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Tattoo ink sold on Amazon has high levels of weird and rare bacteria
- onepointsixC 2y agoHow Amazon has face no repercussions for so many overtly fake products on their store completely baffles me.
- cut3 2y agoProbably something to do with sellers doing it through the platform, and I imagine AMAZON responds to the right amount of complaints legally required, though these are guesses. I also imagine its a complex and fun problem to try and solve. Ive noticed they have started in some ways, for example some brands are now labeled as "premium brand sourced" which means less likely to be fake.
- ethbr1 2y agoBecoming a B2B company fundamentally changed Amazon's business model. Previously (B2C): incentivized to deliver great customer experience to make money on increased sales volume and higher-price purchases Now (B2B): incentivized to deliver easy seller experience to make money on increasing number of sellers and sales volume To be fair, Amazon still cares a surprisingly amount about its end customers, when it doesn't need to, as a legacy of its rabidly awesome B2C days... ... but over time the company will continue to errode and optimize itself to its current customers (sellers). Why doesn't Amazon do more to strategically combat fakes / bad products? Because sellers literally don't care about that. It's not a priority for them, so it's not a priority for Amazon.
- yunwal 2y agoSellers definitely do care about this. Any seller who wants to maintain any sort of reputation as a high quality has stopped selling on Amazon. Amazon is now for the “we technically have QA but honestly don’t give a shit” sellers. Not quite alibaba but getting there.
- conception 2y agoBy any chance do you know where the quality folks have gone?
- alexdw_mgzi 2y agoOut of business.
- dspillett 2y agoI suspect many small players have simply stopped playing entirely. Most alternative selling platforms are a shit-show too so implies you are big enough to run a chunky platform yourself it is difficult to compete with the low quality low margin players.
- imtringued 2y agoMost likely Ebay. Amazon is built around a bait and switch tactic. If you buy anything directly from Amazon, the risk of a scam is minimal, this is the bait. However, the switch tactic is that they made it increasingly hard to order directly from Amazon by co-mingling and progressively decreasing the UI distinctions between items sold by third party sellers and Amazon. When it turns out that the article is popular and profitable, Amazon will introduce a "Amazon Basics" version of the product, where the product is branded in such a way, that it is obvious that only Amazon can sell it. The core distinction between Ebay and Amazon is that on Ebay each shop+product combination is its own listing and the seller reputation is put up front, with the buy button below the seller information. Meanwhile on Amazon there are product listings, with multiple sellers providing the same product and the seller name being put below the buy button. There is no obvious indication that you are buying from a third party seller on Amazon, whereas on Ebay you can only buy from third parties, so expectations adjust accordingly.
- itchyouch 2y agoHonestly, the new, high quality Amazon is shopify. Makes for using independent store fronts a breeze because almost every checkout experience through shopify shares a common login and CC info.
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- selcuka 2y ago> ... but over time the company will continue to errode and optimize itself to its current customers (sellers). Prime (no pun intended) example of enshittification [1]. [1] https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/
- j-bos 2y agoSeems reasonable, except Amazon regularly mixes inventory.
- giantg2 2y agoProbably the platform vs actor thing. Like hate speech on a platform that has some rudimentary reporting vs the person who actually wrote it. Most of the blame falls on the actor instead of the platform.
- fullshark 2y agoI bet the vast majority of amazon shoppers don't realize it's a platform and think of it as a store like the ones they physically shop in.
- rkho 2y agoA lot of those big box retailers have long opened up their digital storefronts to the "marketplace" concept too. Best Buy, Home Depot, and Walmart are the first three that come to mind.
- CommieBobDole 2y agoThe Walmart one is particularly egregious because most of the marketplace is just "item that Walmart sells except 5x the price" designed to ensnare old people who click on the wrong thing.
- handsclean 2y agoHire patsies. Motivate them by telling them they’re entrepreneurs. Every time somebody notices, act really shocked and offended, smack your patsy around (just the one they know about), coddle the customer (just the one who noticed). Bribe politicians to look the other way.
- metadat 2y agoEnd result: make a few grand. Or are you saying $AMZN does this at scale across every category? Hmm.. yikes.
