5 ms·
Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
- cmiles8 4mo agoStill use Amazon for certain items because of fast delivery but the site is a complete mess. At some point Amazon leadership failed to understand that there’s a lot more to a good customer experience than “selection size.” If I search for X I’d vastly prefer a few simple options that aren’t counterfeit or junk vs here’s 150 variants of your thing, most of which are junk but hey look at the size of our selection!
- macintux 4mo agoI do my best to find a local or online shop that actually knows & understands what they sell. Getting harder, but for more expensive items definitely achievable.
- Loughla 4mo agoI have yet to find something on Amazon that I couldn't find at a local shop for within 5% of the Amazon price. I live in a very rural area, so I have to imagine that it's easier if you live near a city. Or maybe my sample size of 1 person isn't enough.
- cmiles8 4mo agoA lot of things are actually LESS expensive in stores. All that speedy delivery adds a lot to costs that are baked in. Sometimes things on Amazon are 50+% more. You have to know your prices to know what’s a good deal vs what’s a total ripoff. IE folks will take a 4 pack of something that sells for $20 and sell each bottle individually for $10 each.
- secabeen 4mo agoMy rule of thumb is that every not-heavy product has about $7 of shipping costs baked in somewhere. For cheap items, there isn't enough markup to cover those costs, so they are usually higher priced than at retail. If it's $50 or more, there usually is, and the amazon price will be competitive or better than retail. For heavy things the shipping ding is bigger, but they also usually cost at least $30. No one bothers to sell $5 items like 50lb bags of basic sand on amazon.
- adamddev1 4mo ago[dead]
- jonhohle 4mo ago10 years ago I was working on this problem at Amazon. We were developing methods to normalize all the crap listings and methods 3ᴿᴰ party sellers used to get unique listings when consolidating them was known to drive down prices, which was the original goal. I had some interesting insights (vendors want to be unique, but need to keep products visible in search, so they typically use a common transformation within their own listings to satisfy both properties), but left before implementation rolled out. Based on current search results, either they failed or the project was abandoned. I’m shocked at how some categories just contain junk from random brands with unpronounceable names. Want a music player by Sony or even RCA? Those brands have left that market completely for B2B products or are a licensed name on top of some garbage. Now you can get a Zaqe, Picxiul, Lwyinp, Globluum, or Swofy!
- MrDOS 4mo agoAs I'm sure you know but some others might not, the random brands with unpronounceable names (as opposed to no specific names at all) are also a problem that Amazon has created: https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/amazons-quiet-overhaul-of-the-trademark-system/ https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/amazons-quiet-overhaul-of-the-t....
- grogenaut 4mo agotalking to several of the catalog unification projects and doing promo reviews for people, it turns out it wasn't as easy to do as people thought. there's places it worked well (media) and others where it's a lot harder.
- steve-atx-7600 4mo agoYou'd think this trend would be obvious to product folks at Amazon unless they're living under a rock. And, you'd think they'd care about lowering conversion rates. I don't think name brand products will stop existing. In the long term, Amazon will lose out on business as people that can afford higher quality products will use Amazon less or just when they already know which brand/model they want to buy before hand.
- QuantumGood 4mo agoAI chat interface works where search does not. Not perfect, but much better, and allows more specific, accurate filtering.
- QuantumGood 4mo agoI totally understand the downvote, as bad player adds bad tech must = bad. I'm just pointing out that the terrible search interface / results / algorithm / intention of Amazon is, for now, a bit alleviated by their AI interface that filters much more reliably based on prompt, and can adjust the prompt.
- stasomatic 4mo agogoogle.com "KEYWORD reddit". It's been the only way for me for the last several years, but mostly for inexpensive items (20-100 USD). In the States it's more frictionless to do Amazon returns then through Temu or AliX.
- kirykl 4mo agoleadership knows that they get to charge those 150 sellers bidding based "advertising fees" to get the buy box
- ericras 4mo agoNon-paywall version: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-06-30/shadow-bribery-market-inside-amazon-preys-on-desperate-sellers https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-06-30/shadow-bri...
- showerst 4mo agoAmazon, Walmart, Etsy... my kingdom for a marketplace that doesn't become just a dumping ground for shady fly-by-night dropshippers.
- JKCalhoun 4mo agoDon't allow 3rd party sellers?
- jonhohle 4mo agoBut then how could you skim off the top of other people’s work?
