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

Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

kurtisknodel.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 250 posts

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#131

Post by goodpoint »

RobertRies wrote: post #32

While I agree this is a problem - one which I have been the victim of as well - Amazon accepts the return with no questions and/or charges. This, of course, is not a great consolidation, especially for a novice who doesn't understand or encounters it too late. But I strongly disagree with "Amazon runs little to no risk selling the fraudulent products, but still makes money off of them." In the next paragraph the auth…

> Amazon accepts the return with no questions and/or charges

No, this is true only in some countries. If there's no amazon store in your country you are in trouble.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#132

Post by genericacct »

possiblydrunk wrote: post #128

Not questioning the post or it's conclusions, but how does Kurtis 'know' that the drives are fake? Is it just the price point? Are there reliable lists to check? Curious as to how to spot fakes.

Forensicguy on tiktok opened one, It was a usb2 Stick inside a metal case

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#134

Post by microtherion »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #64
josephcsible wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon accepts the return with no questions and/or charges But remember that Amazon keeps what's basically a social credit score on you that drops every time you return something, and then they permanently ban you (including from non-retail things like AWS and Prime Video) if it ever gets too low.

Amazon tracks your returns, but if you're within their model, which is not particularly tight, you don't have anything to worry about. It's mostly targeted toward people who are egregious, and more importantly, lose Amazon money. If you return a few too many DSLRs, Apple laptops or other high end gear you'll quickly find yourself on the rocks, or decide you're going to start a drop-shipping business from your Prime a…

> she realized she could buy a book and immediately return it

Doesn't this cause authors to actually lose money, so it's worse than straight up piracy for them?

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#136

Post by ohgodplsno »

RobertRies wrote: post #32

While I agree this is a problem - one which I have been the victim of as well - Amazon accepts the return with no questions and/or charges. This, of course, is not a great consolidation, especially for a novice who doesn't understand or encounters it too late. But I strongly disagree with "Amazon runs little to no risk selling the fraudulent products, but still makes money off of them." In the next paragraph the auth…

Nope. Most of the times, they're going to tell you to return it at your own costs to , so pay 50€ for your product that's worth 50€. The sellers lie on where they're located, pretend they're in Germany, you receive the wrong product, and you're shit out of luck. They close their account, reopen one and keep dropshipping.

All the while Amazon happily deletes bad reviews and pockets money.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#137

Post by amelius »

josephcsible wrote: post #33
RobertRies wrote: post #32

While I agree this is a problem - one which I have been the victim of as well - Amazon accepts the return with no questions and/or charges. This, of course, is not a great consolidation, especially for a novice who doesn't understand or encounters it too late. But I strongly disagree with "Amazon runs little to no risk selling the fraudulent products, but still makes money off of them." In the next paragraph the auth…

> Amazon accepts the return with no questions and/or charges But remember that Amazon keeps what's basically a social credit score on you that drops every time you return something, and then they permanently ban you (including from non-retail things like AWS and Prime Video) if it ever gets too low.

Yeah banning your customers seems like a great strategy /s

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#138

Post by amelius »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #77

I have refused to give Amazon any business of my own for several years because their directly-operated logistics business is morally disgusting to me. Realistically they run many businesses, that’s one of them. Their retail business is little more than branding. Their real business is private infrastructure. The retail business overall is a scam. Example: I’ve been trying to find a comforter for a while, and I haven’…

> I wouldn’t buy a USB drive or a blanket from IBM either. It’s the same thing.

Nobody ever got fired for buying a USB drive or a blanket from IBM.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#139

Post by microtherion »

possiblydrunk wrote: post #128

Not questioning the post or it's conclusions, but how does Kurtis 'know' that the drives are fake? Is it just the price point? Are there reliable lists to check? Curious as to how to spot fakes.

I've made it a habit to run F3 on any USB drive or SD card I buy. This will establish quite clearly whether the device has the advertised capacity.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#140

Post by microtherion »

herbst wrote: post #103
Arch485 wrote: post #2

Are there any good alternatives to Amazon that don't prominently feature fake products?

AliExpress. All the producers are there anyway, if you buy from the official stores you don't get fakes. Much easier to not get scammed than Amazon with all those resellers with their fake reviews and endless ad budgets. And if you got lied to you get your money back usually without even sending the item back. Customer service is top notch.

Exactly. Shipping is considerably slower than with Amazon, but customer service is no-nonsense, and there are never problems with commingled inventory. Even if you don't buy from official stores, you can take your chances with another store. If they scam you, get a refund. If the product is good, keep ordering from them.
Post reply on HN