Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#41

Post by macNchz » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

skookum wrote: post #30

chrisper wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He said sold by Amazon. There are two ways: Fulfilled by Amazon or Sold and Shipped by Amazon. I am pretty sure he is talking about the latter. With the latter, Amazon is actually selling the item not some 3rd party. With Fulfilled by Amazon, Amazon only ships it to you, but the 3rd party is selling. It is pretty clear on the website.

The poster you are replying to probably understands this distinction. They are referring to Amazon's co-mingling of inventory. When you buy an item on Amazon which is offered by more than one FBA merchant, Amazon does not necessarily fulfill your order out of that merchant's inventory. They will ship you an identical item from whichever inventory makes most sense for your order based on such factors as proximity of F…

I had no idea this was the case, makes me even warier now. Seems like a fairly big gamble to take with their brand image...most of the knockoff stuff I've encountered has been pretty obviously junk.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#42

Post by seanp2k2 » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:50 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #15

kazinator wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some system of clamps and shock cords for holding down a fitted bed sheets can hardly be fake. Anyone's implementation is likely as good as anyone else's. Though Whalley has a patent on it, the article claims, prior art for the basic idea can be seen on any truck that has a tarp tied down over a bunch of cargo.

The knockoff razor blades, however, are not nearly as sharp as the real ones.

I've purchased Feather and Derby blades on Amazon and they're stupid sharp. Which brands have you had bad luck with? Assuming DESR here.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#43

Post by seanp2k2 » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

bpicolo wrote: post #18

epimetheus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do most places allow this proxy card without owning the actual card these days? Back when I played in 93-97 you could use proxy cards, but it was usually a land card marked with an indicator of the real card, and the person had to pull out their real card (usually in a plastic case) to show they actually had it (and show the stats). I had a friend with a color printer that tried to make counterfeit cards to use as pr…

Sometimes a store will hold proxy tournaments for certain formats, but not for the standard format, and they can't be officially sanctioned events. There was a big deal about it recently with relation to counterfeiting. http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/proxies-po...

I don't play any card games, but what's honestly the big deal? Is the game about card-collecting skills, or deck-building and play strategy? It's hard to argue the latter and ban people for not having an original version of a card. I guess I don't really "get it", or I had way too much fun playing ridiculous mods (where it was fair because everyone had equally ridiculous stuff) for games (Mr. Pants Excessive Overkill for Quake 3 comes to mind). IMO it'd be fun to play some Magic tournament with all fake cards, so everyone could build their dream decks, then see who was better at building the best deck and better with play strategy.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#44

Post by berntb » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:59 PM UTC

copperx wrote: post #21

eli wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The knockoff razor blades, however, are not nearly as sharp as the real ones.

Whose knockoffs? There are some quality ones.

... and how do you know which one is of high quality when you buy?

Since the products are copies -- how would you know you don't get ripped off next week, when Amazon sell some other copies? The packaging etc look the same, by definition...

It is just not realistic to keep up with the exact details and doing a complete quality check whenever you buy anything, from toilet paper to cars. Every time.

I predict that this is just a short phase. If the quality of products at Amazon will be a total dice throw, the consumer reaction will be to buy directly from the producers' web sites. That is not in Amazon's interests, so they will soon be more transparent. Or become irrelevant.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#45

Post by WillPostForFood » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:14 PM UTC

manyxcxi wrote: post #35

syshum wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will not always save you. If a company uses the "Fulfilled by Amazon" service they ship their stuff to amazon and it is co mingled with all of the other SKU's purporting to be the same item, including Amazons own stock

Exactly this. The article mentions that they basically take all the same products and put them together. So seller B's fake item may be sold as seller A's real item and seller A gets blamed for their fake stuff. It's gotten so bad with certain groups of items I don't even try. Sunglasses, handbags, all the usual stuff you'd expect. My anecdote: I like gold colored Ray-Ban aviators with a brown or dark polarized lens.…

I understand the frustration, you can easily end up buying from a chinese seller if you aren't playing attention. But I have a hard time understanding how you were fooled three times.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000EYP57K/ref=dp_ol...

Buy from Amazon - the second choice. Pretty sure that is the default purchase option on the main page as well.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#46

Post by WillPostForFood » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:17 PM UTC

xienze wrote: post #28

kazinator wrote: post #12

And of course Jamie Whalley has nothing Made in China in her home. Just "real" stuff. > Her patented product called BedBand consists of a set of shock cords, clamps and locks designed to keep fitted bed sheets in place. All these parts made in USA?

People are downvoting, but if her product is manufactured in China that's pretty much the reason her product was copied in such short order.

It isn't manufactured in China, that's one of their main selling points.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#47

Post by spriggan3 » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:28 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #23

kev6168 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short-term gain, long-term loss for the American consumers. If the Chinese will simply copy and crush many honest businesses then not many people will want to spend on R&D, on developing novel designs. The result is stagnation in innovation and the decline in business ethics in the market.

You probably have not seen how it really works in China: https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=284 https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4297 There is no "stagnation in innovation", in fact I'd say things happen much faster because there's far more competition.

There absolutely is a loss of "savoir faire" in the west in every industry China has completely taken over. Furthermore we basically exchanged real growth for credit backed one AKA fake growth, because of all the real jobs moving to China. That's why we have all these housing market crisis. It is something the west will deeply regret 20 years down the road. Business is war, globalism won't change that fact.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#48

Post by zootam » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:28 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #23

kev6168 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short-term gain, long-term loss for the American consumers. If the Chinese will simply copy and crush many honest businesses then not many people will want to spend on R&D, on developing novel designs. The result is stagnation in innovation and the decline in business ethics in the market.

You probably have not seen how it really works in China: https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=284 https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4297 There is no "stagnation in innovation", in fact I'd say things happen much faster because there's far more competition.

and because the manufacturing happens right then and there.

the proximity to people in charge of manufacturing the products also increases innovation- they see problems firsthand and can contribute to solving them.

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#49

Post by Udo_Schmitz » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:30 PM UTC

Every time I see counterfeit power adapters/chargers on Amazon I wonder why the original maker–e.g. Apple–doesn’t lean on Amazon to stop the sale of those. Additionally, if someone dies or a house burns down[0], couldn’t that open Amazon to lawsuits? [0] http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pr...

Re: Amazon's Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse

#50

Post by kieranelby » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:32 PM UTC

WillPostForFood wrote: post #45

manyxcxi wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. The article mentions that they basically take all the same products and put them together. So seller B's fake item may be sold as seller A's real item and seller A gets blamed for their fake stuff. It's gotten so bad with certain groups of items I don't even try. Sunglasses, handbags, all the usual stuff you'd expect. My anecdote: I like gold colored Ray-Ban aviators with a brown or dark polarized lens.…

I understand the frustration, you can easily end up buying from a chinese seller if you aren't playing attention. But I have a hard time understanding how you were fooled three times. https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000EYP57K/ref=dp_ol... Buy from Amazon - the second choice. Pretty sure that is the default purchase option on the main page as well.

Nope - sadly that's not always sufficient. "Star Eyewear" and "Wow Facktor" are "Fulfilled by Amazon" so there's a good chance their stock is co-mingled with Amazon's own stock in the same bin. I'm not sure exactly how you can tell which products this happens for and which it doesn't.