- lotsofpulp 4mo agoBut then how could you compete for customers when they are all visiting the other websites to save a few dollars?
- port11 4mo agoWe get NAÏF and other stuff from our kid directly from the brand. Sure, their websites are a bit lame and you gotta make a few accounts, but we end up getting nice promotions and good service. The alternative is “here’s 450 other matches to your search that are definitely not what you’re looking for, that may be counterfeit, and may or may not give your kid dermatitis.” I think some companies should lean more into that. We’ll pay for shipping if it spares us from those “skimming off the top”.
- giarc 4mo agoI think that is key. I used to browse Best Buy's website for various electronics and it was typically pretty good. I knew that somewhere, a Best Buy product buyer was evaluating the products with at least a minimum set of expectations. Then they opened their marketplace to 3rd party sellers and it's the same low cost, low quality crap on every other site.
- danesparza 4mo agoAmazon could easily solve this problem if they wanted to. They just don't want to.
- kjellsbells 4mo agoIts been "day 2" at Amazon for a long time now. I guess the Leadership Principles need an update.
- HumblyTossed 4mo agoOf course not. They _created_ this problem.
- theflyinghorse 4mo agoThat's a problem for you — the customer - not for Jeff, the VP.
- ahartmetz 4mo agoMaybe the customers are Amazon shareholders now and Amazon is selling Amazon's financial performance.
- pan69 4mo ago"We're not competitor obsessed, we're customer obsessed. We start with the customer and work backwards." - Jeff Bezos Backwards indeed.
- DaiPlusPlus 4mo agoThe dropshippers are the customers of Amazon’s platform, in a way…
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- gertrunde 4mo agoI tend to find ebay less shady than Amazon these days, which is a bit disapointing really.
- smallerfish 4mo agoAliExpress is less shady. If only they had customer service and a decent UI.
- jonhohle 4mo agoI recently dealt with a merchant in Aliexpress who was intentionally selling things well below market price, not to build their storefront reputation, but to collect sales and then ask the customer to cancel. I forced them to cancel the order, which harms their rep. Literally every unmanaged, user content controlled platform devolves into the basest scams, thuggery, and unpleasantness. This is why we can’t have nice things.
- gruez 4mo ago>but to collect sales and then ask the customer to cancel How does that help them?
- hnuser123456 4mo agoA particular number goes up which matters too much to someone with too much power, conceivably.
- BuggieSmalls 4mo agoRecently I attempted to return an item to AliExpress. They gave me a USPS return label with a domestic address that Google Maps showed as some generic office building. This address turned out to be an undeliverable and the package bounced back to me. Support couldn't explain it and said I'd have to pay for a replacement label since I guess they only pay for one return per order. I filed a chargeback instead. It was approved immediately. Surprisingly, AliExpress didn't ban my account or card, and I still shop there instead of equally terrible Amazon or eBay.
- tenpoundhammer 4mo ago"This item will arrive tomorrow at 9 AM" -> Pay -> "Sorry this item can't be delivered by tomorrow will be delivered 2 days later" -> Next day -> "This item will be delivered 3 weeks from now"
- nomel 4mo agoI think Amazon is catching on. I had this happen last week, and after the 2 days late, Amazon sent an automated apology with the option to cancel if it didn't show up after the third day.
- saghm 4mo agoI'm not sure that's "catching on". One would think that if they can't reliably offer a service, they shouldn't be offering it in the first place.
- pixl97 4mo agoAt what percentage 'failure' rate (that is can't be shipped in 2 days) should they cancel 2 day shipping?
- nomel 4mo agoYou don't use Amazon, and that's ok, but it's usually very reliable. In my case, it wasn't even Amazon, it was UPS that caused the delay. The automated delay based refund trigger, that costs them losses in shipping, is at least evidence that they're aware people don't like delays.
- cmiles8 4mo agoOMG yes this. So annoying. It’s like Uber saying book and pay for a ride, cars are 2 min away. Great here’s my money, send a car. 15 min later still waiting for car…
- fhn 4mo agosounds like fraud to me
- 4mo ago
- moltar 4mo agoThis has been going on for a decade.
- radicality 4mo ago> leave a product review in exchange for a free bed scrunchie accessory I wonder what the exact language was. If it included something like “5 star review” on that card, then the guy deserves getting kicked out from Amazon and getting his business shut down (it’s federally illegal to do that per ftc regulation). If it was just very neutral language asking for reviews, then that sucks, and hope he can get it resolved with Amazon eventually.
