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Speaking only for myself: because...I don't see it in the stuff that I buy? I've bought tools from Amazon fairly recently. They're things that you could totall

Speaking only for myself: because...I don't see it in the stuff that I buy? I've bought tools from Amazon fairly recently. They're things that you could totally counterfeit if you were interested in doing so, but at the same time they're things that I can immediately identify as being either legitimate or indistinguishable from such. Like, I purchased a set of iGaging double squares on Amazon and tested them against my surface plate and my Starrett square. They pass. Maybe somebody's counterfeiting the thing and selling it at the same price to me, but it's also not a worse product, so I couldn't tell. I don't doubt that there's a lot of counterfeiting going on, because it's the internet, but it probably depends on what you buy as much as anything else. I'd be much more worried about substandard quality from buying things from the bajillion sellers with what sound like generated names (because they all look the same but did this one swap out component X for one that's a couple cents cheaper?) because there's no good way to control for it--but in those circumstances Amazon's return policy is also pretty great.

BeetleB 4y ago
I often avoid Amazon, but do purchase from them occasionally. If it's available for just a few dollars more, I buy it elsewhere. Just recently I found something $15 cheaper at Amazon and decided to go with them. I got something that very likely is used (some of the internal packages had been opened, outer container/box had creases, and had been clearly taped closed, etc). It was a time sensitive item so I couldn't return it and get a new one in time. Fitting that just when I told myself "Oh what the heck - I'm saving $15, let's just go with Amazon" I end up getting a used item sold as new.
- CommitSyn 4y ago
  Often Amazon is more expensive or the same price as other retailers.
  - eastbound 4y ago
    I believe Amazon increases the price with time, for a given customer. Now I can’t find anything cheap on Amazon, all the crap seems to be at +15€ compared to shops.
    - CommitSyn 4y ago
      It would be interesting to make a new account to test that. I assumed it's because they have so many millions of customers locked in with free ("free") prime shipping that they know they'll be fine price matching upwards as long as it's a similar price elsewhere online, because they are who most people I know think of when you "need something like tomorrow" and don't want to go shopping. I think a lot of sellers also include the shipping cost in the price of the item and ship it to Amazon so it can be PRIME-eligible.
CommitSyn 4y ago
I don't buy books much, but it's definitely an issue with electronic tools. Scales, calculators, heart rate and oxygen monitors, computer accessories, or really anything with cheap electronics that aren't _too_ complex and sells well is counterfeited. If you can find the components on tindie, then they can likely find them mass-produced and cheaper, and if it sells well and makes sense to have someone design a copy and manufacture it then they're going to. Whether it ends up on Amazon specifically is a different question. Typically it's a matter of when and how long, not if. Obviously this becomes an issue with tools because unless it's an exact copy being made in the same factory (which does happen with outsourced Chinese products and this is typically when you'll see /almost/ exactly the same product with 10 different listings and 10 different brand logos on them), it doesn't have the R&D and QA that the original product has. Even if they are made in the same factory, they don't necessarily have the same quality, latest software, or warranty of the original. Where the American company that outsourced that oxygen meter may have opted for the medical grade, consumer-safe plastic and tests each batch, the counterfeiters are happy to use the cheapest materials they can find, which are at best only lower-quality, and not actively unsafe. Counterfeiters make money through active deception, and money is the goal, so they will _never_ pay for the best materials and tech. If they can source the metal made with lead for 5% cheaper than the non-leaded equivalent, it's not even a question. They are going for the cheaper option, because that's 5% more profit.

BeetleB 4y ago

I often avoid Amazon, but do purchase from them occasionally. If it's available for just a few dollars more, I buy it elsewhere. Just recently I found something $15 cheaper at Amazon and decided to go with them. I got something that very likely is used (some of the internal packages had been opened, outer container/box had creases, and had been clearly taped closed, etc). It was a time sensitive item so I couldn't return it and get a new one in time. Fitting that just when I told myself "Oh what the heck - I'm saving $15, let's just go with Amazon" I end up getting a used item sold as new.

CommitSyn 4y ago
Often Amazon is more expensive or the same price as other retailers.
- eastbound 4y ago
  I believe Amazon increases the price with time, for a given customer. Now I can’t find anything cheap on Amazon, all the crap seems to be at +15€ compared to shops.
  - CommitSyn 4y ago
    It would be interesting to make a new account to test that. I assumed it's because they have so many millions of customers locked in with free ("free") prime shipping that they know they'll be fine price matching upwards as long as it's a similar price elsewhere online, because they are who most people I know think of when you "need something like tomorrow" and don't want to go shopping. I think a lot of sellers also include the shipping cost in the price of the item and ship it to Amazon so it can be PRIME-eligible.

CommitSyn 4y ago

I don't buy books much, but it's definitely an issue with electronic tools. Scales, calculators, heart rate and oxygen monitors, computer accessories, or really anything with cheap electronics that aren't _too_ complex and sells well is counterfeited. If you can find the components on tindie, then they can likely find them mass-produced and cheaper, and if it sells well and makes sense to have someone design a copy and manufacture it then they're going to. Whether it ends up on Amazon specifically is a different question. Typically it's a matter of when and how long, not if. Obviously this becomes an issue with tools because unless it's an exact copy being made in the same factory (which does happen with outsourced Chinese products and this is typically when you'll see /almost/ exactly the same product with 10 different listings and 10 different brand logos on them), it doesn't have the R&D and QA that the original product has. Even if they are made in the same factory, they don't necessarily have the same quality, latest software, or warranty of the original. Where the American company that outsourced that oxygen meter may have opted for the medical grade, consumer-safe plastic and tests each batch, the counterfeiters are happy to use the cheapest materials they can find, which are at best only lower-quality, and not actively unsafe. Counterfeiters make money through active deception, and money is the goal, so they will _never_ pay for the best materials and tech. If they can source the metal made with lead for 5% cheaper than the non-leaded equivalent, it's not even a question. They are going for the cheaper option, because that's 5% more profit.