eBay and Amazon are apples and oranges. eBay is an auction site where all the products you buy are from a random third party seller. Period. Amazon is a mix of of their own products, products they sell and fulfill on behalf of third parties and transactions they merely facilitate while the third party is responsible for fulfillment. While the distinction between these products may seem obvious to you or I, many typical consumers I talk to who use Amazon seem baffled when I mention that not everything Amazon sells actually comes from or is fulfilled by Amazon. Their UI to describe these different purchasing scenarios is vague at best.
ardy42 7y ago
> Does eBay verify authenticity? No. No reasonable 3rd party marketplace dealing with millions of products can. Not exactly, but IIRC eBay puts seller reputation front and center, while Amazon greatly obscures it. Amazon's focus on "product reputation" and near-total lack of emphasis on "seller reputation" also enables certain kinds of fraud (e.g. using inventory commingling to launder counterfeits, transferring ratings from one product to an entirely unrelated one by rewriting the listing).