- buzer 4mo agoIn 2022 I got physical mail about leaving a review for something I bought from Amazon (sold by company X, shipped by Amazon) in exchange for Amazon Gift Card. It contained the name of the product I bought. When I tried to report it to Amazon: * there was no obvious way to do it. Closest thing was by reporting issue on product. * there was no way to show the customer service agent a picture of the mail. Chat did not support sending pictures & they were unable to open imgur link. * agent recommended me to leave a report it by leaving review to the seller page. I did that and next day review was deleted. So it's pretty clear that Amazon didn't care and I doubt it has changed (unless the law you are talking about is recent one).
- hex4def6 4mo agoYep -- I've gotten multiple postcards in the mail and/or product box after ordering something telling me I'd get ~$5-$10 if I left a 5 star review. They thoughtfully included exact screenshots of how to submit the review. I also went looking for a way to report it. Eventually opened up a chat, didn't really get anywhere. (I also didn't appreciate getting junk mail for ordering something).
- grogenaut 4mo agoyou go to account -> customer support -> click the order -> chat... or fraud or somthing else
- worik 4mo agoThe only thing I use Amazon for is price guidance - is that hardware $1, $2, $10 or $100? I have not bought from them since 2005. There is no need
- ynac 4mo ago1999 or maybe 2000 for me. Dollars are votes for how I want to see the world.
- steve-atx-7600 4mo agoI use Amazon when I've planned poorly and need something the next/same day. But, actually, less and less over time because Walmart and HEB (Texas grocery store w/ solid delivery) keep improving their delivery offerings.
- incomplete 4mo agohttps://archive.is/hioIm https://archive.is/hioIm
- fhn 4mo agoSo Amazon could have logged who performed the action(based on logon details) and catch the culprit.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- SpicyLemonZest 4mo agoThe article says that they did do this.
- KennyBlanken 4mo agoPeople. Stop making '20 calls' about this sort of thing. If you get ripped off by a corporation, you call once. Take notes. Maybe call twice. At most, three times. Show you made a decent attempt. If you're in a one-party consent state, record it. Then call your lawyer, who will send a demand letter to Amazon legal. If that doesn't get an answer, you go to court. If you can't work something out, you go to court. The civil court system exists for a reason. Start using it. What do you think Bezos does when a contractor takes his money and doesn't fix one of his dozen swimming pools? Or a car dealership fucks up one of his hypercars? Do you think he makes 20 calls to customer service numbers? Or do you think one of his personal assistants calls once and asks politely, and then if it isn't made right, it gets batted over to his law firm.
- matheusmoreira 4mo agoThat costs a lot of effort, time and money, all of which are in short supply nowadays.
- AussieWog93 4mo agoThe seller in the article read doing $500k/mo. Wasting 2 months not getting any sales is far more costly than spending a few grand on a lawyer.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- mschuster91 4mo ago> The civil court system exists for a reason. Start using it. Yeah, if you are a private customer that might work out going to small claims court against a large company. But if you are a commercial vendor? Tough luck, you probably signed some mandatory arbitration clause in your terms, maybe even a non-disparagement clause. Whoops. Arbitration can cost shitloads of money upfront or expose you to the risk of having to pay the counterparty's lawyers if you lose the arbitration, no referral to the regular court system possible. And even going to the press to complain is a risky move. There's a lot of things I'd be willing to jump into. But I'd never ever want to be in a commercial relationship with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta or any of the other tech giants (or Walmart, they are just as infamous for squeezing suppliers), simply because they have all the cards and I have none. They decide to kick me out, my existence is gone.
- supertroop 4mo agoI can’t believe Nekhala managed to gross $6million on a bed scrunchy on Amazon without Chinese competitors pirating the design, even with a US patent. That in itself is a major accomplishment. At some point when progressives finally take the house perhaps we can get some real regulations in place so that someone banned from the system like this has recourse other than call tree AI.
- nullc 4mo agoIt's by no means limited to amazon. $50k or less gets you arbitrary account information from almost any large site you can name, similar rates for access to information that's supposed to be law enforcement only, or to get someone's realtime cellphone location. If it's not via a corrupt insider, it's by corrupt LEO, or impersonating LEO. The only way to have a reasonable level of privacy against a well funded attacker is to not provide anything private to companies in the first place.