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Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

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Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#51

Post by logfromblammo »

UseStrict wrote: post #27
cgriswald wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon is busy shooting itself in the foot. The problem is, the gun is small and the foot is huge, so they probably don't feel it right now. Supplements (or really anything I put in my mouth) is one of a growing set of classes of items I won't buy on Amazon anymore. That probably doesn't result in much loss for Amazon right now, but what it does do is: 1. Makes me trust Amazon MUCH less, which means I'm much more lik…

Consciously or not, I've noticed that I too no longer trust Amazon to deliver on sensitive goods due to commingling:' * I don't buy foodstuff or supplements from Amazon * I don't buy things at high risk of exploding (batteries that weren't manufactured by who I expected) * I don't buy high-volume counterfeit products (vacuums, for example) I would rather take the 30 minutes out of my day to drive to a store where I t…

The logistics system is about the only part of Wal-Mart's business that I respect. They know what side their bread is buttered on, and they can make sure it gets to the plate exactly when someone wants toast, using a minimum quantity of diesel fuel.

Unfortunately, their purchasing policy sort of ruins it. While I can be certain something is the brand that it says it is at Wal-Mart, I can't be certain that it isn't a Walmart-specific SKU or outlet-store SKU that is not the same quality as enticingly-similar SKUs sold by the same manufacturer.

It's not technically counterfeit for a brand to sell a product of inferior quality into completely separate discount retail supply chains. You should know what you're getting, too, as the prime retail supply chains and outlet retail supply chains don't mix in reputable companies, because they don't want the inferior goods to tarnish the reputation of the superior.

Amazon throws that out the window. The brand manufacturer cannot control Amazon's supply chain to a level required for protecting their brand. As long as commingling continues, it only makes sense for counterfeiters to sell via Amazon. It also makes sense for "para-feiters" to buy a real brand from an outlet store and swap the outlet SKU to the prime retail SKU for the most-similar product, and sell at a smaller discount to the prime retail price. Shoppers think they're buying the prime retail version, and they might get shipped the discount version from the para-feiter's commingled stock.

So it's not entirely on Amazon. The manufacturers were already burning down brands when Amazon threw fuel on the fire.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#52

Post by shareIdeas »

duxup wrote: post #3

For some foolish reason I had notifications turned on for the Amazon app... it recently offered me a deal on some sort of supplements that seemed kinda strange / made some weird claims. I had never even searched for any kind of supplement or even food / drug items before. Other offers were for what looked like seriously questionable quality things, that were semi related to items that I had searched, but looked like…

I don't even find Amazon cheap. Walmart online is often cheaper.

Where does that leave Amazon? I don't buy anything anymore. Digikey and Walmart online are my prime online stores

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#53

Post by davinic »

throw20102010 wrote: post #10

Amazon needs to stop with inventory comingling. They know it and refuse to stop, so they are culpable. I'm sure it would hurt their logistics to stop, but it also hurts cigarette companies to not advertise to children and we made that a law. It is ridiculous that you can order a supplement where it says "sold by Proctor and Gamble, fulfilled by Amazon" on the product listing, and then receive a counterfeit product th…

I'm a former marketplace seller. There is a way brands can accomplish this: marketplace items must contain all the features that the original brand provides. So the brand can create, say, a warranty that only applies when purchased form an "authorized seller". Since the company controls who is authorized, no other seller is able to include the warranty, and their offerings are not identical.

The difficult part in all of this is dealing with Amazon and their terrible marketplace back end.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#54

Post by CobrastanJorji »

throw20102010 wrote: post #10

Amazon needs to stop with inventory comingling. They know it and refuse to stop, so they are culpable. I'm sure it would hurt their logistics to stop, but it also hurts cigarette companies to not advertise to children and we made that a law. It is ridiculous that you can order a supplement where it says "sold by Proctor and Gamble, fulfilled by Amazon" on the product listing, and then receive a counterfeit product th…

I slightly disagree. The item was sold by Proctor and Gamble. They got the money I paid, and I got a product back. Proctor and Gamble happened to use a third party for fulfillment and as a marketplace for handling the sale, and they are to blame for choosing a fulfillment company which may occasionally send me fake products that Proctor and Gamble didn't make.

