Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay • Hacker News Board

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#151

Post by VLM » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:15 PM UTC

soyiuz wrote: post #23

brador wrote: post #14

The only solution is a verifying third party. Postal service could offer this for a fee to make some easy money.

I would use this service. However, see my comment above. How would the Postal Service verify counterfeit merchandise, for example?

Gray market would be a ... gray area.

This took some work to find, but I found it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HT4BF4U

Its a control theory textbook for $44 from a 3rd party. Which is a pretty good deal because the "real" book sitting on my desk is somewhat more expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Control-Systems-13th-Richard/d...

In very tiny letters the cover of the cheap version reads "Circulation of this edition outside the Indian Subcontinent is Unauthorized"

Something I find hilarious is the grey market edition is full of reviews that boil down to "this textbook sux and I hate my prof" but the genuine edition has one review by one guy who probably doesn't exist because if you click thru his reviews all look like stereotypical three word filler material.

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#152

Post by incongruity » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:21 PM UTC

soyiuz wrote: post #17

I've had a similar thing happened to me a few years back when I sold a no longer needed but still unopened Windows Vista DVD that I purchased directly from MS Store (on Microsoft campus). The buyer returned the package, but the returned merchandize was clearly counterfeit. The box was of a light material, missing holograms, faded colors etc. The buyer's history was full of similar purchases. I've been careful about d…

This is an opportunity for Amazon, IMHO. This sort of thing is what insurance is for - it's all about risk pooling so you can survive the big loss even if you're a small-scale seller.

Amazon could easily add an insurance policy option for sellers with a few minimal requirements for documenting the sale/shipping - Amazon collects a small fee, encourages better habits among small sellers and it all works.

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#153

Post by r00fus » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

hh2222 wrote: post #135

r00fus wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same situation with "authentic" Apple earpods (which run about 30-50% of the Apple MSRP). I'm surprised Amazon hasn't been sued by Apple for still allowing these to be sold.

Watch out for counterfit memory cards too. The jerks openly label them Sandisk, Kingston etc., but of course they are junk. I am puzzled why Amazon can't "follow the money" and completely shutdown these crooks.

I would assume they're following their own money. Still not sure why the name brands (Sandisk, Apple, etc) can't just sue Amazon for contributing to the trademark infringements...

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#154

Post by covercash » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

chiph wrote: post #89

wvenable wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Craigslist

Even so, there's a good possibility of old-school fraud, with fake cashier's checks, or getting mugged. A recent trend has been for police departments to allow CL transactions to take place in their parking lots.

I do all of my Craigslist transactions in the lobby of my bank. They have cameras and a security guard, and as an added bonus I can deposit the cash right away.

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#155

Post by kingnothing » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:24 PM UTC

jliptzin wrote: post #127

This happened to me about 5 years ago on ebay when selling an iPhone. I was an eBay member since 1999, 100% positive feedback, occasional seller (about once a month). I sold a perfectly fine iPhone, buyer with no feedback history complains to eBay he never received the phone despite tracking showing it was delivered. He also leaves me negative feedback (in broken English). eBay sided with the buyer immediately and at…

When World of Warcraft was released, I had the same thing happen to me. It was a hot item and my local retailer happened to have it on the shelves, so I bought 10 extra copies and sold the CD keys on ebay for about 3x retail pricing. Almost half of the keys I sold were allegedly bought from Paypal customers who "had their accounts hacked", so ebay withdrew the money from my account and refunded it to the buyers leaving me without merchandise or money.

Seriously: Fuck eBay.

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#156

Post by nradov » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:24 PM UTC

jpindar wrote: post #105

derekp7 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like something that social network sites such as FB could get into.

Or nextdoor. Which reminds me, I want to get more of my neighbors to join that.

Nextdoor already has classified ads. It's basically just like Craigslist, but with a smaller more local audience.

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#157

Post by Alupis » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:27 PM UTC

ianferrel wrote: post #104

Alupis wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fulfilled By Amazon would provide no protection here. When you send a replenishment shipment to Amazon for a FBA item, they don't open and verify you sent the correct product. You only find out about mistakes after the items have been sold. For some common FBA items (presumably like an iPhone), you can co-mingle your inventory. This means you send in an identical item (with UPC, etc), and your inventory can be used t…

I would be very surprised if Amazon actually mixed up merchandise from several sellers to the point that they don't know where the items originated. It's one thing to ship from the closest warehouse and credit the sale to whichever seller offered the price chosen by the customer. It's a totally different thing to not know where the item came from at all.

That's not what I implied. They track inventory internally, but your item may ship from your local FBA warehouse to someone else's customer.

This does leave a door open for many items to ship before any error was realized... (sometimes within a few days, but usually up to a few weeks after it happened).

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#158

Post by jliptzin » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:28 PM UTC

kirubakaran wrote: post #144

jliptzin wrote: post #127

This happened to me about 5 years ago on ebay when selling an iPhone. I was an eBay member since 1999, 100% positive feedback, occasional seller (about once a month). I sold a perfectly fine iPhone, buyer with no feedback history complains to eBay he never received the phone despite tracking showing it was delivered. He also leaves me negative feedback (in broken English). eBay sided with the buyer immediately and at…

After a year they just let it be?

Yes, but I am permanently banned from using PayPal now. Which is fine for me, but since then I've pushed literally millions of dollars of revenue through Stripe which would have more than accounted for their 'loss' had they not been so idiotic about the whole thing. I'm sure I'd have integrated with PayPal by default since Stripe was still nascent back then, but thanks to PayPal I was forced to use a different option for my business.

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#159

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:31 PM UTC

effingwewt wrote: post #138

anon1234321 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol what? Did you not read the next paragraph of my comment?

To be fair, based on the first paragraph you wrote, especially from a just-made throwaway, it's probably kind of hard to choke down just to get to the next par. I wrote a reply, most won't bother as it's another beaten horse.

[deleted]

Re: Scammers Game Amazon A-Z Policy By Replacing iPhones With Clay

#160

Post by anon1234321 » Mon, Jun 20, 2016, 9:33 PM UTC

effingwewt wrote: post #133

anon1234321 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you think of the terms between artists and labels is not really relevant to the matter at hand. No one is forced to sign with a big label. If you want someone's money, then you have to be willing to play by their rules. If the contract terms are too one-sided, then other labels would undercut the competition by offering better terms. This is what happens. But again, totally irrelevant to YouTube's massive copyri…

It's incredibly obvious you have a dog in this fight and are incredibly biased. It's well known almost every recording artist gets screwed, and that it's easier to fight fans than their bosses. Take what you've written about startup youtube, and applied it to TODAY'S youtube, but flipped it to be 100000% anti-consumer, you'd be on the right track. Thanks to your record companies, I can no longer broadcast my gameplay…

I actually have exactly zero skin in this game. I'm no fan of current copyright law, with it's ridiculously long terms. I'm posting from a throwaway because trashing Google, one of the biggest employers in the US, is a career-limiting move.