WSJ:
As more third-party sellers have signed up to offer products through Amazon and use its order-fulfillment services, the Seattle-based giant has allowed many to pool their inventory with supposedly identical items supplied by other sellers—in essence commingling products from third-party merchants with those supplied directly to Amazon by the brands themselves.
In other words, a product ordered from a third-party seller may not have originated from that particular seller. If the bar code matches, any one that is on the shelf will do.
The implication here is that you might order a brand name product and receive a knockoff instead. I can’t imagine that Amazon isn’t working on a fix for this.
This has been an issue for a looong time. Just try to buy “Apple” earbuds or chargers. They all have the “by Apple” at then end, even when they are clearly not.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=apple+iPhone+headset&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aapple+iPhone+headset
“Modeled after the acclaimed new Apple iPod Earphones, the iPhone Stereo Headset provide superior comfort, fit, and sound quality.”
On Amazon, I only buy items sold directly by Amazon for this very reason. 3rd party sellers are filled with knock offs. The disturbing thing about this article is that even items sold by Amazon are no longer safe. Yikes!
no the problem is even if you buy from Amazon directly, you could be getting a counterfeit product from one of the 3rd party sellers who is part of FBA, because they are stocked the same way as Amazon inventory in the warehouse.
The fix is to guarantee UPC integrity for the products they put on their shelves.
This isn’t new, and Amazon explains this in their info about Fulfilled by Amazon. But I don’t think they should be selling anything that’s not the same UPC. If you get something and it’s not what you ordered, just send it back.
Imagine if someone buys what they think in an authentic iPad charger only to get a cheap knockoff. That could quite literally kill you. Amazon would be in a pretty weak position if that happened. I would argue you could hold Bezos criminally liable for negligence.
if a knock off product is sold under the UPC of the original product, that is simply fraud, and Amazon is liable of at least complicity. UPC uniquely identify products and manufacturers pay for that unique number.
The purposely confusing labelling of knock offs is another problem Amazon should act, but as long the UPC is genuine, someone buying a genuine article wont receive it instead
There are a growing number of products you simply can’t buy from Amazon because the likelihood of getting a knockoff is too high. SD cards, rechargeable batteries, popular toys, etc.
For example, I wanted to get my daughter a “Rainbow Loom” for Easter. Amazon sells them, and EVERYTHING in the description and product photos indicates is the authentic item. Except, what they sell most of the time (not always, which is a big part of the problem) is a very poorly made, incredibly cheap, Chinese counterfeit. The reviews are scathing. Amazon is ruining their reputation with this issue. If you can’t trust what you buy form them, what’s the point?
It’s not so simple Kirk. Most people don’t know the UPC code for the items they buy, and many counterfeiters copy it anyway. Some of the counterfeits are so good, it’s hard to tell without a very, very close inspection and comparison to an original that what you got is a knockoff. If, in my example above, you’re a parent buying a “Rainbow Loom” as a gift for a child, how would you know the cheap, poorly made item you received isn’t in fact the real deal? Without a comparison unit to work from (or, thankfully, the reviews in this case), you’d not know to return it and would instead think Rainbow Loom’s are just cheaply made items.
I noticed similar problems with children’s toys. I was looking for a particular toy for my son and I could tell it was a knockoff (luckily) but everything indicated it was authentic. I went to my local Target and just got it there because I knew it was real.
Charming.
You would argue, but you wouldn’t get very far. If Person X orders a charger from Provider Y, and Y stiffs them on the quality of the item, Bezos had zilch to do with that (and Amazon didn’t either, to be honest). There’s no way you could make a compelling argument for bringing criminal charges against Bezos.
Amazon is aware they are co-mingling knockoffs with legitimate items. They were notified at least a year ago by one vendor. If a customer believes they are ordering a legitimate item and Amazon’s policies allow a knockoff to be sent they are liable for any damage that may occur IMHO. In particular, Bezos I think could be charged as he is surely aware and allows it to continue.
In your scenario, Person X is order Item A but Provider Y sends them knockoff B. Absolutely Provider Y has 100% to do with that.
Not sure how you could argue “to be honest” Amazon had nothing to do with it either. Amazon has been notified countless times they’re selling knockoff/counterfeit products as the real deal. I’ve contacted them myself, and I know several manufacturers have. I don’t care who ships or fulfills the order, it’s Amazon making the sale and taking my money. They’re responsible for supplying the goods for which I’ve paid. As long as they’re getting paid, they’ve been happy to sit back and allow their customers to get ripped off. Shameful.
I’m not arguing that Amazon isn’t being a dick when it comes to policing their vendors, just that you won’t be able to press criminal charges against Bezos specifically.
If someone died I’d bet you could. Criminal gross negligence could apply here as Bezos knows some items are not legitimate and are shipping to customers. If one of those items results in a death he could absolutely be held criminally responsible because he is aware of the situation.
I have bought a name brand product “fulfilled by Amazon”
and it looked like fake. It was deeply discounted
which the manufacturer would never allow.
This is same thing as grey market watches with
no warranty that Costco was selling.
This is how they get deep discount.
While Amazon tries to pretend it is scale.
This explains the email I received from Amazon on March 13th, 2014:
Hello from Amazon,
Customers trust that they can always buy with confidence when they make purchases on Amazon.com. In order to preserve customer trust, we have implemented listing restrictions on certain electronics accessories that are considered to be at risk of being counterfeited.