We should fault the sellers for using Amazon in the first place.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#55

Post by amluto »

tracker1 wrote: post #44
throw20102010 wrote: post #10

Amazon needs to stop with inventory comingling. They know it and refuse to stop, so they are culpable. I'm sure it would hurt their logistics to stop, but it also hurts cigarette companies to not advertise to children and we made that a law. It is ridiculous that you can order a supplement where it says "sold by Proctor and Gamble, fulfilled by Amazon" on the product listing, and then receive a counterfeit product th…

Or at least require a deposit for sellers of a non-insignificant amount, a hold on new seller payouts for up to 30-60 days and per-seller stickers on intake inventory so sellers of counterfeits can be rooted out better. Also, allow product manufacturers who sell directly, to block other sellers on the platform for their products and handle reports for alike-named and-or brand confusing products. Amazon does very litt…

Screw the deposit. Amazon itself should be liable if they don’t track who actually sold the merchandise.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#56

Post by athenot »

cgriswald wrote: post #7
duxup wrote: post #3

For some foolish reason I had notifications turned on for the Amazon app... it recently offered me a deal on some sort of supplements that seemed kinda strange / made some weird claims. I had never even searched for any kind of supplement or even food / drug items before. Other offers were for what looked like seriously questionable quality things, that were semi related to items that I had searched, but looked like…

Amazon is busy shooting itself in the foot. The problem is, the gun is small and the foot is huge, so they probably don't feel it right now. Supplements (or really anything I put in my mouth) is one of a growing set of classes of items I won't buy on Amazon anymore. That probably doesn't result in much loss for Amazon right now, but what it does do is: 1. Makes me trust Amazon MUCH less, which means I'm much more lik…

> Supplements (or really anything I put in my mouth) is one of a growing set of classes of items I won't buy on Amazon anymore.

Same here. Also considering I've bought herbicides on Amazon, I always wonder how well edible and toxic items are warehoused, and how they handle the eventual spillage.

> 2. Makes me find new online or offline vendors for the classes of items I no longer buy from Amazon.

I'm about 3/4 on the way of replacing amazon with other online sources that are specialized in a domain. As a bonus, those sources usually know the domain well, offer a great selection and undercut Amazon on price. The only thing is that shipping can take longer… though some vendors are actually faster.

> Makes me reconsider my Prime membership.

I've already set mine to NOT auto-renew. It's buried behind several clicks but once it's out, I'll leave it out. The value I get is just no longer worth it.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#57

Post by criddell »

stronglikedan wrote: post #28
elektor wrote: post #24

Knowing how ill-equipped Amazon is for the supplement market, are there any legitimate lab-tested online vendors?

There's stores like The Vitamin Shoppe, where you're going to get genuine products. Some manufacturers use labs such as USP to assure you're getting what you pay for. So, if you buy products with lab seals from reputable shops, you're probably safe.

Conveniently, Vitamin Shoppe sells their stuff on Amazon.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#58

Post by empath75 »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #54
throw20102010 wrote: post #10

Amazon needs to stop with inventory comingling. They know it and refuse to stop, so they are culpable. I'm sure it would hurt their logistics to stop, but it also hurts cigarette companies to not advertise to children and we made that a law. It is ridiculous that you can order a supplement where it says "sold by Proctor and Gamble, fulfilled by Amazon" on the product listing, and then receive a counterfeit product th…

I slightly disagree. The item was sold by Proctor and Gamble. They got the money I paid, and I got a product back. Proctor and Gamble happened to use a third party for fulfillment and as a marketplace for handling the sale, and they are to blame for choosing a fulfillment company which may occasionally send me fake products that Proctor and Gamble didn't make. We should fault the sellers for using Amazon in the first…

That is bizarre dream logic. Amazon is the one commingling inventory. P&G are sending legitimate product.

I would never purchase anything from amazon other than books, personally. Too much of a chance you’re going to get counterfeits or faulty merchandise.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#59

Post by amluto »

cgriswald wrote: post #7
duxup wrote: post #3

For some foolish reason I had notifications turned on for the Amazon app... it recently offered me a deal on some sort of supplements that seemed kinda strange / made some weird claims. I had never even searched for any kind of supplement or even food / drug items before. Other offers were for what looked like seriously questionable quality things, that were semi related to items that I had searched, but looked like…

Amazon is busy shooting itself in the foot. The problem is, the gun is small and the foot is huge, so they probably don't feel it right now. Supplements (or really anything I put in my mouth) is one of a growing set of classes of items I won't buy on Amazon anymore. That probably doesn't result in much loss for Amazon right now, but what it does do is: 1. Makes me trust Amazon MUCH less, which means I'm much more lik…

Amazon Logistics is... special.

I regularly have packages “delivered”, but they mysteriously show up a day or two after the claimed delivery. I assume this is the logistics “contractors” missing their quota and making up for it later.

Re: Amazon Warns Customers: Those Supplements Might Be Fake

#60

Post by empath75 »

20years wrote: post #47

I don't buy anything that I would put into my body from Amazon. This also includes creams, make-up, etc. Way too many counterfeits to trust them and trying to figure out which are legit is a huge task in itself.

Yeah my wife bought ‘tylenol’ that was a bunch of individually wrapped packs of two marked ‘not for resale’. I made her throw them out.
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