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These days one of the biggest value adds of buying from Best Buy (over Amazon) is that you know you won't be getting counterfeit products. My confidence buying
by Fauntleroy 6y ago
These days one of the biggest value adds of buying from Best Buy (over Amazon) is that you know you won't be getting counterfeit products. My confidence buying consumer electronics from BB is far higher than from Amazon.
- miles 6y agoWho knew that Best Buy's USP was simply shipping the product you actually bought?
- rectang 6y ago(For those like me who don't know the jargon: USP in this context seems to stand for "unique selling point".)
- aspenmayer 6y agoThank you. I’ve seen that for years and thought it was related to the USP used in vitamin labeling, and knew that wasn’t right, but assumed it was a kind of UL type thing. Wrong context entirely.
- mlthoughts2018 6y agoThis feels tongue in cheek but it’s legit. As you scale the operation of being low latency (2 day Prime shipping) globally distributed (Amazon distribution network) CDN (stuff in warehouses) to the size of Amazon, it becomes a legit hard problem to match the per product validation that smaller retailers can achieve by drastically reducing and centralizing their distribution method (chain stores, focus on only one niche category of products like consumer electronics or specific clothing brand).
- dhosek 6y agoI think Amazon has reached the too big to succeed stage of its growth. Putting aside counterfeiting issues, just finding a product on Amazon can be a nightmare.
- mlthoughts2018 6y agoYou have to have great machine learning and information organization solutions to function at that scale and I think it’s where the seams really show on Amazon’s two pizza team approach and deeply fractured dogfooding approaches to rely on internal versions of their external ML consumer services.
- erik_seaberg 6y agoThe problem is that Amazon scaled by accepting sketchy merchandise from pseudonymous dropshippers who obviously aren't legit manufacturers. Retail customers shouldn't have to wonder where a product came from, that was the whole point of branding them.
- mlthoughts2018 6y agoNo, they got sketchy sellers after scaling (mostly as a bookseller).
- paulmd 6y agobest buy has real problems with fraud too, on r/datahoarder you can read on an almost daily basis about people finding drives that have had the original (expensive) drive removed, replaced with some crappy 500GB drive, and repackaged.
- afterburner 6y agoEr, unless you buy from a third party on the Best Buy website? Which is a thing I was disappointed to find out they started doing a while ago.
- wsatb 6y agoTheir shipping is also quite fast. At the beginning of the stay-at-home orders when Amazon was really struggling, I had couple of things delivered next day for free. It likely has to do with where you're at, but I was surprised because I had not ordered anything from Best Buy in ages when it would take anywhere from 5-14 days.
- mey 6y agoI tend to use other retailers for electronics, but this alone has driven me away from Amazon.
- justhw 6y agoExactly. It was years ago that I last stepped foot in a Best Buy but just in 2020 alone I've been 5 times already. If my purchase is electronics and above $50, I check Best Buy first for local pickup, then B&H Photo and amazon last.
- mrb 6y agoI spend $10k/year on Amazon. The only counterfeit product I've gotten? A crêpe spatula that was flimsy and clearly not like the product pictures. Am I lucky or are you guys not able to detect suspicious product listings/sellers? I see them sometimes. They are easy to avoid.
- tjr225 6y ago> Am I lucky or are you guys not able to detect suspicious product listings/sellers? I see them sometimes. They are easy to avoid. Perhaps the posters you are replying to are simply choosing to buy from places where they don’t have to spend the mental energy to do this. It seems kind of absurd to me(and I’m not trying to be negative towards you- I sparingly shop on Amazon due to its convenience) that a retailer can convince their buyers that this is normal.
- Swizec 6y ago> Am I lucky or are you guys not able to detect suspicious product listings/sellers? I see them sometimes. They are easy to avoid. This is a skill that shouldn’t be required on Amazon. You don’t walk into a supermarket carefully inspecting every item to make sure it isn’t shady. You expect the supermarket to do that for you. Shopping on amazon often feels like buying wares from a rolled out blanket on the sidewalk in comparison.
- shard 6y agoI thought part of the problem was the commingling of stock, so that even if the seller seems legit, the product you receive could be from a counterfeit seller?
- felipemnoa 6y ago>> I see them sometimes. They are easy to avoid. I think the point is that they shouldn't be there in the first place.
- antjanus 6y agoThere are certain items that are more susceptible: - kids toys - any kind of supplements/protein powder/etc. - cheaper electronics/cables/etc.
