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Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

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Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#81
post #65
post #27

Are fake listings a problem? Absolutely. But is it the primary issue? I'm not so sure. It seems like Amazon is doing all sorts of things but not actually addressing the root -- inventory co-mingling + sketchy 3rd party sellers that can come back overnight. Simply ending inventory co-mingling would likely handle a substantial portion of counterfeits since Amazon is sourcing their stock through standard channels. Amazo…

>Amazon is sourcing their stock through standard channels. This just isn't true. There's been plenty of lawsuits alleging that Amazon themselves sourced counterfeit product. Their supply chain for many products is not necessarily better than third party sellers.

About 6 years ago I ordered a $150 graphing calculator from Amazon, 'Shipped and sold by Amazon' or whatever the actual phrase was, and iirc there were no 3rd-party sellers for the item. The calculator came in two versions with software differences as well as a different accent color on the hardware to differentiate. I ordered the one with the extra software but instead got the one with the cheaper color and firmware. I returned it for a replacement from Amazon and got the right one that time.

It wasn't counterfeit (I don't think anyone is ripping off high-end TI calculators, and it also came with a license key for the computer software), but I believe it was intentionally incorrectly sold. It came in a blister pack and the paper insert inside plastic indicated it was the CAS model, but the calculator itself was the non-CAS model - in other words, aside from having the non-CAS calculator in the box, it was exactly identical to the CAS model as you would buy from a store.

Maybe TI mixed up their stuff but I doubt that; by that time I had already heard of Amazon selling counterfeit items and as you said there have apparently been lawsuits for this.

About a year later I had the exact same issue occur with another item - sold by Amazon, but fake, but got the right one after a return. Can't remember what it was though.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart's online store is a mess of 3rd party options now too. I went looking for hair clippers at the start of the pandemic and all I could find were no-name brands offered by third party vendors on their website.

What’s left? Target and Best Buy?

I've had good luck ordering directly from companies. For me it was Nike, a yoga mat company, and some local toy retailers and a frame company. I still buy stuff from amazon, but not critical stuff.

I knew things were going bad, when rock climbing gear was being counterfeited. (2011).

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/recalls/2011-2-21/Informat...

https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/b685vi/new_climbe...

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#84
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is so simple to solve and they don't have to have a crimes unit to do it. Simply segment reviews and ratings based on seller. All you have to do is have each seller put a scannable sticker on each product based each batch going through intake. You can even still colocate. Then all the returns and bad reviews go to the right person and they can just get banned. This is not rocket surgery.

counterfeit stickers...

A date string and or a string specified by amazon at the time of shipment creation signed with some sort of private key should fix this I think.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is one (plus the story of a defective product lawsuit behind it). A water slide. The type that bolts down into concrete for use with pools. If the first thing in your mind is...isn’t that something from the 70’s/80’s...yes it is. So the counterfeiter must have molded the entire slide (complete with the company logo that was embossed into the slide itself) thing is that company was dissolved back in the 80’s. So…

Don't worry, long before that day Bezos will have superpacked his way out of such concerns. What is money for, but buying politicians? (Much less stress than acting politician, just look at the top public servant currently.)

Not sure that level of snark is appropriate for HN. Not that I explicitly disagree with you, of course. It's just we gotta have a higher bar around here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Comments should be more thoughtful and substantive, not less.

> Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents.

> Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. That destroys the curiosity this site exists for.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#86
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is so simple to solve and they don't have to have a crimes unit to do it. Simply segment reviews and ratings based on seller. All you have to do is have each seller put a scannable sticker on each product based each batch going through intake. You can even still colocate. Then all the returns and bad reviews go to the right person and they can just get banned. This is not rocket surgery.

counterfeit stickers...

I don't know enough about Amazon's fulfillment to know if this is possible, but maybe the sticker is unique to that seller. Meaning if it isn't their sticker that is scanned during fulfillment, they don't get credit for the sale.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#88

Is it safe to assume "Amazon Basics" products are not counterfeit? Obvious clones of products from other brands, but quality-controlled by Amazon?

I was thinking that too. Unless someone claimed they are just reselling their AmazonBasics items that were previously purchased from Amazon.

Re: Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit

#90
You can’t just add anti-fraud sprinkles on top. The rampant fraud is built into Amazon.com’s business model. Monitoring product quality is hard. All the little shopkeepers and buying managers were actually doing work, work that isn’t easily automated. Amazon’s recreating the problems of central planning that the USSR had in product quality.
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