Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

blog.aboutamazon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 247 posts

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#151

Post by jacobush »

rckoepke wrote: post #85
jacobush wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry, long before that day Bezos will have superpacked his way out of such concerns. What is money for, but buying politicians? (Much less stress than acting politician, just look at the top public servant currently.)

Not sure that level of snark is appropriate for HN. Not that I explicitly disagree with you, of course. It's just we gotta have a higher bar around here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Comments should be more thoughtful and substantive, not less. > Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something g…

Fine, I'll try to do a bit better. :)

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#152

Post by extrapickles »

throwaway_jobs wrote: post #71
raverbashing wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: theory probably doesn't work, see comments below > So the counterfeiter must have molded the entire slide (complete with the company logo that was embossed into the slide itself) thing is that company was dissolved back in the 80’s. I have a simpler explanation for that. Someone bought the tooling (injection moulds?), in an auction maybe, didn't bother to change the brand and is out there manufacturing slides.…

> I have a simpler explanation for that. Someone bought the tooling (injection moulds?), in an auction maybe But the company never sold them, so even they from the beginning reasonably believed they had in fact manufactured the slide. Had they sold the molds (which I don’t think a company would do bearing their mark without selling the actual mark as well) it would have actually helped their defense and helped them c…

It’s somewhat common for worn out molds to be sold as scrap metal, then someone buys them from the scrap dealer and starts making counterfeits. This is why quite a few places will deface old molds before scrapping so it would be cheaper for the counterfeiter to make a new mold than repair the genuine one.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#153

Post by gwittel »

ABeeSea wrote: post #68
gwittel wrote: post #27

Are fake listings a problem? Absolutely. But is it the primary issue? I'm not so sure. It seems like Amazon is doing all sorts of things but not actually addressing the root -- inventory co-mingling + sketchy 3rd party sellers that can come back overnight. Simply ending inventory co-mingling would likely handle a substantial portion of counterfeits since Amazon is sourcing their stock through standard channels. Amazo…

I’m not sure commingling is as big a problem as you imply. Amazon’s inventory system is random so every item can essentially be tracked by location. Even with commingling, if there is a counterfeit all the inventory from the original sourcer can be tracked and pulled. It’s not like they are randomly tossing all of the same item into a random bin and doesn’t know whose is whose. Also Amazon buys from many distributors…

Hard to say since only Amazon knows. As you've mentioned, there are many ways for counterfeits to enter the supply chain.

I think the main difference is who shoulders greater risk/impact of a counterfeit. Under normal models, the store (Amazon) is hit harder (returns, supply chain management). Under Amazon's model, the customer and potentially manufacturer bears a heavier burden.

As a customer, why should I care about the brand owner feature? Additionally, Amazon does not clearly mark products as such. These things just look like any other FBA product.

As a product creator, why should I have to register myself with Amazon? Should I have to police Amazon listings (which seems likely based on the brand ownership service feature list)? Or can I just work with my trusted distributors like the standard model?

I don't have an answer to these questions especially on the sell side. However, this all seems more like Amazon's way of shifting risk and cost to external parties.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#154

Post by tlrobinson »

kube-system wrote: post #118
snarf21 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is so simple to solve and they don't have to have a crimes unit to do it. Simply segment reviews and ratings based on seller. All you have to do is have each seller put a scannable sticker on each product based each batch going through intake. You can even still colocate. Then all the returns and bad reviews go to the right person and they can just get banned. This is not rocket surgery.

Amazon has a program for this: https://brandservices.amazon.com/transparency

So if you want Amazon to stop selling counterfeit versions of your product you have to opt in to this program, and start serializing all of your products at your own expense?

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#155

Post by shiftpgdn »

crazygringo wrote: post #75
rckoepke wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, great question. Basically wrong flavor and texture. Visually looked quite similar but just had a cardboard consistency. Repeatedly compared vs. grocery store bought over a few months span of alternating purchases to confirm. It was somehow both immediately obvious and also subtle. My girlfriend eventually confirmed that something didn't seem right with it, so we started buying back-to-back orders alternating fr…

Did you check the expiration dates by any chance? I'd be highly suspicious that this was, in fact, food counterfeiting in any way. I've never heard of a food brand being counterfeited on Amazon (with actual evidence). Food "counterfeiting" is generally a "legitimate" manufacturer themselves falsely representing their ingredients (e.g. diluting their olive oil with canola oil). Amazon used to be known for keeping boxe…

I got a cannisters of preworkout supplement on Amazon that was a very obvious fraud when put next to the cannister it was replacing. I even mixed up a glass of it and it tasted absolutely putrid and make me feel sick for a day.

It doesn't help that Amazon doesn't give you a clear option to report fraud in your return of a purchase.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#156

Post by alexpetralia »

rckoepke wrote: post #11

The categories of things that I've received counterfeit versions of on Amazon have been truly mind-blowing. It's been replacement HEPA filters, cat toys, even breakfast cereal. It's not just earphones/mics, batteries, usb cables, flash drives, extension cords, and other electronics. Who counterfeits breakfast cereal??? I've had this issue with both Quaker Oats and Raisin Bran. The scale of fraud is magnificent. And i…

Can anyone clarify how they found out their purchases were counterfeit (e.g. if I buy a Bose product "Sold By" Bose, it could be a counterfeit?)?

As someone who purchases things from Amazon and only care about if they work or not, I haven't had much an issue. If I've been loading up on counterfeits, it doesn't seem to have been a problem.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#157

Post by cdubzzz »

panitaxx wrote: post #117

I started buying clothing from the brand itself (eg shoes directly from adidas, etc). Some appliances also direct. I sometimes buy food from Walmart but only if they are the retailer (they don't seem to commingle inventories). I bought some ssd directly from Samsung site. Another problem with amazon is the sheer quantity of not-counterfeit but cheap unknown knockoffs. It seems more like an expensive AliExpress.

I haven’t bought from Amazon in years. A few weeks ago my toddler left a rubber ball in our waffle maker and we didn’t realize it before turning it on and melting the thing. It ruined the non-stick coating.

After a bit of research I found a new waffle maker to buy. The place I found it had an Amazon affiliate link so I clicked through to price check — $94. Then I checked the manufacturer’s site — $69.99. Ordered it on Monday and it’ll get here tomorrow, free shipping.

This is a pretty common story for me. I almost always check Amazon out of curiosity and most of the time it’s more expensive then other options even when factoring in free shipping. I really don’t get what the upside is supposed to be.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#158

Post by nabilhat »

rckoepke wrote: post #11

The categories of things that I've received counterfeit versions of on Amazon have been truly mind-blowing. It's been replacement HEPA filters, cat toys, even breakfast cereal. It's not just earphones/mics, batteries, usb cables, flash drives, extension cords, and other electronics. Who counterfeits breakfast cereal??? I've had this issue with both Quaker Oats and Raisin Bran. The scale of fraud is magnificent. And i…

The irony is that eliminating couterfeits would enable product quality for legit goods to actually be different for Amazon stock and brick and mortar grocery stock. It's already normal for brands to have Walmart-specific product releases; often cutting features and quality to meet a cost target (Levis "signature" line, for example).

How long until we see Amazon Edition Fruit Loops, specially engineered to deliver consistent taste and texture under extreme and long term storage conditions, at a price that can't be beat?

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#160

Post by a0zU »

tlrobinson wrote: post #154
kube-system wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon has a program for this: https://brandservices.amazon.com/transparency

So if you want Amazon to stop selling counterfeit versions of your product you have to opt in to this program, and start serializing all of your products at your own expense?

yup
Post reply on HN