- brianwawok 6y agoSo I hear this line over and over in Hacker News. Do people really have that many authenticity issues? I average well into 5 figures a year on Amazon stuff. Have been for years. Have never had an authenticity issue. I buy sold by Amazon and 3rd party. Name brand and white label. Electronics and home goods. I’m just not getting it?
- hprotagonist 6y agoAfter one especially dangerous purchase from a Fulfilled By Amazon seller, I will no longer buy bicycle components on amazon. Nothing happened after i reported it, either.
- ardy42 6y ago> Nothing happened after i reported it, either. That's what's so infuriating about Amazon. Amazon should proactively police their store for counterfeits, but they don't. To add insult to injury, they won't even respond in a timely manner to reports of physically and economically impossible counterfeit items that are sold as part of a well known type of fraud [1]. [1] IIRC, I reported some "2TB" microsd cards selling for $10 a few years back, and the listings remained up for weeks. Had the same experience reporting price-gouging on N95 masks and hand sanitizer early in the pandemic, too.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- acrispino 6y agoI've received counterfeits of items worth as little as $15, fulfilled by Amazon.
- throwaway0a5e 6y agoI don't go into the five figures but I haven't had any issues. Or at least nobody who buys through my account has reported any. Pretty much none of it is high margin consumer stuff though. Kinda hard to fake plumbing fittings and fasteners without doing pretty much all the work it takes to do it right in the first place.
- kstrauser 6y agoThe ironic part of that for me is that Best Buy where I grew up had a terrible reputation for selling returned stuff as new, sometimes shoved into the wrong re-heatshrunk box. I'm glad someone's doing well against Amazon, but I'm utterly surprised that Best Buy is the one that came out smelling like a rose.
- bitexploder 6y agoAnd it’s all a bunch of low quality drek. And I dread buying name brand products. I have had to send back numerous 100-300 items back to amazon because they sent me obviously opened and damaged items or a counterfeit item. About 1/10 things I bought were garbage and not the right thing. This year I have seriously considered canceling Amazon prime.
- kstrauser 6y agoI’m not sure what’s going on with your orders. I’ve had a few Amazon misadventures, but they’re pretty far between. Pro tip: don’t buy the absolute cheapest version of a thing. If you’re looking for FooCorp’s Widgetmaster and most listings are for $75, don’t pick the $60 one.
- neltnerb 6y agoBut you have to go out of your way to do that, which means it will not be done by any meaningful number of people, which means that Amazon sees a benefit in it being as it is. Or else at least doesn't see enough benefit in fixing it. They may have the statistics to prove it, I still order from them and I have definitely gotten counterfeit goods but they've also consistently refunded my order when it gets messed up. Maybe they figure that the cost of fixing it is higher than the cost of replacing the item for the fraction of customers that notice.
- bitexploder 6y agoI avoid third party sellers. Most of the items are sold by Amazon themselves. They have serious problems. I think it depends on what you are buying and how unlucky you are.
- grej 6y agoExactly. I always buy electronic goods from BestBuy or Newegg for this reason, as soon as it became clear Amazon really doesn’t care that much about guarding against the counterfeiters
- justaguy88 6y agoI feel like they need to advertise it on the front door. "Our big online competitor is known for shipping counterfeits"
- felipemnoa 6y agoSomething tells me that they would get sued.
- Kaibeezy 6y agoConcur. Safer to imply it by saying: “WE are known for NOT selling counterfeits.”
- ceejayoz 6y agoTruth is an affirmative defense to libel.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoCan you libel a party without ever naming them?
- ceejayoz 6y agoYes. “My opponent is a pedophile” in a political race would still be libel. (Well, if untrue.)
- grej 6y agoThis. I always buy electronic goods from BestBuy or Newegg for this reason, as soon as it became clear Amazon really doesn’t care that much about guarding against the counterfeiters
- mikelward 6y agoHave you ever tried to return anything to Newegg? I just tried to return something. They wouldn't honor their returns policy. There are a lot of similar complaints.
- whoopdedo 6y agoAnd since the last ownership shuffle they've been emphasizing their version of 3rd-party marketplace and reducing the number of items they sell directly. One advantage I think they still have is slightly more informative reviews. Plus many vendors will monitor NewEgg for negative reviews and reach out to the customer to resolve the issue. That happens on Amazon too, but they aren't as transparent as when a review gets upgraded. Where on NewEgg you can see the vendor's reply.