- jordanb 2y agoThe patsies are the amazon marketplace sellers. The public and regulars have to play wack-a-mole on the thousands of disposable marketplace sellers and Amazon can act shocked shocked every time any particular marketplace seller is found to be a fraud.
- denkmoon 2y agoHave you seen the Amazon storefront recently? It's the world's biggest scam, valued at 1.86 trillion USD.
- GauntletWizard 2y agoThis is what they do with their logistics companies. Almost every Amazon delivery employee, driving an Amazon van, works for a "independent logistics contractor", and the rotate them every 2 years or so as the abuse becomes apparent. It's far from unique to amazon, though. The Microsoft employee/contractor decision in the 90s made it socially acceptable to treat contractors like shit, and it's been downhill since then.
- datavirtue 2y agoHmmm...contractors have a contract. Employees don't even get that, and half the pay.
- ravenstine 2y agoThe connection between Amazon and the intelligence community may speak to that. When the federal government needs you for something, it seems you can get away with many things scott free or with wrist-slaps. EDIT: This is not a secret, but by all means, keep downvoting me. https://aws.amazon.com/federal/us-intelligence-community/ https://aws.amazon.com/federal/us-intelligence-community/
- notinmykernel 2y agoAgree with this sentiment.
- onepointsixC 2y agoYou’re not getting down voted because it’s a secret. You’re getting down voted because it’s a red herring. The US shut down its primary nuclear pit production plant because of criminal environmental violations [1]. That was far more impactful than AWS is to national security. No company has a blank check. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant
- somethoughts 2y agoThe hypocrisy is apparent when you notice that the pretty much the only brand of products that miraculously does not have third party reseller listed (and hence escapes third party inventory commingling contamination issues) is the Amazon Basics. [1] [1] Only Amazon Resale third party resellers are shown https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Basics-Anodized-Non-stick-Stackable/dp/B0BFWH5FYM?ref_=ast_sto_dp https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Basics-Anodized-Non-stick-Stac...
- jjeaff 2y agoBrand owners can apply to have their brands sold only by themselves. I think it might not stop others from selling used, but it would stop the new listings.
- klik99 2y agoAmazon is an expert at toeing the line, be it monopoly laws or product liability. I thought it was their biggest mistake to join the race to the bottom when taobao started eating into their margins - I still wish they positioned themselves as the trusted alternative rather than peddle in fake goods, but in retrospect it looks like the right move for them (not consumers).
- randerson 2y agoI am surprised there have been no high profile stories of people dying due to knock-off consumables from Amazon or house fires caused by knock-off electrical items. It's a matter of time, and if it makes enough headlines it could open more people's eyes to the risks of shopping there.
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoThis video gives a good overview of how Amazon's NGAF attitude about safety needs to be reigned in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU&t=190s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU&t=190s If you are in the USA report unsafe products here: https://www.saferproducts.gov/ https://www.saferproducts.gov/
- beached_whale 2y agoLuckily, hopefully, that is changing https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/business/amazon-recalls-cpsc/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/business/amazon-recalls-cpsc/...
- madog 2y agoLast time I tried to report a fake product to Amazon it's literally impossible. It simply isn't one of the pre-determined options available through customer service, either the self service chat or to the advisers. The closest thing and what the advisers select would be "item not as described" which might be somewhat correct, but hides the problem to whatever reports get generated for management. Hard to believe that isn't intentional.
- riiii 2y agoI'm sure the horrified Amazon staff will deal with the problem swiftly by removing the listing from their website.
- latchkey 2y agohttps://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/sierra-stain-recalls-tattoo-pigments-because-possible-health-risk https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety...
- pseudolus 2y agoThis has the potential for an amazing superhero origin story.
- Havoc 2y agoPoints for optimism
- notorandit 2y agoOne more reason to stop tattooing.
- vasco 2y agoI find it a good litmus test for people. If you want to broadcast your low impulse control and bad decision making history, be my guest.
