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Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

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Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#81

Post by wise_young_man »

karaterobot wrote: post #6

Not much of a concession to regulators. They could just expand the breadth of offerings from their remaining brands if they wanted to, until they were selling the exact same products. I am not an FTC regulator, but to me it seems like the shadiest thing Amazon does with its brands is to give them increased prominence in search results. They cannot tell me they don't juice the results to bubble their brands up to the…

Why should they not be able to do that since it’s their platform and store front? Should Walmart not be able to position Sam’s Choice before other brands?

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#82

Post by jjav »

AmVess wrote: post #43
glonq wrote: post #9

Once upon a time you could choose to buy good products from good brands on Amazon, or import cheap crap from China via Aliexpress or whatnot. But now that nearly every category on Amazon is dominated by cheap crap from dodgy brands in China, I'm feeling less reason to buy things from them (unless I need it tomorrow ). I suppose that's what's fuelling the popularity of new marketplaces like Temu?

My last two orders from Amazon were counterfeits. One was a pack of Sandisk thumbdrives that were very obviously fakes. I determined that Amazon simply doesn't care anymore. The value proposition was completely lost because I had to drive into town to return them. Twice in a row. Further, their prices have gotten horrible on a lot of things. I looked at some of their lawncare items, and most of them were 2-3x more th…

> I determined that Amazon simply doesn't care anymore.

It's very messed up. About a year ago I ordered a nice camera from Amazon. What I received was an old beat up camera thrown carelessly into a box with most of the accessories missing.

Sure, they took it back and refunded me without much pain (but I had to take time of my day to repackage it and drive to a mailbox store to drop it off). But seriously, how is this even possible? Not even in the shadiest fleamarket would this kind of bait & switch happen. This is supposed to be one of the top companies?

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#83

Post by ctchocula »

patrick451 wrote: post #66
thelittleone wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just surprised that this hasn't become a big issue for Amazon. Is it that most people aren't aware? Isn't it a big enough story for some news outlet to investigate and report? If it became generally known that a large % of products on amazon are fakes, surely it would affect sales.

I think it's not well known. I've mentioned the counterfeiting problem to several friends, and none of them had heard if it before. For some things, especially any sort of safety related equipment, it makes buying from Amazon a complete non-starter for me because the risk of getting a shoddy fake is literally life and death.

My experience as well. HN is one of the few places I heard people talking about the commingling problem. I wonder how Amazon is able to keep this information from being known by so few people.

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#84

Post by Drblessing »

wenc wrote: post #68
Drblessing wrote: post #11

This is so sad. I live off of Amazon brands, because they're so cheap, convenient, and relatively good quality. I've NEVER had a quality issue from them. Call me a corporate stooge if you want, but their mattresses, clothing, drugs, etc. have been a lifesaver.

Sounds like they’re removing unsuccessful white labels. I haven’t heard of most of these brands. Basics and Essentials will still be there.

Phew!

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#85

Post by massysett »

worrycue wrote: post #79
massysett wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the whole problem with Amazon and why I call it a flea market. Other retailers put their reputation on the line with their merchandise. Sure, the same factory that manufactures for Old Navy makes QRYGGS. But Old Navy vets it. Amazon’s issue is that it tosses its hands up and says “Sold by QRYGGS, fulfilled by Amazon.” Amazon says: if it’s garbage, not our fault, but you can return it. That’s just wandering a…

> “Sold by QRYGGS, fulfilled by Amazon.” Do you think we can side step the issue by only buying stuff that’s “sold by” Amazon or one of its global subsidiaries?

Well, somewhat. But Amazon doesn’t vouch for its supply chain since it “commingles inventory” that various vendors ship to its warehouses. So even if something is “sold by” Amazon there’s risk it’s counterfeit junk.

Some flea market sellers, unreliable as they can be, have an advantage here: many sell under their own brand, even if you’ve never heard of it. In contrast, if you seek out a known brand on Amazon, there’s the risk of fakes. Every product listing on Amazon carries a set of risks.

