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Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

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Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#21

Post by bee_rider »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #3

Louis Rossmann just released a video on this about Toshiba hard disks [1]. I canceled my Prime account in 2018, after my last online order for memory. Now, I only purchase in-person from large vendors with direct-from-manufacturer custody [this costs more, obviously]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeUNC7z5MM0

The only downside about canceling Prime is that you can only do it once. I canceled prime because they started putting ads in their video service, despite the fact that I was paying for it. That was a fun one.

Now it’s like, well, what else can I do? I guess I’m boycotting Amazon, but is it really boycotting when their store is “here’s a random electronic device, maybe it is what you ordered,” I mean, why would I place an order for that in the first place?

I’m also boycotting gun store that only sells footguns.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#22

Post by blibble »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #3

Louis Rossmann just released a video on this about Toshiba hard disks [1]. I canceled my Prime account in 2018, after my last online order for memory. Now, I only purchase in-person from large vendors with direct-from-manufacturer custody [this costs more, obviously]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeUNC7z5MM0

I bought 4 new N300 disks "Sold by Amazon" in a single order

one was obviously a return by someone else, it was in completely different unofficial packaging and was DOA

getting the bot like staff to accept that it wasn't me that had broken it was such fun I ended up deleting my 20 year amazon account

and haven't bought anything since

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#23

Post by bromuk »

Pretty much correct, I received a fake razer mouse that I ordered last month.

Luckily it was a direct replacement for the same one I purchased > 3 years ago so could compare.

Amazon provided no way to report the counterfeit and when talking to their support just wanted me to return it as fault. No doubt this will go back into the supply chain and someone unbeknownst to counterfeits will receive it.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#24

Post by michaelt »

AnotherGoodName wrote: post #8

Surprisingly I couldn’t reproduce a glaring and longstanding issue. You can google 2tb flash drives and see a ton advertised for <$100. These are all fake. Surprisingly Amazon doesn’t have any!

Come to the UK where Amazon offers 512GB flash drives for £15 [1]

[1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/512GB-High-Waterproof-Compatible-Co...

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#25

Post by zrobotics »

mrsilencedogood wrote: post #2

Is amazon's model even profitable for these low-price high-volume parts without its binning system? I literally do not buy things off amazon that fall into these "binning problem" categories, or anything easily counterfeitable. I'll buy from amazon for things that essentially cannot be counterfeit (GPUs, hard drives, things where counterfeits would be more likely to be a brick of the same weight rather than something…

Hard drives are definitely a suspect item, they are counterfeited. I needed some 6TB Seagate drives ~6 months ago to replace the drives in a security NVR, our local supplier was out of stock and they were available on Amazon. The drives appeared genuine, they showed up in OEM style packaging which was expected, I connected 1 of 6 to a Debian machine to check it an it reported the correct capacity. Flash forward to 2 weeks later and I get a notification the storage is full, when the capacity should have been enough for 5-6 weeks of storage. Further benchmarking showed they were actually 2TB drives that reported incorrect size. Fwiw they did match the read/write performance if the genuine drives, which doesn't mean much since that class of drives isn't terribly fast but are supposedly optimized for reliability for drives that spend ~99% of their life continuously writing and rarely reading. At least Amazon took them back as a return and did offer a refund. I had thought it was only memory sticks and SSDs that were being counterfeited, but apparently that is also happening for spinning rust drives as well.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#26

Post by massysett »

None of the examples given in this article are counterfeit.

A counterfeit HP ink cartridge says it's HP, but it's not. None of these products claim to be HP. One bears no brand mark at all. One is "Ankink" brand. Same for Epson: we have "MYTONER" and "LEMERO".

Amazon is a flea market trafficking in huge quantities of suspect goods. When I go on there I know to be on guard. But the article is wrong when it says that goods that do not bear an HP, Canon, or Epson brand mark - with some of them bearing clear brand marks for other companies - are "counterfeit" or even "knock-offs".

This doesn't even seem to be a problem to me - if you shop at a flea market, be on guard lest you get junk. If you don't like it, try avoiding the flea market.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#27

Post by marknutter »

ilamont wrote: post #13

This why I buy Brother cartridges from Staples, and one of the reasons I cancelled Prime. Amazon can’t be trusted thanks its inability to manage 3rd party sellers and grey market inventory.

My wife recently bought a brother toner cartridge off Amazon and it ended up damaging our printer. We later found out it was counterfeit when the flimsy brother logo pealed off (and after a printer repair person mentioned there was something weird about the toner we had used). I'm on the verge of cancelling Prime myself.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#28

Post by AnotherGoodName »

michaelt wrote: post #24
AnotherGoodName wrote: post #8

Surprisingly I couldn’t reproduce a glaring and longstanding issue. You can google 2tb flash drives and see a ton advertised for <$100. These are all fake. Surprisingly Amazon doesn’t have any!

Come to the UK where Amazon offers 512GB flash drives for £15 [1] [1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/512GB-High-Waterproof-Compatible-Co...

Ooof. I honestly don’t know how you can buy a usb thumb drive anymore. Even when you pay the right price you might still get a scam.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#29

Post by groby_b »

massysett wrote: post #26

None of the examples given in this article are counterfeit. A counterfeit HP ink cartridge says it's HP, but it's not. None of these products claim to be HP. One bears no brand mark at all. One is "Ankink" brand. Same for Epson: we have "MYTONER" and "LEMERO". Amazon is a flea market trafficking in huge quantities of suspect goods. When I go on there I know to be on guard. But the article is wrong when it says that g…

I'd like avoiding the flea market, but all the reputable vendors either only sell via flee market or have egregious policies like "fax in your request in triplicate, wait three weeks, we'll ship something, you can't return it".

The problem here is a near-monopoly enabling a flea market that skirts just this site of legality. Sure, it's a lookalike, not a counterfeit, but with misleading copy to make sure people fall for it.

Re: Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem

#30

Post by rahimnathwani » 

  Packaging meant to emulate a brand’s design without using its logo can be a violation of copyright laws. HP actually won a federal court case in March against a Chinese manufacturing company called Ejet, which HP accused of infringing upon its “trade dress,” the technical term for packaging design.
The linked court case says nothing about copyright. And as far as I can tell, 'trade dress' protection isn't rooted in copyright law at all. IANAL.
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