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Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

wsj.com

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Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#161

Post by larntz »

hitpointdrew wrote: post #97
stanski wrote: post #24

They were sued for the recklessly mislabeled helmet and still didn't take the posting down? Even if they could've argued that they themselves were fooled by the seller initially, not following up after the guy was killed points to a much bigger issue. Basically they just don't give a shit. Side note: I'm filled with dread just thinking about buying a motorcycle helmet from amazon.

> Side note: I'm filled with dread just thinking about buying a motorcycle helmet from amazon. Don't, I wouldn't. Revzilla, sells all sorts of motorcycle gear and has a great reputation. https://www.revzilla.com/

+1 I've bought lots of stuff from revzilla. Satisfied customer here.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#162

Post by fencepost »

I'm much more likely these days to go to either ebay (e.g. for the replacement phone battery I got a week or two back) or to a vendor that doesn't do Amazon's commingling of stock (B&H, Target, etc.). This is particularly true where I think it's something likely to be counterfeited (any high-value commodity, thank god I'm not ordering something like baby formula).

I'm willing to pay a premium for the trust factor, because if I get burned with a bad product on even 10% of my purchases the value of my time dealing with it is probably more than I've ever saved ordering through Amazon - particularly if it's something I wanted quickly where I can't afford the chance of "Oh, sorry you got a counterfeit, we'll ship another and you'll have it in 2 days, hope it's legit this time."

Edit: And I don't think I'll EVER purchase a MicroSD card through Amazon.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#163

Post by maccard »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #34

This among many reasons is is why I cancelled my prime membership. The quality control is abysmal. It's become an eBay, but without a proper dispute system, and crazy prices. Many goods get listed at multiples of the price available elsewhere and if you're not paying attention you can get screwed. It's totally buyer beware. The trust that Amazon established over the years has been lost. I ordered something on Amazon…

> It's become an eBay, but without a proper dispute system, and crazy prices.

I have to disagree about the dispute process. My experience as a buyer on Amazon is definitely that the pricing is all over the place, but in every case I've asked for a refund I've received it, and in the majority of cases I've not returned the item, _or_ paid for return shipping.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#164

Post by fmajid »

burlesona wrote: post #94
leemcalilly wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve long thought this sort of thing would be a really good business model. You could launch a bunch of vertical sites and use the same shipping / fulfillment system. Huge irony would be if you did this with Fulfillment by Amazon, but it would probably work. I guess the core problem is that when you’re looking for something new, browsing Amazon is a total mess. It would be much easier to do a web search and find bull…

As I understand it, if you fulfill with Amazon they keep your inventory mixed with the Chinese knockoffs, so you actually don’t know for sure if customers got the inventory you sent to Amazon or a counterfeit instead.

Yep, it’s called stickerless commingled inventory and even buying from Amazon itself doesn’t protect you from counterfeits or worse.

I’ve pretty much stopped buying electronics from Amazon and only get them from B&H.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#165

Post by adinobro »

DataWorker wrote: post #126
djsumdog wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always wondered how we got all these reports of lead in products and children's toys. There was a post a few weeks back where someone explained it and it made perfect sense: recycling. China takes a ton of US recycling. They often melt down metals, e-waste and solder and it's difficult to separated out lead and unleaded source material. A lot of it just gets put together and used in bulk.

They have these issues due to corruption, greed and negligence. With recycling as with other stuff, China cheats and poisons people to make a quick dollar, decades go by and nothing changes and nobody goes to prison. Think of how many people use Chinese made pots and pans, or knives, and have no clue they’re poisoning themselves and their families just to save a few bucks by buying the cheap Chinese version.

Who is sending the recycling there rather than actually recycling it?

Corruption, greed and negligence seems to be everywhere.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#166

Post by freeAgent »

This article also didn't mention that when you order a product that Amazon sells alongside 3rd party vendors who use Amazon fulfillment, they mix inventory. When ordering from Amazon, I always try to buy from Amazon directly when given the option. However, on one or two occasions, I have been delivered items that were clearly used and repackaged but were sold as new by Amazon. The only explanation I've found for this is that Amazon accepts inventory from 3rd parties for fulfillment and mixes that inventory with its own.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#167

Post by freeAgent »

rdtwo wrote: post #156
iwasakabukiman wrote: post #41

For me, Amazon's main purpose is to get them to price match Best Buy. Why wait 3 days when I can just go to Best Buy, show them the same item for $30 cheaper on Amazon and get it immediately?

For me this has not been working well because I go to Walmart or Best Buy and find out they don’t actually stock anything and end up wasting my time and still having to buy online.

I always check the inventory online at my local Best Buy before going to the store for a price match. If I've already found the product on Amazon, it's not hard to do the same on BB and make sure it's in stock.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#168

Post by berdon »

cs702 wrote: post #58

Yikes: > A Wall Street Journal investigation found 4,152 items for sale on Amazon.com Inc. ’s site that have been declared unsafe by federal agencies, are deceptively labeled or are banned by federal regulators—items that big-box retailers’ policies would bar from their shelves. Among those items, at least 2,000 listings for toys and medications lacked warnings about health risks to children. > Of the 4,152 products…

> This is a top-of-the-front-page, well-researched article in a leading newspaper -- it's the kind of coverage that destroys hard-earned reputations built over decades.

It's the kind of thing that _should_ destroy reputations. But that doesn't happen all that much anymore.

We're in a weird place with information and communication where shameful acts are accepted either in ambivalence, apathy, or bullheadedness.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#169

Post by outside1234 »

adinobro wrote: post #165
DataWorker wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have these issues due to corruption, greed and negligence. With recycling as with other stuff, China cheats and poisons people to make a quick dollar, decades go by and nothing changes and nobody goes to prison. Think of how many people use Chinese made pots and pans, or knives, and have no clue they’re poisoning themselves and their families just to save a few bucks by buying the cheap Chinese version.

Who is sending the recycling there rather than actually recycling it? Corruption, greed and negligence seems to be everywhere.

Everyone? Seriously, there is no recycling. There is trash that ends up in the United States and trash that ends up in Asia.

Re: Amazon has proven unable or unwilling to effectively police third-party sellers

#170

Post by bonestamp2 »

Darmody wrote: post #13

Amazon overall quality has droped in recent years. I use to buy from Amazon because I knew I was buying original brands and no chinese cheap copies. Well, that changed a lot. There are specific things that I still buy from Amazon but on most things there's almost no difference between they and Aliexpress. I can buy the same products from Aliexpress way cheaper and have them delivered in 2-3 days. Thankfully there are…

Ya, my rule is that if it's under $10 then I can probably find it on aliexpress (unless I need it relatively quickly). If it's a well known brand, I'll probably buy it from that brand's website. Everything in between is usually ok to buy on amazon, but even that list is getting shorter and shorter for me.
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