undefined | Better HN

0 pointsyjftsjthsd-h2y ago0 comments

> I still buy from amazon frequently and never have a problem.

> The other thing is to avoid the more dodgy looking listings and to buy only from amazon direct or shipped by Amazon and a fairly trusted brand.

Amazon's problem is that it commingles inventory in such a way that counterfeits get mixed with legitimate products across sellers. In light of which I have to ask why you think you've never been bitten (and keeping in mind that counterfeits aren't always obvious; ex. lead looks like any other metal)

0 comments

LeeroyWasHere2y ago

They also obfuscate multiple sellers in a tucked away menu and sometimes you click the "seller" and it turns into search term, no seller profiles.

I've ordered two of the same product at the same time and received 1 out of 2...

The amount of fakes in certain niches is off the charts.

OJFord2y ago

That 'obfuscation' though is showing you the cheapest product+shipping price by default, even if Amazon-as-seller is not it (and is one of the slightly hidden more expensive ones).

Fair enough if you want the available sellers to be clearer, I'm just saying I think there's only good intentions there.

ChildOfChaos2y ago

It's pretty easy to see who the seller is.

If I am buying a big name product that is likely to have a counterfeit problem, the seller is usually going to be amazon direct or the manufacturer anyway as big products are stocked by Amazon directly, the stuff that isn't, is usually more generic or niche and not usually a type of product that matters since it's something fairly generic anyway, i.e a dish cloth, tape etc.

I am not sure if it's just less of an issue buying from Amazon UK or it's the type of stuff you are buying, but from what i've read it seems like it's mostly an Amazon US issue. Most things in the UK are not from third party sellers unless you are buying a generic item that is effectively dropped shipped from AliExpress like a fancy dress dinosaur costume.

yjftsjthsd-hOP2y ago

Unless, of course, the supposed seller is irrelevant because Amazon just mixes up the real and fake items regardless: https://old.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/ifytxk/ysk_t...

ChildOfChaos2y ago

But for a lot of the items, the only sellers are official.

Look at the Apple Lightning cable, a typical fake product, here in the UK the only place you can get it from is amazon or amazon warehouse, so what products are there to get mixed up? Again, this seems to be more of an Amazon US issue, the reddit post you linked yet again just uses US sources.

I've not experienced this with Amazon, even when buying highly faked items, items that i have purchased from ebay however have been clearly fake. Sure I could have missed a fake product or two, but i've not been obviously scammed where it matters, but on ebay this has happened pretty much every time I buy a highly counterfeited product.

1 more reply

IshKebab2y ago

I'm pretty sure the level of counterfeits on Amazon varies massively by region. I'm in the UK and don't recall ever getting a counterfeit, and I buy ~1 thing per week from Amazon on average.

Actually I did get some Phillips LED bulbs that were a bit suss, but I'd still probably put my money on them being crap rather than counterfeit.

Counterfeits aren't always obvious but most are; if you've never seen any obvious counterfeits then it's unlikely you've missed high quality ones.

yjftsjthsd-hOP2y ago

> I'm in the UK and don't recall ever getting a counterfeit

Again, how would you know? I know you think

> Counterfeits aren't always obvious but most are; if you've never seen any obvious counterfeits then it's unlikely you've missed high quality ones.

But the articles I've seen like https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/amazon-counterfeit-f... tend to lead with side-by-side pictures of visually identical products, which makes me think that's not true

IshKebab2y ago

Those don't look visually identical to me. With the possible exception of the tweezers the differences are pretty obvious.

1 more reply

jraby32y ago

Disagree.

I was buying a high end soap product from Amazon and when we used one from a hairstylist we realized ours were consistently fake.

Bottle and everything looked the same. But then we started buying direct from Dermalogica and it was clear the Amazon products are all fakes. Worst part is the store name on Amazon is Dermalogica products or something very similar to the real name.

ChildOfChaos2y ago

I am not sure, but if the store name was 'Dermalogica products' that would seem a bit dodgy straight away.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

LeeroyWasHere2y ago

They also obfuscate multiple sellers in a tucked away menu and sometimes you click the "seller" and it turns into search term, no seller profiles.

I've ordered two of the same product at the same time and received 1 out of 2...

The amount of fakes in certain niches is off the charts.

OJFord2y ago

That 'obfuscation' though is showing you the cheapest product+shipping price by default, even if Amazon-as-seller is not it (and is one of the slightly hidden more expensive ones).

Fair enough if you want the available sellers to be clearer, I'm just saying I think there's only good intentions there.

ChildOfChaos2y ago

It's pretty easy to see who the seller is.

yjftsjthsd-hOP2y ago

Unless, of course, the supposed seller is irrelevant because Amazon just mixes up the real and fake items regardless: https://old.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/ifytxk/ysk_t...

ChildOfChaos2y ago

But for a lot of the items, the only sellers are official.

1 more reply

IshKebab2y ago

I'm pretty sure the level of counterfeits on Amazon varies massively by region. I'm in the UK and don't recall ever getting a counterfeit, and I buy ~1 thing per week from Amazon on average.

Actually I did get some Phillips LED bulbs that were a bit suss, but I'd still probably put my money on them being crap rather than counterfeit.

Counterfeits aren't always obvious but most are; if you've never seen any obvious counterfeits then it's unlikely you've missed high quality ones.

yjftsjthsd-hOP2y ago

> I'm in the UK and don't recall ever getting a counterfeit

Again, how would you know? I know you think

> Counterfeits aren't always obvious but most are; if you've never seen any obvious counterfeits then it's unlikely you've missed high quality ones.

IshKebab2y ago

Those don't look visually identical to me. With the possible exception of the tweezers the differences are pretty obvious.

1 more reply

jraby32y ago

Disagree.

I was buying a high end soap product from Amazon and when we used one from a hairstylist we realized ours were consistently fake.

ChildOfChaos2y ago

I am not sure, but if the store name was 'Dermalogica products' that would seem a bit dodgy straight away.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse