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> Isn’t this going to be true of any “pure” retailer? No. First-party retailers don't generally commingle stock with other third-party retailers. They typicall
by jacques_chester 6y ago
> Isn’t this going to be true of any “pure” retailer?
No. First-party retailers don't generally commingle stock with other third-party retailers. They typically have few suppliers, often one supplier, for each good. That's for many reasons, but it also makes it easy for them to identify who sent them counterfeits.
Amazon is discovering what old-fashioned retailers learned long ago: customers do not give a fuck who, ultimately, has injected the counterfeit. They will blame the retailer.
If I was Wal-Mart I would be absolutely hammering this point to customers. I'd be running ads about "Shamazon". Tearful mothers whose child got sick. Teens who saved up for a game system or phone and got a block of wood. Grandparents who bought medical equipment and got a faulty knockoff. Everything dangerous, disgusting, outrageous or even just annoying. I'd be carpet-bombing every channel with ads amplifying the message that Amazon can't guarantee what you get. Wal-Mart aren't saints, but their historical success has rested heavily on an incredibly tight grip of their supply chain and logistics. They do actually know what they have on the shelf.
- bcassedy 6y agoWalmart's online store is a mess of 3rd party options now too. I went looking for hair clippers at the start of the pandemic and all I could find were no-name brands offered by third party vendors on their website.
- cjsawyer 6y agoWhat’s left? Target and Best Buy?
- acomjean 6y agoI've had good luck ordering directly from companies. For me it was Nike, a yoga mat company, and some local toy retailers and a frame company. I still buy stuff from amazon, but not critical stuff. I knew things were going bad, when rock climbing gear was being counterfeited. (2011). https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/recalls/2011-2-21/Information--copies-counterfeit-products https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/recalls/2011-2-21/Informat... https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/b685vi/new_climbers_do_not_use_amazon_for_gear_unless/ https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/b685vi/new_climbe...
- bcassedy 6y agoYeah I've had good luck with Best Buy.
- jacques_chester 6y agoWell then. From my comfortable seat outside the arena, this seems like a squandered opportunity for Wal-Mart. (Also: is it Walmart or Wal-Mart?)
- lotsofpulp 6y agoYes, unfortunately even Target is getting into the 3rd party seller game. Which I wouldn't care about as long as I have an option to filter for only items sold by Target (or Walmart or whoever) and them stating they don't commingle on their website. I just go to the brand's official website nowadays and pay whatever they ask so I don't have to research what channel it's coming from.
- ConcernedCoder 6y agoyes! and have you thought about working in politics?
- jacques_chester 6y agoI did and eventually ran against my former boss (and came second last). I wasn't very good at it. But I learned a lot.
- boulos 6y agoOh, that comment wasn’t clear: I mean, any pure retailer is going to be better at this than Amazon (and so why single out Target) because unlike Amazon they know their vendors.