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The real reason they don't want their thermometers sold on amazon is because they are merely official US distributors of the Thermapen which is made by a Britis
by jjeaff 6y ago
The real reason they don't want their thermometers sold on amazon is because they are merely official US distributors of the Thermapen which is made by a British company, ETI.
https://thermometer.co.uk/99-thermapen-thermometers https://thermometer.co.uk/99-thermapen-thermometers
You can buy them from European distributors in bulk for less than MSRP and sell them for the same price as thermoworks on amazon and still make a profit. The only reason they were going for $179 previously is because thermoworks was buying the thermometers from sellers and reporting them as counterfeit. Thus making it difficult for sellers to sell them which keeps supply low.
They have fraudulently filed copyright removals and counterfeit accusations on amazon multiple times for Thermapen listings that don't use the "thermoworks" name.
You can see that thermoworks does not own the Thermapen trademark.
https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:hvpe5e.3.2 https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:hv...
Edit: apparently, you can't link to a trademark search directly, so you would need to go to the basic search and enter"Thermapen".
https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=engli...
- thefourthchime 6y agoWow! Hackernews always delivers the real goods!
- randompwd 6y agoNot really. OP later confirmed: > jjeaff 2 hours ago [–] > It happened to me. The name of the purchaser came up in a Google search as an employee of Thermoworks. reply A disclaimer in his initial post would have been far more appropriate. Not so much savvy consumer as much as it he is disgruntled former competitor.
- mixologic 6y agoThe search says it expired.. but nevertheless this is pretty bold.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoUSPTO search results aren't directly linkable, unfortunately. You can see it through the "Basic Word Mark Search" at https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=engli...
- bushbaba 6y agoI thought you were joking about the price. But nope it’s actually a $100+ thermometer. Like I get paying that much for lab or industrial use if it’s highly accurate/precise. But for cooking…nobody will taste the difference between 0.1 degrees. And I’m not even sure it’s that accurate. It looks like a 10$ thermometer and I doubt it’s much better than one for cooking.
- secabeen 6y agoThe thermapen pro-grade unit also detects temperature much faster than most other units. Many cooks (myself included) use a food thermometer every day, and it's totally worth paying more for a durable, accurate, and fast unit. My current one is over 5 years old, and shows no sign of wearing out.
- sjm-lbm 6y agoAssuming you're actually asking, the appeal of the Thermapen for chefs is how fast it is - $10 thermometers are as (or more) accurate, but they'll take several seconds to stabilize on showing a certain temperature. Thermapens are crazy fast. That's very useful when your hand is near/in a hot oven or hovering over a hot stove.
- Frost1x 6y agoThe $20 knock-off I picked up on Amazon for a Christmas rib roast reads quite accurately based on a calibrated scientific thermometer I compared it to and stabilizes to a reading in about 1-3 seconds. I didn't realize it was a Thermapen knock off, just searched for a meat thermometer for a Christmas rib roast I wanted to turn out perfect (and it did). The old digital thermometers did the awhile but I think some of the new ones are pretty fast (and accurate).
- lincolnq 6y agoI'm a medium experienced home chef, and I have a Thermapen, and really like it. It's a better thermometer than the $10 one, or even a $30 one. The accuracy doesn't matter very much, but the reading speed does matter, and Thermapen reads extremely quickly.
- macNchz 6y agoThey discuss the relationship between the companies on their website https://blog.thermoworks.com/thermometer/thermoworks-eti-ltd/ https://blog.thermoworks.com/thermometer/thermoworks-eti-ltd...
- ThrowawayR2 6y agoInteresting to see this and contrast it with all the HN posters leaping to the conclusion that the unsubstantiated accusation of fraud from the GP poster is true and upvoting it. If one follows the link from the accuser, all it shows is that the trademark for "Thermapen" is registered to ETI, which is explained by the blog post on Thermoworks web site. Zero evidence of wrongdoing has been presented.
- jjeaff 6y agoThe evidence is right there in their own blog post. They are a distributor of the ETI Thermapen and nothing more except 'good friends' with the owners of ETI and that they have contributed design ideas to some versions of the Thermapen. Just as any distributor does. Note how they try to make it sound like they have some sort of ownership of the product, but the only thing they have ownership of is the Thermoworks name and a contract with ETI to be the sole US distributor. What in their blog post makes you think they have the right to claim copyright infringement for someone selling a Thermapen they bought directly from ETI?
- djrogers 6y agoThat doesn’t explain why you can’t buy them on Amazon.co.I’m > The only reason they were going for $179 previously is because thermoworks was buying the thermometers from sellers and reporting them as counterfeit. Thus making it difficult for sellers to sell them which keeps supply low. That’s a pretty severe accusation to throw around - have any proof to back it up?