- coldpie 6y agoYeah. I used to be all-Newegg for tech stuff, but the 3rd party marketplace made them no better than Amazon, so I quit bothering going to Newegg. Honestly, Best Buy is my first choice for tech stuff today, although their selection is more limited so I don't always buy from them.
- jimmaswell 6y agoI wanted a USB SATA reader in a hurry recently. Only thing Best Buy had was some odd looking $40 thing (might have been on a small sale) that came with a CD. The fancy one I got a while ago on Amazon was <$20 that had a power input for drives that needed it. The comparable one without that? $8. Five times cheaper. There's just no competition for price besides Wal Mart usually being pretty good and that's why I always go to Amazon first if it's something Wal Mart wouldn't have. Maybe I've had counterfeits but if so they were good enough I didn't notice. The problem seems extremely overblown, as someone who does a very high percentage of their shopping there.
- factotvm 6y agoDid you read in the article the part about Best Buy matching prices? That seems to undercut your assertion that price is a differentiator.
- kevinmgranger 6y agoOnly for the exact same item, no? They were almost certainly different brands.
- AnthonyMouse 6y agoThey've also started doing a thing where they have the manufacturer produce a different part number specifically for their store. Then even though it's the exact same item, they claim it isn't.
- giancarlostoro 6y agoThat sounds really wrong to me and dependant on the store itself. My local BestBuy stores would price match it. Hell I have asked a manager to lower the cost on a open box product that was their display machine. Saved me $150 if I remember correctly.
- sukilot 6y agoStarted? That's older than the average HN user.
- rietta 6y agoExtremely true. I have a Best Buy 2 miles from my house. I pretty much just use them for everything electronic that is mass market now. For boards and things MicroCenter. Won't buy from Amazon. Don't trust them at all to ship legitimate product.
- elandrum 6y agoSame with Target. I’ve switched nearly all of my household buying over to Target because they have an awesome app, good shipping, and no counterfeits.
- chaostheory 6y agoI used to feel the same about Target until my SO mentioned that they have a 3rd party marketplace now. Is that true? I didn't bother to check yet
- sukilot 6y agoYes and it's got the same counterfeits and totally fake garbage from the same sellers who sell on Amazon, Walmart, and Newegg.
- cvhashim 6y agoApparently its a curated list at the moment and invite only for 3rd party sellers. https://digiday.com/marketing/target-third-party-marketplace-sellers/ https://digiday.com/marketing/target-third-party-marketplace...
- chaostheory 6y agoI forget the specifics, but we've already seen some recent garbage listings on Target. This was a mistake.
- supernova87a 6y agoWell, maybe I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum. I worry that at Best Buy, I'm going to: 1) pay more than I should, 2) be buying someone's returned/opened merchandise that they just put back on the shelf, and 3) hassled if I discover it and try to return it.
- gdulli 6y agoBest Buy price matches Amazon: "We match local retail competitors (including their online prices) and these qualifying online retailers: Amazon.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, HP.com and TigerDirect.com."
- ziml77 6y agoI've never had trouble with their returns. The most painful part has been waiting in line at the returns counter.
- owenversteeg 6y agoYep, Best Buy has a customer for life in me because one time they replaced a nice laptop that was clearly outside the warranty. I was shocked and said it shouldn't be covered but the returns guy insisted. Whenever Best Buy comes up in conversation I mention my experience: the free PR they've gotten from that one return they gave me is probably half their total revenue by now :)
- iphone_elegance 6y agoI've been buying most of my non-apple hardware from them lately, nice delivery speed, easy return process (stores are everywhere) and mostly no third party sellers so far so good
- monadic2 6y agoMaybe online, but I don’t see many products at best buy worth counterfeiting. Do you have an example?
- toast0 6y agoI've certainly heard of counterfeit computer mice. Counterfeit movies, cds, and video games is easy to imagine. Headphones. Apple accessories.
- entropea 6y agoI bought my entire new 2020 gaming computer in individual parts, in person across 2-3 Best Buys in my area, except for the high end fans I wanted which came from Newegg. They're expanding what they carry, price match online, I get it immediately, and I know it's not counterfeit or a shady return they're selling me. Pretty sad Frys seems to (maybe) be going under. Especially since they'd price match. I heard they're having problems with suppliers and are still trying to stay open, but a visit to the store really looks hopeless for it's future.
- soganess 6y agoI also prefer buying best buy used over amazon "warehouse" used. Its way more likely the best buy used product is recently returned and in decent working order. I've got nothing but horror stories recently from amazon warehouse.