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Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

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Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#2
It took me a while to understand that buyers are actually getting pirated books which has Amazon branding and are poorly produced (uneven binding, poor printing, missing content.. etc.)! I was incredulous, surely this is not part of Amazon's business strategy!

Then saw that maybe one of the Twitterati has guessed it right:

@marziah: Wait, how? Is someone copying the book and using Amazon as the printer? And they don't screen their direct prints?

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#5
post #2

It took me a while to understand that buyers are actually getting pirated books which has Amazon branding and are poorly produced (uneven binding, poor printing, missing content.. etc.)! I was incredulous, surely this is not part of Amazon's business strategy! Then saw that maybe one of the Twitterati has guessed it right: @marziah: Wait, how? Is someone copying the book and using Amazon as the printer? And they don'…

Google is doing the digital version:

https://www.google.com/search?q=python+for+kids+pdf

First result. Google docs. Free book.

Edit: Not sure if modded down for pointing out Google is pirating the book in nearly the same way as Amazon (HN loves Google, it can do no wrong) or if it's because I linked to Google's pirate link (Oh no! You're bankrupting the author, dirty commenter!).

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#6
Counterfeiting is a huge problem across Amazon. Since they started commingling inventory, it's been used by bad actors to launder counterfeit goods.

It's even worse for the Fulfilled by Amazon people-- there have been DVD resellers selling >$40k/mo legitimately getting banned because pirated items are being shipped to fulfill the same listings.

I've chosen to buy from smaller sites to be more assured of quality-- especially for commonly faked items like batteries and replacement parts.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#7
Its ridiculous the amount of energy and effort you have to waste in order to find a product that you don't suspect as being counterfeit on Amazon these days. The other day, I wanted a super bright flashlight that ran on AAA batteries and was of decent quality and price. I had to pour over the millions of listed flashlights, most looking physically identical, with the exception of the brand name printed on the flashlight itself. Then I read about how these flashlights are all mass produced by the same manufacturer and re-branded after distribution, so essentially 100 different flashlight brands are essentially the same flashlight (sorry, did a google search on this, don't remember exact link).

Anyways, I used Fakespot on a lot of these listings and it was pretty interesting to see just how many had questionable and outright blatantly fake reviews. Found the one I wanted, almost $20 and a couple of hours later. The flashlight definitely lived up to what it promised but I can't help but wonder if it would've just been easier to do this at a brick and mortar retail spot, like Fry's Electronics.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#8

Its ridiculous the amount of energy and effort you have to waste in order to find a product that you don't suspect as being counterfeit on Amazon these days. The other day, I wanted a super bright flashlight that ran on AAA batteries and was of decent quality and price. I had to pour over the millions of listed flashlights, most looking physically identical, with the exception of the brand name printed on the flashli…

It was especially hilarious during the hoverboard craze-- there were hundreds of versions of the exact same item, being sold for $200-$1500.

Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand

#10

Its ridiculous the amount of energy and effort you have to waste in order to find a product that you don't suspect as being counterfeit on Amazon these days. The other day, I wanted a super bright flashlight that ran on AAA batteries and was of decent quality and price. I had to pour over the millions of listed flashlights, most looking physically identical, with the exception of the brand name printed on the flashli…

All those rebrands are coming from alibaba. Just go to ali express and buy direct if you want one. The "entrepreneurs" using jungle scout are flooding amazon with rebranded alibaba stuff.
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