- jjeaff 6y agoIt happened to me. The name of the purchaser came up in a Google search as an employee of Thermoworks.
- fireflash38 6y agoSo let me get this straight, you were selling thermapens on amazon, and therefore have a dog in the fight?
- joshuaissac 6y agoIf you exclude everyone who has a dog in the fight, then who is left to give their evidence?
- smeyer 6y agoYou don't have to exclude everyone who has a dog in the fight, but it's a bit rich to open up their post with "what thermoworks doesn't tell you is..." but then leave out their own involvement in the market.
- ryanlol 6y agoOnly a bit rich if you believe that he is actually selling counterfeits.
- jjeaff 6y agoThere are a bunch for sale on amazon.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MQN9MLL/ref=psdcmw_3187139031_t1_B076DGSTQB https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MQN9MLL/ref=psdcmw_31871...
- mherdeg 6y agoOk so the thing that Thermoworks markets as a "Thermapen Mk4" -- how much does that cost shipped to the US from a European vendor selling ETI products? I think I paid $60 for one on Thermoworks's web site during what they said was a sale, and I generally don't regret it vs. the crummy experiences I've had with cheaper food thermometers.
- gundmc 6y agoI bought a thermoworks dot and it has been a revelation for grilling.
- vmladenov 6y agohttps://thermometer.co.uk/thermapen-thermometers/1145-thermapen-professional-thermometers.html https://thermometer.co.uk/thermapen-thermometers/1145-therma... So that we compare like for like, I’m assuming you paid $60 pretax. £55 is $77.65 at present, which seems in line with paying $60 on sale.
- cbsks 6y agoJust because Thermoworks isn’t the original manufacturer of Thermapens doesn’t make their claims any less valid. They are presumably authorized to use the Thermapen trademark in the US, and are right to be angry at Amazon for allowing counterfeit products to be sold using that trademark.
- notatoad 6y agogenuine products being sold by an unauthorized retailer is not the same thing as counterfeit
- elliekelly 6y agoAmazon was serving ads for their trademark “at up to 50% off” when in reality only the knock-off brands were that cheap and the authentic versions sold by unauthorized resellers were going for 200% MSRP. That seems like an appropriate thing for them to be upset about from the trademark alone.
- jjeaff 6y agoSure, they can be upset at Amazon for misusing their brand name is product results, but that has been done for so long, i doubt there is any legal path to stop it from happening. Amazon is well within their right to show similar products when you search for a brand name. As for the high prices, tough luck. I'm America, when you buy something, you have the right to sell it at whatever price you want, for the most part.
- tomnipotent 6y ago> when you buy something, you have the right to sell it at whatever price you want As a consumer to other consumers, yes, but not as a business. Otherwise we wouldn't have things like MAP (minimum advertised price), which is enforceable by manufacturers. First-sale doctrine only covers so much.
- 6y ago
- YeBanKo 6y ago> The only reason they were going for $179 previously is because thermoworks was buying the thermometers from sellers and reporting them as counterfeit. Thus making it difficult for sellers to sell them which keeps supply low. Do you have anything, that supports this claim?
- namdnay 6y ago> You can buy them from European distributors in bulk for less than MSRP and sell them for the same price as thermoworks on amazon and still make a profit This sounds like the kind of business plan that breaks down once you consider returns and warranties. I see 3 possibilities, either (1) you make it clear to your buyers that they are not buying from thermoworks US, and that they must notcontact them for support and that you will meet the guarantees that Thermoworks promise (two years according to their website?), and therefore you will have to ship items back and forth across the atlantic (or just send free replacements), eating into your profits. (2) you don't make this clear, in which case Thermoworks US will receive "fraudulent" warranty claims (ie legitimate issues, but from people who did not buy from thermoworks). Maybe as the sole distributor in the US, thermoworks weren't even checking where people bought their thermometers from (3) you don't give the same warranty as Thermoworks, in which case is this crystal clear to the consumer?
- jjeaff 5y agoIt is a well made product, returns and defects were minimal (less than 1%) when I was selling them. I simply replaced any returns and would occasionally repair them myself or send them back when I had a box full of defective ones. Most defective returns were actually just a bad battery or misconfigured unit. When I sold them, my listing made no mention of Thermoworks. So I felt no obligation to spend time clarifying that the products could not be returned to Thermoworks for warranty servicing. Just like Walmart doesn't make it clear to buyers that they cannot return their product to Target. But I did actually match the warranty length that Thermoworks offers. Though I don't think I ever got a warranty claim outside of the 30 days or so that Amazon allows customers to return an item.