Fulfilled by Amazon - 3rd party seller. Fakes ahoy!

FoxEye

FoxEye

FoxEye

Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
Not going to say what the product is, but it usually costs £240+, whereas the Amazon Marketplace seller is listing for £205. So not beyond the realms of possibility that it's genuine.

Normally I'd run a mile, but in this case the product is "Fulfilled by Amazon".

From what I understand, that only means the seller has shipped their (possibly fake) item to Amazon (to store in their warehouse), who will in turn ship to me, and handle any potential return on their behalf.

From what I've already read, the normal consumer protections do not apply to Amazon Marketplace sellers, due to the way payment is handled. Since Amazon take payment and then pass it on to the seller, the usual consumer protection legislation does not apply - this is a rather annoying loophole; until today I was completely unaware that such loopholes existed. But if you try to get a return/refund from an Amazon marketplace seller you might be S.O.L.

What makes me still interested is that this is "Fulfilled by Amazon", hence as far as I'm aware I can complain directly to Amazon if I receive a fake item, and get them to process the refund.

Apparently Amazon has a massive problem with selling counterfeit goods, and not even buying from Amazon 1st party is 100% safe...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadesh...s-on-amazon-this-holiday-season/#4e9e4aa97cf1

At least I'm confident that the fake can be differentiated from the genuine article.

Btw both the sellers are Indians with UK registered companies. Companies House shows that one company director is apparently living in Britain, whereas the other in resident in India. The one in India only set up his company in Feb 2018, and fraudulently gave it the name of a major US retailer (so I'm avoiding that one!!). The other company was set up in 2017.

Both have 99% positive ratings and both are primarily selling phones.

So... would you?

1. It's fulfilled by Amazon, so they will handle returns and refunds, I hope.
2. It should be easy to verify if it's a fake or genuine with software from the manufacturer which validates serial #.
 
In my experience, yes Amazon handles the returns and it's their easy automated system even for the Fullfilled by Amazon third party stuff. So you could try whatever it is you found quite safely.
 
Return too much stuff and Amazon cans you. It's actually infuriating how much fakes have ended up on Amazon these days, and they even bundle the fake stuff as alternate colour options on genuine listings.
 
Have to say I've never run into a fake so far on Amazon (including 3rd parties) partly through being a little careful. I know a few people who've had endless fakes of things like SanDisk SD cards, etc. though even from fulfilled by Amazon products.
 
I think you should post here and moan and complain, instead of contacting amazon and asking for a refund .....
 
When I first heard about Amazon Marketplace orders not being covered by the consumer credit act a numbwr of years ago I assumed that was a mistake. But after looking into it, it did seem to be true. It's really quite surprising but true. However I haven't yet had a problem with customer service, including returning an item sold as new which cleat wasn't.

I would proceed with similar caution as I would with buying on eBay; only buy from established sellers with good feedback over a long period. It's not a guarantee but should reduce the risk.
 
Haze said:
I think you should post here and moan and complain, instead of contacting amazon and asking for a refund .....
Click to expand...
Great post, 10/10, would roll-eyes again.

I haven't even bought it, lols. This is a thread about fakes in general on Amazon and what people's opinion of the risk/likelihood is.

Did you read the linked article in the OP? The Forbes one? It tells you how Amazon smash everything together in their warehouse if it has the same SKU, meaning that it's super easy for 3rd party sellers to inject fakes into the distribution line, and even for Amazon 1st party customers to end up with fakes in this way.

But feel free to ignore all that and just post crap.

Amazon should be treated the same as eBay really now, even if you're buying from Amazon themselves. They are more likely to be carrying fakes than a store like OcUK (etc).
 
Why would they not be covered by the consumer act?

The issue with FBA and fakes is the comingled stock - there could be 4 sellers all selling the same item that each send 10 of that item in. It only takes 1 seller to send in fakes then the fakes could be sold and shipped by any one of those 4 sellers.
 
Vanquish-Storm said:
Why would they not be covered by the consumer act?

The issue with FBA and fakes is the comingled stock - there could be 4 sellers all selling the same item that each send 10 of that item in. It only takes 1 seller to send in fakes then the fakes could be sold and shipped by any one of those 4 sellers.
Click to expand...
Amazon's own acquired stock is also treated the same (mixed together with FBA stock), so exactly as you said, but also Amazon could be one of those 4 sellers (with the other 3 being 3rd-party). Only takes 1 seller to make an account, sign up for FBA, then send in a load of fakes and boom... you can then get fakes from any seller on Amazon, inc Amazon themselves.

The system is bonkers. Why wouldn't Amazon want to protect their own reputation? Instead companies like Merc Benz have sued Amazon themselves for supplying fakes bought directly from Amazon.

e: You aren't covered by the consumer protections because you don't pay the 3rd party seller. You pay Amazon, and Amazon then pays the 3rd party seller. Hence it's not a straight-forward contract between you and the seller, and this is a loophole which makes the consumer protections null and void. Already been tested and proven.
 