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- tired-turtle 2y agoI used to think this way, but I no longer feel the signal to noise ratio provides meaningful data, in particular because people do rash or unreasoned things and develop odd habits (that they later grow out of) in their 20s. That part of your adult life is about learning, after all. (I also don’t believe there isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with tattoos.) Moreover, having a tattoo isn’t necessarily a measure of low impulse control. I have friends who have ruminated for years about a certain tattoo. Plus, imputing bad decision making to having a tattoo is more a (cultural) projection on your part than anything else.
- vasco 2y agoBad or good decisions are always subjective to the goals and context, so of course I'm projecting my opinion when commenting on a comment section with my opinion. I do think less of someone with tattoos than someone without, and I've tried often not to, and have many friends with tattoos and would never ever say anything to anyone to make them feel bad about it. But my brain judges.
- llbeansandrice 2y agoYou should work on that
- maronato 2y ago
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- aynyc 2y agoAt this point, are there any educated consumers still use Amazon for critical things unless there is no alternative? My dad is as cheap as they get, even he doesn’t buy that stuff from Amazon.
- browningstreet 2y agoI buy a lot off Amazon and have never received a bad or bunk product, not even once.
- _yb2s 2y agoI’ll bet you just didn’t notice. A huge fraction of the name brand items I’ve bought on there were usable, but fake or knockoffs. You’d have to already own or be experienced with the real one to know. For example, I bought an electric shaver replacement blade on there. After 3 months it was dull and the paint flaked off. The real ones are not painted so don’t flake and last 6 months but I had to already know these facts to tell.
- browningstreet 2y agoI buy things. I get what I bought. Protein powders, USB chargers, ev charging parts, coffees, teas, brand name things, etc. I “buy again” and have no issues. I’ve bought direct from some vendors too (protein powders, oat bars, coffees…), shaving blades, and I get the same stuff I bought from Amazon. I do tend to buy from brand stores and not aggregators or unknown sellers (I’ve been an aggregator for sneakers, but I drop-shipped via the brands directly; I’m more than familiar with SellerCentral). And my argument isn’t that no one has these issues, but I’m pushing back on the “who even buys on Amazon anymore?” retort.
- 93po 2y agodo you chemically analyze your protein powder to see if it matches the real stuff? do you tear open your chargers to see if the internals are same as the real OEM? if not how are you so confident you're not getting counterfeits?
- notadoc 2y agoA close friend of mine is dealing with a variety of health issues due to heavy metal poisoning from their tattoos. Personally, I have never seen a case where tattoos improved someone's health, or appearance for that matter.
- echelon 2y ago> Personally, I have never seen a case where tattoos improved someone's health, or appearance for that matter. This is subjective. "Health" here might be taken to include mental health, in which case there could be many positive benefits. That said, there are some objectively bad health outcomes that can come from getting tattoos [1, 2]. Not that they necessarily will. [1] infections, autoimmune response, etc: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocd.14498 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocd.14498 [2] lymphoma: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/tattoos-may-increase-blood-cancer-risk-by-21 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/tattoos-may-increa...
- therein 2y agoLooking at the lymph nodes of tattooed individuals post-mortem is all anyone needs to see, and it is one Google search away.
- nerdjon 2y ago> This is subjective. "Health" here might be taken to include mental health, in which case there could be many positive benefits. 100% this. I have a tattoo on my forearm that just makes me happy to look at. It is nearly always partially in my vision while working due to its location. If I am having a bad day I can just look at it and smile. It reflects an important part of me. The mental health benefit of that, has been incredibly noticeable in my day to day. Could I have done something similar with a picture on my phone or something? Sure. But this clearly has a huge impact on my mental health so why not get it tattooed. Also my 5th tattoo so it wasn't a crazy idea for me.
- wongarsu 2y agoTattoos are certainly something where you have to be extra careful because of the potential health effects of bad needles or bad ink. And it's difficult to vet these things. Aesthetically it's a matter of taste, but I've certainly seen tattoos where I thought they improved the person's appearance. Though Sturgeon's law does apply.
