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Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

arstechnica.com

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Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#141

Post by ZoomStop »

WaltPurvis wrote: post #100
petilon wrote: post #45

I ordered a copy of Deep Learning [1] from Amazon last week. On Barnes & Noble [2] the book costs $76.80. On Amazon it is just $28.00. I received the book a couple of days ago. The pages look like it was printed using a low-resolution printer, and the ink color is uneven across pages. I am returning the book. Possible counterfeit, sold by a third party seller. On the other hand this book is also available free online…

> On the other hand this book is also available free online [3]. Maybe it is legal to print it and sell it? No, it's not legal. I found that Amazon sells what is presumably a genuine edition of the book for $67. I did not realize that Amazon had started displaying other sellers as the default seller for brand new books that Amazon itself sells. It used to be that Amazon was always the default seller if they carried a…

If your price is lower than Amazon by a magic percentage, you have a good sales record, and probably other unknown factors, Amazon will grant the buybox now to other sellers on Amazon carried items.

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#142

Post by RileyJames »

ckastner wrote: post #4

The counterfeit and review manipulation issues have rendered Amazon unpleasant enough for me that buying local is something I've started to enjoy again. I trust the merchant to have performed some kind of vetting for merchandise sold on premise, and the price is often good or (interestingly enough) even better than on Amazon. Often enough local is still more expensive, but it beats browsing Amazon for an hour, siftin…

I’m in the US at the moment, road tripping around, never quite sure where I’ll be, even a few days out. Hence why It’s easier to buy local, than via any online store.

But searching for products in the local area / at local stores is nearly impossible.

Using google is useless, everything is e-commerce listings.

And even if you search many local stores directly they make it nearly impossible to determine if the products are actually in stock/in store vs part of their ecommerce offering / available in store in 3-5 days.

Does anyone know any decent options?

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#143

Post by DoreenMichele »

RileyJames wrote: post #142
ckastner wrote: post #4

The counterfeit and review manipulation issues have rendered Amazon unpleasant enough for me that buying local is something I've started to enjoy again. I trust the merchant to have performed some kind of vetting for merchandise sold on premise, and the price is often good or (interestingly enough) even better than on Amazon. Often enough local is still more expensive, but it beats browsing Amazon for an hour, siftin…

I’m in the US at the moment, road tripping around, never quite sure where I’ll be, even a few days out. Hence why It’s easier to buy local, than via any online store. But searching for products in the local area / at local stores is nearly impossible. Using google is useless, everything is e-commerce listings. And even if you search many local stores directly they make it nearly impossible to determine if the product…

Walmart's website will tell you if it's available in their local store. You can also order online and pick up at the store without a delivery fee.

You can also return or exchange items at a different Walmart if you keep your receipt.

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#144

Post by behringer »

wyldfire wrote: post #125
behringer wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a kid in the news recently who was electrocuted to death because of their fake charger. https://www.health.com/home/cell-phone-electrocution

That story looks bogus. Snopes [1] says: > Neither Sinar Harian nor its English-language peer the New Strait Times asserted that the youngster was electrocuted by the earphones he was wearing, but that was the conclusion reached by a number of international publications, including widely-read U.S.-based Vice and Teen Vogue, both of whom aggregated the story. ... > As an emergency room doctor, Uren& stopped short of c…

There's been multiple reports of people dying through headphones. Maybe they're all bogus, but considering an ER doctor presumably knows nothing about electronics, I'll disregard his opinion. Instead I'll listen to what an electronics engineer thinks about counterfeit chargers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi-b9k-0KfE

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#145

Post by RileyJames »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #143
RileyJames wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in the US at the moment, road tripping around, never quite sure where I’ll be, even a few days out. Hence why It’s easier to buy local, than via any online store. But searching for products in the local area / at local stores is nearly impossible. Using google is useless, everything is e-commerce listings. And even if you search many local stores directly they make it nearly impossible to determine if the product…

Walmart's website will tell you if it's available in their local store. You can also order online and pick up at the store without a delivery fee. You can also return or exchange items at a different Walmart if you keep your receipt.

Actually that’s cool, in the US they have these features.

The Canadian Wal-Mart website was impossible in this regard, but in the US you can search only in store, today and within xx miles. Appreciate it.

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#146

Post by lotaezenwa »

I once ordered a copy of Introduction to Algorithms (CLRS) on Amazon.

I had been a TA for Thomas Cormen at the time, and wanted the author's signature. He took one look at it, compared it to the copies he had in his office and said, "This is a counterfeit copy. Where did you get this?"

The embarrassment haunts me to this day.

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#147

Post by mojomark »

ghaff wrote: post #47
rb808 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

abebooks (part of amazon) sells a lot of international editions. https://www.abebooks.com/books/Textbooks/international-editi... It makes sense to sell the same book at lower prices in parts of the world where the regular price is unaffordable. Importing those books back to the US is not what publishers want, but I think isn't illegal.

Yes. It's typically legal as decided by the US Supreme Court in 2013 Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons. (6-3 decision with a rather atypical split.) Added: Basically the decision affirmed that first sale doctrine applied.

Wow, that is useful information! Ne'er again will I buy a text without reading the fine print. Lesson learned.

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#149

Post by ryandrake »

pheeney wrote: post #90
tyingq wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if Amazon bans you if you file a chargeback.

That is what I am really concerned with. Some automatic process that will ban me if I try and fight their system. The only way out is to make enough noise on social media that someone in corporate makes a policy exception.

Why worry about being banned? Why would you want to continue to do business with a company that treats you like this? When I get to the point where I am contemplating a CC chargeback, the bridge is already burned.

Re: Amazon Caught Selling Counterfeits of Publisher’s Computer Books–Again

#150

Post by neetdeth »

ryandrake wrote: post #149
pheeney wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is what I am really concerned with. Some automatic process that will ban me if I try and fight their system. The only way out is to make enough noise on social media that someone in corporate makes a policy exception.

Why worry about being banned? Why would you want to continue to do business with a company that treats you like this? When I get to the point where I am contemplating a CC chargeback, the bridge is already burned.

Because Amazon is no longer a simple bookseller. It's a diversified mega-corporation that is big enough that the average individual will want to think twice before getting on its bad side.

What if you want to host something on AWS? Stream on Twitch? Shop at an Amazon Go? Keep listening to your Audible library?

What if you're using home automation equipment that's tethered to a cloud service and Amazon acquires the company?

Sure, a simple chargeback probably won't trigger broad spectrum retaliation though all their subsidiaries, but the fact is that Amazon has accrued a lot of power in recent years.

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