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Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

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Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#101

Post by ikeboy »

dylz wrote: post #95
ikeboy wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd mostly agree with that, with the caveat that they will often restrict particular listings or brands that got a high volume of complaints, and require proof of purchase to sell. They also flag sellers that have large sales increases in a short period of time. >It's my view that Amazon themselves should be taking action on behalf of both consumers and sellers to ensure that: 1) products are authentic, and b) consum…

I don't see why they don't require proof of purchase for every single item in their supply chain by a third party reseller, with valid, verifiable invoices issued only by the OEM.

1. The cost to verify all of those would be extreme. They ship billions of units in a year, that's tens of millions of invoices at a minimum.

2. "issued only by the OEM" but there are many valid suppliers that are not the brand owner. Even Amazon themselves buy from many vendors that are not the brand owner. Amazon wants those suppliers and third party sellers because they bring down pricing and have a wider selection than they'd get if they only allowed sellers buying direct.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#102

Post by dman »

mschuster91 wrote: post #78
dman wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am surprised Amazon has not run into Food safety issues / lawsuits by now.

Hard to ship fake perishable goods via Amazon. Food fraud is way more lucrative on bigger scales.

Doesnt have to be perishable. Things like Biscuits, Cereals, Nuts, Dates, ground items of various kinds etc.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#103

Post by shurth »

warent wrote: post #33
alister wrote: post #31

Along with counterfeits, another issue that makes shopping unpleasant is that many products are superfically different but underneath are the same thing. You can see this most clearly in a retail store when the products are side by side. Walmart might have 30 kinds of wall clocks with wood vs plastic frame, with or without Roman numerals, but the actual clock mechanism on the back is the same cheap black box. Home De…

The solution starts with manually verifying products. I'm not convinced that it's impossible for Amazon or other stores to have a quality verification system where they have people hired specifically for this purpose. Maybe even a third party could specifically do this. You don't have to do it for every single item, just do it once whenever someone wants to list a product on the platform. Whenever reviews start compl…

I work for a company that produces ingestible goods. Having worked for Amazon previously, I knew select brands were allowed to be “gated”, that is, only be sold by authorized resellers. Imagine my surprise when Amazon repeatedly denied us the ability to gate our brand. As a consumer, I’d like to know that an ingestible good comes from a reputable source - more so than a Coach purse. The whole experience really shot Bezos’ “customer centricity” principle in the rear for me.

Amazon could greatly improve its counterfeit issue by giving manufacturers more control over their brand. That, to me, is the root of the issue.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#104

Post by tomcam »

jacobkg wrote: post #37
alister wrote: post #31

Along with counterfeits, another issue that makes shopping unpleasant is that many products are superfically different but underneath are the same thing. You can see this most clearly in a retail store when the products are side by side. Walmart might have 30 kinds of wall clocks with wood vs plastic frame, with or without Roman numerals, but the actual clock mechanism on the back is the same cheap black box. Home De…

Fun aside, if you buy a cheap wall clock from a big box store, you can often swap out the clock movement with a vastly superior one for very little money. A nice Seiko movement with a sweep second hand can be had for under $20.

Not trying to be snarky, genuinely interested: what are the advantages of the superior movement?

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#105

Post by StavrosK »

hgoel wrote: post #84
aritmo wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The message is that they are not good enough in handling privacy to serve EU customers.

Or more accurately that they don't make enough from the EU to justify dealing with the GDPR mess.

It's only a mess if you can't be bothered to respect people's privacy.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#106

Post by c2h5oh »

ng12 wrote: post #89
ecommerceguy wrote: post #67

>>In a statement on its website, Amazon also said its employees “work hard every day to help ensure all products offered in our store are safe and authentic.” Bullshit. The front line employees that receive inbound product don't enforce any policy and actually Amazon encourages to deal with disputes only after a product is sold, shipped and a customer complains. That's the Bezos way. Fact. Let's discuss grocery produ…

I bought a product on Amazon this Christmas that was completely fake. It was "sold by Amazon" but didn't even have the same label as the brand I had ordered. I complained to Amazon and they just gave me a refund without requiring that I return the product (I ended up just throwing it out). I suspect that they knew the inventory was tainted but figured the cost of dealing with noisy customers like me is less than the…

If multiple suppliers ship same product to Amazon warehouses Amazon will ship closest one to buyer regardless who supplied it. In fact if the seller requests their goods back they won't get the same ones they sent to Amazon - they are mixed together with others sharing ASIN

There must have been an Amazon marketplace seller using same listing but shipping fakes. Or Amazon got duped.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#107

Post by fortran77 »

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that Jeff Bezo's online store should be forced to compensate Warren for all their lost business now and into the future, and to make sure that everyone knows they've been enabling the knock-off business. It's outrageous that Bezos enables this sort of "collateral damage." If he can't stop this sort of thing, he should be shut down.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#108

Post by didibus »

BeetleB wrote: post #65
occamrazor wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can still filter by vendor, at least on the European websites.

> I can still filter by vendor, at least on the European websites. At least in the US, Amazon comingles new products unless the seller requests them not to. So if you buy something shipped and sold by Amazon.com, you may be getting the one vendor ABC had shipped to Amazon's warehouses. Agree with GP. If they cared, they wouldn't comingle. Comingling saves Amazon money, though, as they don't have to track whose goods…

It doesn't. Even when commingling, they individually track each good. The only advantage is that comingling is faster and cheaper deliveries, because they can just and you the item nearest to your house.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#109

Post by Zenst »

dba7dba wrote: post #23
Zenst wrote: post #19

Fakes/copies have always been an issue for companies, but with the move towards digital platforms, we find we have this odd situation in which we have a legit company umbrellaring fake/copy sellers and able to profit from such sales and yet appear totally immune from any repercussions. But more so, all these transactions are documented, not cash in hand style transactions. So, will we see some company who sells a bra…

we find we have this odd situation in which we have a legit company umbrellaring fake/copy sellers and able to profit from such sales and yet appear totally immune from any repercussions. I've known of many small apparel maker/distributor/seller based out of Los Angeles. Over the years, I heard/read/saw so many Police/Marshall personnel raid these businesses to confiscate fake merchandise as if raiding an illegal dru…

Yes, whilst we have trading standards who have mystery shoppers to track down and then close down retailers and/or leverage large fines. The transition into the digital age has seen the model of enforcement fail to keep pace and whilst the Amazons and Ebay's have made some effort, the incentive and drives are lacking in clout to make any effort just scratch the surface. Which has like most, fallen to become consumer driven in a review standard open to all and with that, equally abused.

It is not until there is some major court case or other financial impacting precedent being set, that the current state will only carry on playing out.

Do we see more fake products on the high street than we do online, oh yes. It's small things like that in which fall into the additional costs of a bricks and mortar store over an online shop and also does entail more rules and regulations as well as checks. How many stores route there POS system thru another country/state to lower taxes - none without breaking the law and yet online stores, there is always a way.

Re: Counterfeits on Amazon cost Warren bird feeder business $1.5M

#110

Post by masonic »

ecommerceguy wrote: post #67

>>In a statement on its website, Amazon also said its employees “work hard every day to help ensure all products offered in our store are safe and authentic.” Bullshit. The front line employees that receive inbound product don't enforce any policy and actually Amazon encourages to deal with disputes only after a product is sold, shipped and a customer complains. That's the Bezos way. Fact. Let's discuss grocery produ…

The phrasing is a deviously clever way to try to foist some degree of blame on employees rather than policy.
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