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#86

Post by Larrikin »

thelittleone wrote: post #50
AmVess wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last two orders from Amazon were counterfeits. One was a pack of Sandisk thumbdrives that were very obviously fakes. I determined that Amazon simply doesn't care anymore. The value proposition was completely lost because I had to drive into town to return them. Twice in a row. Further, their prices have gotten horrible on a lot of things. I looked at some of their lawncare items, and most of them were 2-3x more th…

I'm just surprised that this hasn't become a big issue for Amazon. Is it that most people aren't aware? Isn't it a big enough story for some news outlet to investigate and report? If it became generally known that a large % of products on amazon are fakes, surely it would affect sales.

In my life, I nor anyone I know has ever gotten a counterfeit product. I've gotten obviously opened, returned, and repacked shit, low quality AliExpress shit no one would buy if they inspected it in real life, but nothing actually fake.

I've used Amazon regularly, back even when it was just a place to get cheap books. I assume it happens but I think the comments on Hacker News are just not representative of the general public on this issue. Any Amazon thread on here is chock-full of people saying they constantly get fake products.

I avoid large purchases on Amazon when I can, but that's mostly because I want there to be competition for them.

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#87

Post by 1-more »

thegaulofthem wrote: post #53
1-more wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been getting ads on social media to buy silencers on Temu. Ok not silencers, but adapters where one end has the female thread of a soda bottle on it, and the other has the female thread to match the external thread available on a Ruger 10/22. While silencers are federally legal in the U.S., they are illegal in many states and subject to a federal transfer tax. I could see this being a problem for Temu, and I cou…

Suppressors are only Federally legal with a tax stamp, typically acquired with a “Form 1” self manufacture or a Form 4” transfer (purchase) along with a $200 tax for the stamp, per item. The seller would need special ATF licensure and follow an onerous process to sell what is typically considered safety equipment in Europe, ironically. This involves submitting fingerprints, passport photos, and a lengthy (9+ month) a…

right, I forgot to mention that manufacture also requires a tax stamp which is only available to registered manufacturers.

And yeah the Glock switch thing is absolutely wild. Sure, calling a shoelace a machine gun[0] stretches philosophy a fair bit. But the widespread availability of a bit of hardware that can only add select fire to a handgun tells me that enforcement is only a problem for those willing to adhere to the rules at all.

0: https://i.imgur.com/FCbDv.jpg

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#88

Post by sudosysgen »

adamsmark wrote: post #57
sudosysgen wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Temu is fundamentally different than Wish - it has local warehouses and therefore much faster delivery. It's a competitor to Amazon, not Wish/AliExpress. It trades this off by having a much smaller selection of goods.

Its a mix is it not? Both local and global? Some of the prices and lead times look like inventory is coming from China via ePacket.

Of course, there's always going to be some items not available at the local warehouse, but that's the same thing with Amazon.

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#89

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

Larrikin wrote: post #86
thelittleone wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just surprised that this hasn't become a big issue for Amazon. Is it that most people aren't aware? Isn't it a big enough story for some news outlet to investigate and report? If it became generally known that a large % of products on amazon are fakes, surely it would affect sales.

In my life, I nor anyone I know has ever gotten a counterfeit product. I've gotten obviously opened, returned, and repacked shit, low quality AliExpress shit no one would buy if they inspected it in real life, but nothing actually fake. I've used Amazon regularly, back even when it was just a place to get cheap books. I assume it happens but I think the comments on Hacker News are just not representative of the gener…

> In my life, I nor anyone I know has ever gotten a counterfeit product. I've gotten obviously opened, returned, and repacked shit, low quality AliExpress shit no one would buy if they inspected it in real life, but nothing actually fake.

I got a fake Google Pixel case for my wife. It looked identical to the real one, but didn't fit the phone.

Re: Amazon Cuts Dozens of House Brands as It Battles Costs, Regulators

#90

Post by jacobr1 »

codeTired wrote: post #10
blincoln wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco actually pioneered that approach. The traditional corporate strategy had always been to have a bunch of different house brands fpr different product categories.

Costco is generally cheaper and top shelf products. Not my experience with Amazon basics.

That was the intent though. How can I buy cheap Chinese mass-produced products (usually low on the quality scale) but still have some basic quality bar that the products are not fraudulent? That they wouldn't fail basic safety standards or cause a fire or contain highly toxic ingredients. If I cared about higher quality for a given purchase, I wouldn't be choosing Amazon Basics. But for plenty of products (garbage bags, whiteboard markers, shop towels, etc ...) I just want the cheapest thing thing that actually will do the bare the minimum job.
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