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Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

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Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#41

> "Customers may have purchased counterfeit versions of legitimate products," an Amazon spokesperson said when asked about the issue. Does this have to do with Amazon's practice of commingling goods from various sources together? I imagine in some warehouse, a big box of Panjwani's legit goods all mixed together with some not-so-good-goods.

The wording of the statement tells you the entire problem.

"The customer purchased a counterfeit item!"

Actually, no. The customer purchased an authentic item but Amazon shipped the customer a counterfeit item. Guess whose responsibility that is?

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#42
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never buy an Apple USB charger from Amazon, 90% of them are fake. https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/20/13343682/fake-apple-char...

90% of ones Apple bought. They probably have a good idea of which sellers are authorized to begin with and therefore didn't buy from those.

As I understand it, doesn't really matter what seller you buy from. Amazon says "The supplies all said these are the same item, so they're interchangeable" and they treat all the inventory the same regardless of who it came from.

Maybe legit sellers that aren't "fulfilled by Amazon" are safer because they ship it themselves?

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#43
post #13

> "Customers may have purchased counterfeit versions of legitimate products," an Amazon spokesperson said when asked about the issue. Does this have to do with Amazon's practice of commingling goods from various sources together? I imagine in some warehouse, a big box of Panjwani's legit goods all mixed together with some not-so-good-goods.

I didn't know Amazon did this. It'll make me think twice next time I purchase certain items. After a quick search I found this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=... Even though inventory tracked using the manufacturer barcode is commingled within the network, the source of the inventory is tracked by our fulfillment systems and is taken into consideration if inventory problems arise. Given…

That's a pretty common practice in the Mfg industry. Makes lot tracking simpler.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#45
A viable safe test would be a clear (unfrosted) incandescent or halogen bulb on a rheostat. Glasses on, bulb off, turn up the brightness somewhat slowly. You should be able to look directly at the filament comfortably if you have good glasses. If you have fakes, as long as you ramp up brightness slow enough, your natural response to squint will kick in before you wreck your retinas.

You definitely do not want to test this on the sun.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#46
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

90% of ones Apple bought. They probably have a good idea of which sellers are authorized to begin with and therefore didn't buy from those.

As I understand it, doesn't really matter what seller you buy from. Amazon says "The supplies all said these are the same item, so they're interchangeable" and they treat all the inventory the same regardless of who it came from. Maybe legit sellers that aren't "fulfilled by Amazon" are safer because they ship it themselves?

That's only for sellers that opt in to commingling. Plenty of sellers don't.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#47

Interesting... the real issue here is Amazon's long-standing implicit tolerance of counterfeit goods from disreputable suppliers. I wonder how many more incidents like this it will take before Amazon finally does something.

They won't until consumers wise up. I've stopped using them completely, not worth the gamble. Their price advantage has eroded anyways. I don't see any advantage to buying from them relative to straight from the manufacturer most of the time. Amazon has done a great job squeezing shipping costs and margins. I doubt I pay more than 5% more on anything but I know I'm not getting any fakes

Amazon is de-facto a monopoly. The "invisible hand" does not apply here.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#49
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it, doesn't really matter what seller you buy from. Amazon says "The supplies all said these are the same item, so they're interchangeable" and they treat all the inventory the same regardless of who it came from. Maybe legit sellers that aren't "fulfilled by Amazon" are safer because they ship it themselves?

That's only for sellers that opt in to commingling. Plenty of sellers don't.

Yeah, but you can't tell as a purchaser.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#50
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They won't until consumers wise up. I've stopped using them completely, not worth the gamble. Their price advantage has eroded anyways. I don't see any advantage to buying from them relative to straight from the manufacturer most of the time. Amazon has done a great job squeezing shipping costs and margins. I doubt I pay more than 5% more on anything but I know I'm not getting any fakes

Amazon is de-facto a monopoly. The "invisible hand" does not apply here.

That's what the civil court system is for. Nothing invisible about that hand. They are in a world of $#!+ if anyone receives permanent eye damage from counterfeit glasses purchased on Amazon, especially if their insane "inventory commingling" policy turns out to be implicated.

The article only talks about the sun appearing too bright through counterfeit glasses, but the real hazard is a pair of glasses that blocks out enough visible light to allow your pupils to dilate, letting in plenty of the UV they don't block.

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