- withinrafael 2y agoConfusingly, it appears the inks in question were knockoffs? The official manufacturer seems to be alive and well? Or maybe vice versa, hard to tell with Amazon these days. e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Bloodline-Tattoo-Selling-Colors-Stable/dp/B013F6YOZW https://www.amazon.com/Bloodline-Tattoo-Selling-Colors-Stabl...
- koollman 2y agopeople use weird and rare bacteria bottles sold on amazon as tatoo ink
- andrewstuart 2y agoInk quality and hygiene are the two best reasons to never get a tattoo.
- citruscomputing 2y agoIt's a real shame tattoo ink isn't regulated in the US, at all.
- nine_k 2y agoEven if not a regulation, a formal certification could help. "This is to certify that batch NNNNN contains no bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, organic poisons from the list available at https:// https://...". Then you choose which to buy.
- lagniappe 2y ago>Then you choose which to buy. And then Amazon sends your artist the comingled counterfeit ink from Storage Tote #29924
- kloop 2y agoThat does seem like the biggest risk for Amazon. As a platform, they can probably get around counterfeit items being listed/sold, but sending one from a different seller seems it might open them up to legal risk if Amazon knows there's counterfeits floating around. I'm sure we all accept the risk in the fine print somewhere, but that only matters until it makes the news and a politician thinks they can get reelected by going after them
- zrobotics 2y agoBut the free market solves everything....
- dukeofdoom 2y agoI bought a paddle board, nipheane or something like that for $200 from amazon last month. Previous one I bought is a body glove one from Costco for $499. All things considered, it's a smaller and lighter board and blows up twice as thick. It's like sometimes crappier build makes things lighter and more portable. So overall i was happy with the trade off. Even if it lasts half as long. I just bought it for summer BC camping trip and gifted it at the end. If it was $500 i probably would not have bought it for such short use.
- bluedays 2y agoWell when you get sick from the weird bacteria after buying tattoo ink on Amazon you can go Amazon Health to get better. It's the snake that keeps eating itself.
- nerdjon 2y agoThat's just glorious. I would assume that if this was a problem you would know pretty soon after getting a tattoo right? Like if my tattoos are fully healed and at least a few months old I should be in the clear? I don't see this mentioned in the article. Really don't like the idea of now needing to ask my artist about the source of their ink, but I also assume that Amazon likely isn't the only source of some bad ink.
- westcort 2y agoTattoo ink should be regulated as a medical product given the potential for contamination and infection. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/07/18/health/tattoo-ink-permanent-makeup-contamination-wellness https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/07/18/health/tattoo-ink-permane...
- shiroiushi 2y agoBy that logic, cigarettes should be regulated as medical products too, since they deliver mind-altering drugs to their users' bodies. But cigarettes have absolutely no valid medical use, and the same is true for tattoos: you're much better off without them in both cases.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 2y agoOutside infection, tattoos don't increase any health risks to my knowledge. They're not comparable to a literal poison, like cigarettes.
- shiroiushi 2y agoThey're injecting an artificial material under the skin; it may not have immediate health effects, barring contamination/infection (which itself is a real risk that shouldn't be ignored), but the long-term effects are less well understood. So, in a sense, they're similar to cigarettes that way: they affect your body, but how much? The long-term effects of cigarettes are much better understood today, but that wasn't the case 60 years ago when cigarettes were all the rage. But since so many people smoked like chimneys back then, we can now look at them today and see what their health is like, and compare to others who didn't smoke. 60 years ago, no one except sailors had tattoos, so no one investigated them much and there's not that much long-term data available (not many old people with tattoos to see the health effects). But, like in the 1960s with cigarettes, tattoos are all the rage today (in America), so in 30-60 years we'll be seeing the health effects of this craze. But the real point here is to respond to the OP's idea that tattoo ink should be regulated as a medical product. It's not a medical product, just like cigarettes aren't, piercings, aren't, etc. Medical products are things that are supposed to improve your health and affect your body, so of course there's no call to regulate cigarettes, alcohol, heroin, methamphetamine, or tattoo ink as medical products, because they simply aren't (they don't improve your health, nor claim to usually), even though they obviously can affect your health.
- mensetmanusman 2y agoGamma radiate the ink to fix.