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Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

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Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#11

Post by Lockyy »

Scaevolus wrote: post #6

Counterfeiting is a huge problem across Amazon. Since they started commingling inventory, it's been used by bad actors to launder counterfeit goods. It's even worse for the Fulfilled by Amazon people-- there have been DVD resellers selling >$40k/mo legitimately getting banned because pirated items are being shipped to fulfill the same listings. I've chosen to buy from smaller sites to be more assured of quality-- esp…

It definitely sucks, I never used to have to doubt the quality of amazon products, now I'm having to make sure I only buy amazon basics products or run reviews through some fake review spotter to try and make sure I'm not buying a lie.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#12

Post by draw_down »

What is going on over there? They let people sell the crappiest stuff on their site these days. Plus at least in my experience they seem to have serious logistical issues, literally the last 3 or 4 items I've purchased on Amazon have not actually shipped to me.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#13

Post by justboxing »

Sujan wrote: post #3

So someone bought the PDF ebook, uploaded it to Amazon to be printed on demand and to be sold there?

Yep. Looks like it. And from @danjoc's comment, the book in question "Python for Kids" has been uploaded to google drive by someone and it's out there...

This was (and still is) 1 major factor holding me back from trying to publish a technical book. They are so easily pirated.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#14

Post by UnfalseDesign »

danjoc wrote: post #5
achow wrote: post #2

It took me a while to understand that buyers are actually getting pirated books which has Amazon branding and are poorly produced (uneven binding, poor printing, missing content.. etc.)! I was incredulous, surely this is not part of Amazon's business strategy! Then saw that maybe one of the Twitterati has guessed it right: @marziah: Wait, how? Is someone copying the book and using Amazon as the printer? And they don'…

Google is doing the digital version: https://www.google.com/search?q=python+for+kids+pdf First result. Google docs. Free book. Edit: Not sure if modded down for pointing out Google is pirating the book in nearly the same way as Amazon (HN loves Google, it can do no wrong) or if it's because I linked to Google's pirate link (Oh no! You're bankrupting the author, dirty commenter!).

The difference is that Google isn't pirating the book. It is being hosted on Google Docs. This is no different than if someone put the PDF on Dropbox and made it public. It isn't Google's pirate link. It is a link to a pirated file that just happens to be hosted on Google Docs. The difference here is that Amazon is actually printing the pirated book. Google is just hosting a file that happens to be made publicly viewable.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#15

Post by ilamont »

Amazon does indeed print books through its Createspace print-on-demand division. It’s been used by hundreds of thousands of self-publishers but also indie presses seeking to sell additional copies without investing in a big offset print run.

If the pirate attempted to use an existing ISBN (required to match up the listings) I am pretty sure Createspace would automatically flag it [ETA: Not so sure anymore. See http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,248831.msg3466774.htm...]. There is no Amazon or Createspace branding applied to the book; the only clue that it’s POD is a barcode on the last blank page with “Made In USA” (digital short run and offset do not have to do this).

Another POD service, Ingramspark, also feeds into Amazon via third-party sellers but there will definitely be a block if an existing ISBN is used.

Another possibility is the pirates are using the POD services and a different ISBN, then make the Amazon listing using the original ISBN and ship the copy themselves (that is, not using fulfillment by Amazon). They could sticker over the bogus ISBN or not; nobody except for victims bothers to check.

Or, perhaps the pirates are using a cheap independent digital short run service and put whatever they want on the cover (printers don’t care) and then sell it on Amazon as the real thing.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#17

Post by user5994461 »

justboxing wrote: post #13
Sujan wrote: post #3

So someone bought the PDF ebook, uploaded it to Amazon to be printed on demand and to be sold there?

Yep. Looks like it. And from @danjoc's comment, the book in question "Python for Kids" has been uploaded to google drive by someone and it's out there... This was (and still is) 1 major factor holding me back from trying to publish a technical book. They are so easily pirated.

Publish hard paper and sell to entreprise. That's where there is a money.

A company will pay 49$ for a book they want. A dude won't.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#18

Post by kirse »

Sujan wrote: post #3

So someone bought the PDF ebook, uploaded it to Amazon to be printed on demand and to be sold there?

Having used all sorts of Amazon automation programs, that's pretty hilarious if someone actually used AZ to counterfeit their own goods. Like printing more 3D Printers with a 3D Printing service or something. It's pretty cool that we can reserve entire warehouses and have books printed at the click of a button these days.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#19

Post by jseliger »

HoppedUpMenace wrote: post #7

Its ridiculous the amount of energy and effort you have to waste in order to find a product that you don't suspect as being counterfeit on Amazon these days. The other day, I wanted a super bright flashlight that ran on AAA batteries and was of decent quality and price. I had to pour over the millions of listed flashlights, most looking physically identical, with the exception of the brand name printed on the flashli…

Yeah. A variation on my own story: http://seliger.com/2017/01/09/tools-continued-careful-buy-am... . It's definitely changed my buying habits. For example, I just got a Fujitsu SnapScan... from Office Depot. There's no way I'm buying a moderately expensive electronic item from Amazon anymore.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#20

Post by billpollock »

ilamont wrote: post #15

Amazon does indeed print books through its Createspace print-on-demand division. It’s been used by hundreds of thousands of self-publishers but also indie presses seeking to sell additional copies without investing in a big offset print run. If the pirate attempted to use an existing ISBN (required to match up the listings) I am pretty sure Createspace would automatically flag it [ETA: Not so sure anymore. See http:/…

In the case of the counterfeit copies of Linux Command Line sold through Amazon, those were printed by CreateSpace in violation of copyright. That is certain. From what we can tell that is also the case here.
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