FoxEye said:
Amazon's own acquired stock is also treated the same (mixed together with FBA stock), so exactly as you said, but also Amazon could be one of those 4 sellers (with the other 3 being 3rd-party). Only takes 1 seller to make an account, sign up for FBA, then send in a load of fakes and boom... you can then get fakes from any seller on Amazon, inc Amazon themselves.
Click to expand...

FBA and Amazon stock while the same will have different pick codes but that does rely on the associate picking the right item if FBA and Amazon stock in the same location
 
Nikumba said:
FBA and Amazon stock while the same will have different pick codes but that does rely on the associate picking the right item if FBA and Amazon stock in the same location
Click to expand...

Not for all ASINs in all warehouses. There is a mix most of the time.

FoxEye said:
Amazon's own acquired stock is also treated the same (mixed together with FBA stock), so exactly as you said, but also Amazon could be one of those 4 sellers (with the other 3 being 3rd-party). Only takes 1 seller to make an account, sign up for FBA, then send in a load of fakes and boom... you can then get fakes from any seller on Amazon, inc Amazon themselves.

The system is bonkers. Why wouldn't Amazon want to protect their own reputation? Instead companies like Merc Benz have sued Amazon themselves for supplying fakes bought directly from Amazon.

e: You aren't covered by the consumer protections because you don't pay the 3rd party seller. You pay Amazon, and Amazon then pays the 3rd party seller. Hence it's not a straight-forward contract between you and the seller, and this is a loophole which makes the consumer protections null and void. Already been tested and proven.
Click to expand...

I need to read up on that consumer protections interesting stuff - that must be across all marketplaces then.
 
If there is any chance of an item being a fake there's no way I'd buy from a 3rd party seller on Amazon. Classic example being SD cards. Too fakes of those
 
I remember years ago buying a Samsung S4. It was my first smartphone so took a bit of time to figure things out. Then I noticed there was no 4G on it, even though it was advertised as 3G/4G. I checked on Amazon now and the phone is still listed as 4G. There are 2 versions I found out later. i9500 (which I got) doesn't have 4G or LTE. The i9505 does. But at no point in the technical description does it mention what phone version it is.

It's sold by a 3rd party seller. But they are allowing false advertising. The annoying thing about Amazon is if you send to much stuff back they block your account!

These days anything technical and over a certain amount I buy some place else. It's not worth dealing with Amazon in those situations.
 
I've found amazon to be great when you do have an issue though to be honest - had an order last week where a courier or someone else in the delivery chain had removed original items from the package and substituted some completely random crap in its place, got instant refund + an extra £20 + an extra couple of months on prime.
 
They should change their name to Yangtze. It's the new ebay. I hardly ever buy off there anymore. Even when it's sold by Amazon themself I dont trust it half the time. I've got car parts directly from Amazon which seemed to be counterfeit. You cant trust the reviews anymore either. I read an interesting article about how easy it is to game the system on there recently. If I want chinese fakes I could go straight to Alibaba.
 
FoxEye said:
From what I've already read, the normal consumer protections do not apply to Amazon Marketplace sellers, due to the way payment is handled. Since Amazon take payment and then pass it on to the seller, the usual consumer protection legislation does not apply - this is a rather annoying loophole; until today I was completely unaware that such loopholes existed. But if you try to get a return/refund from an Amazon marketplace seller you might be S.O.L.
Click to expand...

Sometimes, particularly when a GD thread hits full retard, I often wonder why I don't stick to the GPU/CPU/Gaming forums. Then I see things like this and am reminded that you pick up random knowledge in here. I knew that Amazon was getting shady for grey market goods, but I was totally unaware of this loophole.

Valuable lesson learned, cheers!
 
kwerk said:
They should change their name to Yangtze. It's the new ebay. I hardly ever buy off there anymore. Even when it's sold by Amazon themself I dont trust it half the time. I've got car parts directly from Amazon which seemed to be counterfeit. You cant trust the reviews anymore either. I read an interesting article about how easy it is to game the system on there recently. If I want chinese fakes I could go straight to Alibaba.
Click to expand...

eBay is actually better these days - at least you can check the seller ratings for that product and avoid obvious fakes.

I use Amazon for tat, for expensive stuff I just go for more direct sellers. Yes, you don't get the same quick delivery but at least I don't have to worry about a fake that I might not even realise!
 
I'm having a nightmare at the moment trying to find headphones that arent fake.

Unfortunately, with headphones, it can be impossible to check. As ther is no solid way to tell.

And yep, seems like only way to be sure is to buy direct.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom