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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

#221

Post by imtringued »

oneplane wrote: post #143
TylerE wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't. I used to work in IT for a newspaper. They _really_ are hyper-local. They don't went to spend a cent on even out-of-state visitors, much less out-of-continent. Resources are tight, and the ROI is non-existent.

But if a law came in to effect that requires them to not abuse customer data in their local area as well, there suddenly would be a 'ROI' on that? Seems to me they chose to simply not care about what data they collect on who from the start and it will bite them in the ass eventually.

They don't care because EU visitors don't bring enough ad revenue.

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

#222

Post by dmos62 »

izacus wrote: post #195
dmos62 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't about the number of brands, but about confusing marketing, which in many ways is bad for true competition, because it confuses the buyer.

What kind of confusing marketing? Clocks are decorative products, having several different designs with same mechanism isn't just logical but also market working as it should. This way you can choose the clock that fits your preference and fits into your living space. I don't quite understand this rant - it's like complaining there's toomany different paintings to choose to put on the wall.

An analogy would be not being able to browse by painter.

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

#223

Post by imtringued »

Lammy wrote: post #26
creato wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is the long tail of sellers operating on the marketplace. With a long tail of sellers, you get a long tail of fraud and bullshit too. When you search on Amazon for random basic goods, you'll get thousands of results from insane numbers of gibberish sounding sellers. But there might be only a few dozen unique results. It's going to be basically impossible to combat fraud when this is allowed. I'd even cons…

These days when I end up on one of those Amazon search results filled with obviously-identical no-name goods it’s my cue to head over to Aliexpress instead. The product I’m getting is the same garbage, but at least I recalibrate my expectations and even save a few bucks by cutting out one layer of middleman.

I have never understood this argument. I have seen lots of American/Japanese high quality brands that manufacture in China and they often cost an insignificantly higher amount than the chinese equivalent The difference is that I don't have to wait months for the product to arrive and the trusted brand is massively reducing the risk of poor quality because they actually have to follow the QC standards of the developing wolrd. Meanwhile on Aliexpress the truly cheap stuff is often just garbage. No savings there.

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

#224

Post by [deleted] »

Phylter wrote: post #140
privateSFacct wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me laugh out loud. If Amazon gave two craps about some of this stuff it would be cut WAY back. For a few years at least every Apple branded product on amazon I bought was 100% fake - lazy fakes too. I ended up having to buy from Apple directly to get something legit. You are telling me brands haven't complained about this? I find that totally hard to believe. The crap amazon sells is going to bring th…

The only way Amazon is going to fix it is if it costs more to leave it as a problem than it will cost to fix it.

[deleted]

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

#225

Post by PuffinBlue »

destitude wrote: post #39

Amazon has caused this to itself in order to maximize its own short-term profits. In the past 1-3 years their goal has been to reduce their own inventory by shifting it to 3rd party sellers and let them deal with the overhead of inventory. This is why counterfeits and crappy products have been proliferating on Amazon and why I have started to avoid purchasing from Amazon all-together. I wonder if they realize how muc…

It's gotten to the point where you have to put a brand name into a search if you ever want to see traditional 'quality' manufacturers. Put a search term in now for something like 'waterproof gloves' and have a laugh at all the auto-generated names that pop up.

Likewise, the search results are optimised for sales and not discovery. Most of what you'll see is cheaper brands, lower prices and consequently worse quality.

In many ways I'm thankful for this as it's pushed me to many independant sellers own welsites that I otherwise would have been too lazy to seek out and buy from.

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

#226

Post by teddyc »

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…

Almost every water heater sold at big box home improvement retailers is manufactured by the same company in Tennessee.

There is some truth to this sentiment. I think part of it comes from the "race to the bottom" for low prices which fosters disposable consumables (even for durable goods) and leaves you with monopolies / oligopolies after the dust settles.

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

#227

Post by BaronSamedi »

Phylter wrote: post #140
privateSFacct wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me laugh out loud. If Amazon gave two craps about some of this stuff it would be cut WAY back. For a few years at least every Apple branded product on amazon I bought was 100% fake - lazy fakes too. I ended up having to buy from Apple directly to get something legit. You are telling me brands haven't complained about this? I find that totally hard to believe. The crap amazon sells is going to bring th…

The only way Amazon is going to fix it is if it costs more to leave it as a problem than it will cost to fix it.

Let's hope that Amazon recognizes the seriousness of this problem before it manifests itself financially. By then it could be too late. If we think about this as a "reputational security" problem then Amazon is already vulnerable. If the idea that buying from Amazon means you will get a fake gains traction--either organically or through an information campaign by a competitor--then it seems likely that their sales will decline. And, once their reputation is damaged in this way it will be difficult to repair.

I'm suggesting that reputation has a delayed effect on sales, it may not have a significant financial impact until the reputational attack hits a certain threshold; at which point that impact could be very significant. It's easy to imagine the hyberbolic, clickbait articles that might arise: "The Amazon Fake Crisis: What you need to know" or "Amazon fakes: Read this before you buy another thing on Amazon" (or better clickbait headlines than I can write but you get the idea).

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

#228

Post by smt88 »

imtringued wrote: post #217
smt88 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> verify the seller is legitimate before placing any orders This is pointless, and Amazon knows it. Inventory co-mingling means that the product I receive might have come from anyone selling that product . If there's one counterfeiter or unethical seller shipping that SKU to Amazon's FBA service, then I'll end up blaming the seller -- not Amazon, and definitely not the original supplier of that faulty product.

How do you know you have to blame the seler when you can't know that it was the seller's fault?

I meant hypothetically. Like the typical shopper blames their seller when no one (including Amazon) knows whom to blame.

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

#229

Post by 34679 »

erichurkman wrote: post #126
smabie wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you buying food on Amazon? It’s kind of weird.

Amazon has Prime Now, a grocery delivery service mostly via Whole Foods and a few other stores in major metro areas. Grocery delivery isn't anything new in big cities, but their UI and selection is far above anyone else. (Unfortunately.)

Most major grocery stores allow you to order delivery directly through their website now. There's no need to involve a 3rd party and their markup.

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

#230

Post by systematical »

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'm glad we are all in agreement about the smell coming from that statement.
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