You are receiving this email because your listings for the below ASIN(s) are among those that have been removed as a result of this policy. This removal is effective immediately. There is no penalty for this removal, but we request that you refrain from re listing removed products. Details of the ASIN(s) can be found beneath our signature.
Certain sellers may be allowed to sell these products. If you are interested in seeking pre-approval to sell these products, please contact pq-preapprovals@amazon.com for additional information.
If you have further questions, please contact Seller Support. We appreciate your cooperation in this important matter.
Thank you for selling on Amazon.com.
Regards,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
ASIN:
B002OLGVNS
I actually received two of these, each for a used iPod I had listed. Oddly, they didn’t remove the iPhone I had listed. When I looked at the website, all iPods older than current gens had been removed. Then within two weeks, they were all back. They re-listed my iPods without telling me. I only know this because I received an email saying one had been sold. It seems to be getting kind of sloppy over at Amazon.
It won’t be long before I stop being an Amazon customer, I think. This issue is new to me. Add to this the increase in Prime subscription costs (partially to fund a video streaming service that is nearly worthless), the “add-on item” approach that renders Prime less useful, the shady practice vis-à-vis Hachette (and probably other publishers), and their clear determination to become the monopoly retailer on the planet… yeah, let’s face it. Amazon is pretty much evil.
Which is sad, because they used to be the one company that I would put up there with Apple in terms of dedication to customer satisfaction and quality.
“Allow a knockoff to be sent” meaning “somehow cannot prevent deliberate fraud and mislabeling”?
So Amazon is liable if they don’t inspect every package for authenticity?
Not gonna fly in court; the sellers are asserting the authenticity of the items per the UPC; their fraud is their legal issue.
Yes, absolutely. It is on them to verify they are carrying legitimate products. They seem to have done so with items like DVDs under threat of lawsuits. You can’t claim ignorance when it has been pointed out to them that there are knockoffs.
No, grey market is different; those are imports from markets with lower pricing. (Like grey market cameras and cars, before they stopped car imports without crash tests… real stuff from the real maker, just for a non-US market, without the manufacturer’s approval to sell in this market.)
e.g. fake Apple stuff on Amazon is simply copies with different internals; it’s outright fraud, not market arbitrage.
This has been a long time problem, so I don’t see Amazon solving it any time soon.
The only way Amazon is going to move any faster or more decisively is if consumers in large numbers 1) notice 2) care 3) complain. I don’t really see that happening anytime soon.
I don’t know why you would think they would fix this. It’s part of Amazon’s business plan (cut prices at all costs, gain market share, put all other retailers out of business.)
I stopped shopping at Amazon when I placed an order about 2 years ago for about 10 items, and received 5 of those items, plus 2 counterfeit items, plus 1 generic item instead of name brand (not even a counterfeit) and 2 items didn’t even arrive and Amazon told me to talk to the 3rd party seller, who told me they had a USPS delivery confirmation so they were not going to refund my $50.
So what I did was go through my past Amazon orders and make a short list of the handful of 3rd party retailers who were responsible for most of my orders and who had actually come through with real products that actually got delivered, and I just started shopping from those retailers directly. This worked out really, really well, because I got the same low prices, but I also got great customer service when I got a defective item once and B&H Photo Video replaced it for me promptly and with great service, and the shopping experience was also better.
When you also add in how Amazon treats authors and publishers (like serfs) and how Amazon treats warehouse workers (like robots) it is also good karma to stop dealing with them.
The fix is not to shop at Amazon.
The fact that you say Jeff Bezos has zilch to do with an Amazon customer’s order shows the problem. Never mind criminal charges, it is at least a reason not to shop at Amazon.
Tried to buy a backup battery for my Canon camera at Amazon. Reports in the comments all say the batteries the buyers received were counterfeit — such an annoyance. Not worth the risk, so ended up going to a “Canon Authorized Dealer.”
I never, ever expect a company’s CEO to personally handle my order. Do you expect Tim Cook to be involved with every iPhone purchase?
the point is, if an authentic apple product killed somebody the could and would be sued.
except that it’s his company doing the transaction with Person X. sounds pretty liable to me, Perry Mason.
Why would you assume Amazon is working on a fix for this? They enabled it by doing the fulfillment for third parties. They know it’s been going on for a long time. They still get the sale,so why would they care?
I just bought a simple part on Amazon, the product page had three photos, one of which was the genuine retail packaging. When the part arrived it was a cheap knock off. In my case it doesn’t really matter – it was a simple piece of plastic and I’m sure the knock off will work, but the page I ordered from clearly showed retail packaging which was not what I received.
Amazon is enabling bait and switch fraud but they don’t care.
You can if the issue is that they aren’t guaranteeing they are sending what they say. If I order an official Apple charging cable, sold by Amazon and they have all the so called cables from all the vendors in the same bucket and ship me some knockoff that is not cool.
My order is an implied contract that I paid X amount for a certain product and you will send me that. Not some knockoff that is a third the price I paid.
If their negligence in this matter is proven and it results in something nasty, they deserve whatever hell is rained on them
Forget verifying it’s legit. Just verify it’s from who they say.
If I pay for something from Apple or B&H I better not get something that is really from Long Duck Dong’s Cheap Ass Market. Especially when the packing slip says it’s from Apple etc