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Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

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Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#201

Post by jbullock35 »

rendaw wrote: post #127
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…

It's hard to say they don't like it when they're not doing _anything_ visible to combat it. Filter by country of seller? No. Filter by history/longevity of brand? No. Sort by recency of good reviews, or reviews since the last product change? No. Brand reputation, or per-brand reviews? No. Actual brand/seller contact information in the country you reside? No. Do they even require brands have company registration in th…

This comment seems too critical. As a practical matter, Amazon has made it extremely easy to avoid these scams.

Restrict your search to USB drives that not only "Ship from" Amazon but that are "sold by" Amazon. In doing so, you will be weeding out all of the fraudulent devices that the article describes.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#202

Post by programmer_dude »

hoppyhoppy2 wrote: post #193
PeterStuer wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon does SKU aggregation in their warehouses for all the sellers that use Amazon fulfillment. Every delivery of that SKU, by whomever, gets thrown into the same pile from witch they pick whenever someone orders said SKU through whoever is selling that stuff on Amazon. This means that the product you receive from seller X was probably not delivered to the warehouse by seller X, but would be part of a batch delivere…

It wasn't always that way; it was a conscious change they made to save money, which they decided was more important than being able to do better quality control when counterfeit products are discovered from a certain seller. I just think it's important to point out it's how they chose to do it, presumably knowing the potential downsides, rather than some impossibility of warehouse operations.

> I just think it's important to point out it's how they chose to do it

IMO the current way of pooling things together is one way of spreading the loss (due to returns or A-to-z claims) across the entire pool. Other members of the pool bear the cost of such maleficence. Amazon's motto probably: Screw all sellers f**k if I care.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#203

Post by hitpointdrew »

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…

> . I suspect Amazon would prefer not to have fake drives and the costs associated with returns

I am not so sure about that. I think it’s a calculated risk, how many people will actually put in the time and effort to return the product and how many will just not care enough to go through the return process and just eat the cost.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#204

Post by paulryanrogers »

jbullock35 wrote: post #201
rendaw wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to say they don't like it when they're not doing _anything_ visible to combat it. Filter by country of seller? No. Filter by history/longevity of brand? No. Sort by recency of good reviews, or reviews since the last product change? No. Brand reputation, or per-brand reviews? No. Actual brand/seller contact information in the country you reside? No. Do they even require brands have company registration in th…

This comment seems too critical. As a practical matter, Amazon has made it extremely easy to avoid these scams. Restrict your search to USB drives that not only "Ship from" Amazon but that are "sold by" Amazon. In doing so, you will be weeding out all of the fraudulent devices that the article describes.

Comingling means your strategy is not guaranteed to ensure you actually get what was described.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#205

Post by eyelidlessness »

scarface74 wrote: post #197
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 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 So where do you buy your electronics from? Guess how the people who are making those are treated? Or is that okay since they are in another country?

Nope, it’s not okay and I’ll readily admit I’m a hypocrite. Because, as you imply, there’s no ethical alternative. And I could go on about the ways I try to minimize my impact with electronics too, but that isn’t and wasn’t the point.

I’m not sure what your point is. That I should buy from Amazon because factory workers in other countries are treated poorly? What would that do for those workers?

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#206

Post by adolph »

YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #188
frognumber wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't find returns to be helpful at all. - If I buy medicine, and it's fake, that's a serious problem. - If I buy a bottle of vanilla, and it's tainted, that's a serious problem. - If I buy a piece of electronics, and it's a piece which was returned for working intermittently, that's a problem too. - If I buy clothing from brands I trust, and I get a knock-off which falls apart in 6 months, that's a problem. Unless…

And the great thing about an Amazon ransomware attack is that if your implant waits long enough to trigger, you can probably get the customer to return the device to Amazon where they'll dutifully stock it back in their warehouse ready for another victim. So efficient.

1. Customer: buys USB drive, plugs in

2. USB: infect, report wrong size

3. Customer: returns USB drive

4: Amazon: restocks USB drive

Goto 1

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#207

Post by blacksmith_tb »

odysseus wrote: post #123
dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 could have just gotten those Kindle books from the library. I recently dug into my property taxes and found I’m paying over $200/year (!) for the library. A lot more than the cost of Amazon Prime. Since I found this out, I’ve been using the library a lot more .. As for our Amazon “customer score”, wish we could see it. I bet they have merchant scores too - would be interesting to see the number of returns per pro…

I pay over $400 a year in property taxes to support our library system, but I'd be happy to pay twice that, partly because I get a huge amount of use out of the system (including ebooks, though honestly I prefer paper unless there a ton more holds), but also because it's one of the most tangible contributions to the quality of life in my city I fell I can make. Obviously roads without potholes and firefighters are great too...

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#208

Post by ChoGGi »

derefr wrote: post #11
wombat-man wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of stores online ship free now in order to compete with Amazon. Also if you're ordering more than $25 you get free, but slightly slower shipping. I see no reason to have Prime.

I don't think I've ever received free shipping from a web store. (I live in Canada.) In fact, for some of the things my partner orders (e.g. books from Taiwanese book shops) not only is there a shipping cost, but there are often surprise $20-$50 COD import duties on top of that cost, doubling the final cost of the order. That, for some reason, they can't just build into the order invoice. And because of the duties, t…

Well.ca and leevalley.com both offer free shipping over x amount.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#209

Post by x0x0 »

jbullock35 wrote: post #201
rendaw wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to say they don't like it when they're not doing _anything_ visible to combat it. Filter by country of seller? No. Filter by history/longevity of brand? No. Sort by recency of good reviews, or reviews since the last product change? No. Brand reputation, or per-brand reviews? No. Actual brand/seller contact information in the country you reside? No. Do they even require brands have company registration in th…

This comment seems too critical. As a practical matter, Amazon has made it extremely easy to avoid these scams. Restrict your search to USB drives that not only "Ship from" Amazon but that are "sold by" Amazon. In doing so, you will be weeding out all of the fraudulent devices that the article describes.

Nah, it's a trap. At minimum, you have to be aware that Amazon isn't a store; it's a buyer-beware American version of Alibaba.

If you walk into eg a Target, you can be pretty sure that everything in there except perhaps vitamins is a legit product.

Re: Top USB Drives on Amazon are a Scam

#210

Post by derefr »

Gunnerhead wrote: post #56
derefr wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I've ever received free shipping from a web store. (I live in Canada.) In fact, for some of the things my partner orders (e.g. books from Taiwanese book shops) not only is there a shipping cost, but there are often surprise $20-$50 COD import duties on top of that cost, doubling the final cost of the order. That, for some reason, they can't just build into the order invoice. And because of the duties, t…

Hmm, I’m Canadian who’s currently living in the states. I can think of a bunch in Canada that offer free shipping off by memory: Amazon, Indigo/Chapters, EB Games, Footlocker, Walmart, etc. The anecdote you mentioned would also apply in the States. Duty paid for purchases from abroad, like Taiwan. Also, much like Canada, you’d usually pay shipping for small mom-and-pop shop or boutique web stores too.

> The anecdote you mentioned would also apply in the States. Duty paid for purchases from abroad, like Taiwan.

Import duties are set by the government of the importing country; Canada’s are pretty high compared to most countries, making a lot of online shopping with international shipping less worth it here than elsewhere.

Also, a fun fact: the US negotiated a sweetheart deal with the International Postal Union, such that sending parcels to the US from most countries is subsidized by the sending country’s government. So every country other than the US pays more than the US does to order from e.g. AliExpress.

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