3 ms·

Ya can’t tell me Bezos doesn’t know this. How isn’t this enabling fraud? Shouldn’t be able to completely change the listing. Versión bumps might be ok maybe?

jjeaff 6y ago
I believe completely changing the listing can sometimes trigger a review. But most of the times, they change it slowly in separate revisions so it is impossible to detect.
- fiblye 6y ago
  It shouldn’t be impossible. Diff the latest revision with the first. If it’s simply a revision of an existing product, things don’t change that much. If it’s substantially different, it’s simply a new product. Even small revisions of products usually get entirely new product names and numbers. It’s weird to let one product hang around for 10 years and go through several changes. Hell, don’t let the product name change. Have a base name and an extension that can be appended and edited, with a text requirement for each (eg 12 characters minimum for the product name and 30 characters max for revision extension.) Do something similar with the description content and have a space for product changes/enhancements following an uneditable and mandatory product description.
  - teddyh 6y ago
    You’re trying to solve a social problem with a technological solution. The social problem is that Amazon doesn’t want to fix this. What Amazon wants is more sales, and as long as this kind of thing does not impact what they want, it would be a waste of money to do something which would not benefit them. Meanwhile, Amazon is a huge market for lemons¹ which drives out all sellers except the cheap junk ones, while simultaneously being so absolutely huge that nobody can realistically stop selling on Amazon or stop buying from Amazon. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons
- acdha 6y ago
  It’s not that hard to do text similarity tests, but they also don’t need to: simply having a survey or report button would make this scam harder to pull off. You could even toss in a bounty like they do for choosing slower shipping. Amazon doesn’t because they don’t care. It must not be costing them much money because we know they’re watching the numbers closely.
heelix 6y ago
I've bumped into this when I went back to buy more. This was a "Ultralight Backpacking Canister Camp Stove with Piezo Ignition 3.9oz!" for about $8. Now it is some sort of headphone jack. Several things like that, where the product that was previously ordered... changed. Most of the comments for this one are still about the stove. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88
- sbelskie 6y ago
  That’s egregious. Why is so hard to find any kind of report button on the page (on mobile)? I’d like to at least tick some box saying something is amiss but I can’t find anything.
  - bbarnett 6y ago
    Amazon does not care, and various reports have shown them actively suggesting it at times. All Amazon cares about is sales. Nothing else.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  They didn’t even change the description, lol
- userbinator 6y ago
  A headphone adapter that has "PIEZO ignition" and "Adjustable flame"... I've come across things like that but assumed they were weird database glitches. Didn't think they were deliberate. I wonder if that's also what happened to this one, although it's only the picture that's out of place (but also amusingly relevant): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLGZD46 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLGZD46
  - TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
    Are 400GB micro SD cards actually a thing? Am I out of touch. Someone should weaponise the ability to change the product description to embarrass Amazon in to fixing the problem.

jjeaff 6y ago

I believe completely changing the listing can sometimes trigger a review. But most of the times, they change it slowly in separate revisions so it is impossible to detect.

fiblye 6y ago
It shouldn’t be impossible. Diff the latest revision with the first. If it’s simply a revision of an existing product, things don’t change that much. If it’s substantially different, it’s simply a new product. Even small revisions of products usually get entirely new product names and numbers. It’s weird to let one product hang around for 10 years and go through several changes. Hell, don’t let the product name change. Have a base name and an extension that can be appended and edited, with a text requirement for each (eg 12 characters minimum for the product name and 30 characters max for revision extension.) Do something similar with the description content and have a space for product changes/enhancements following an uneditable and mandatory product description.
- teddyh 6y ago
  You’re trying to solve a social problem with a technological solution. The social problem is that Amazon doesn’t want to fix this. What Amazon wants is more sales, and as long as this kind of thing does not impact what they want, it would be a waste of money to do something which would not benefit them. Meanwhile, Amazon is a huge market for lemons¹ which drives out all sellers except the cheap junk ones, while simultaneously being so absolutely huge that nobody can realistically stop selling on Amazon or stop buying from Amazon. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons
acdha 6y ago
It’s not that hard to do text similarity tests, but they also don’t need to: simply having a survey or report button would make this scam harder to pull off. You could even toss in a bounty like they do for choosing slower shipping. Amazon doesn’t because they don’t care. It must not be costing them much money because we know they’re watching the numbers closely.

heelix 6y ago

I've bumped into this when I went back to buy more. This was a "Ultralight Backpacking Canister Camp Stove with Piezo Ignition 3.9oz!" for about $8. Now it is some sort of headphone jack. Several things like that, where the product that was previously ordered... changed. Most of the comments for this one are still about the stove. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88

sbelskie 6y ago
That’s egregious. Why is so hard to find any kind of report button on the page (on mobile)? I’d like to at least tick some box saying something is amiss but I can’t find anything.
- bbarnett 6y ago
  Amazon does not care, and various reports have shown them actively suggesting it at times. All Amazon cares about is sales. Nothing else.
saagarjha 6y ago
They didn’t even change the description, lol
userbinator 6y ago
A headphone adapter that has "PIEZO ignition" and "Adjustable flame"... I've come across things like that but assumed they were weird database glitches. Didn't think they were deliberate. I wonder if that's also what happened to this one, although it's only the picture that's out of place (but also amusingly relevant): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLGZD46 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLGZD46
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
  Are 400GB micro SD cards actually a thing? Am I out of touch. Someone should weaponise the ability to change the product description to embarrass Amazon in to fixing the problem.