> At least on eBay it’s much more common to get a picture of the actual product
This part can be really annoying. I have been trying to collect all different boxed/DVD/etc releases of an old game and the Amazon listing just shows promotional cover art that I now suspect was never used for retail copies of the game (the publisher on the cover was bought out by another one before the game released). Definitely none of the copies that I got from that listing matched the image shown. On eBay you might need to sift through many listings to find the best price but at least you can usually see which version you are buying.
Yes, it is like eBay in the sense that you really have no idea what you might actually get. However, Amazon still has an excellent return/refund policy, which in some cases makes up for the inventory issues.
Amazon has a decent return policy -- but are you familiar with eBay's buyer protection?
eBay has very little reservations about giving you your money back -- they just pull the money out of the sellers account anyway, they're not themselves taking a financial hit.
And they have way fewer exceptions than Amazon does.
It is basically like eBay, if you ignore who is selling the product.
It's pretty easy to tell when you are, for example, buying Panasonic batteries from Panasonic as opposed to buying no-name lithium cells from a seller with a name like, 'krazedeals'. And sellers with a brand to maintain are unlikely to opt in to the 'comingling' program.
I guess that Amazon could highlight the seller information a bit more, but it's already pretty prominent.
I'm also a little bit confused reading all of these comments - do people think that Amazon sells everything on their website? It's rare to see an ecommerce business run that way these days - new-ish entries like Walmart also have third-party sellers, and old mainstays like Newegg have switched to that style of selling too. Personally I'm not a huge fan, but things have been like this for awhile now across the web. Do people not use other major online retailers? Or does Amazon get more flack because they are the service that almost everyone uses?
I'm not sure why there are so many complaints on HN re: these junk items. I've had an account since 1999 and don't have issues. I just pay attention to who the seller is for an item I'm looking to buy from. If I'm looking for a new Sonos speaker, I buy from the seller named 'Sonos', not from 'Jims Secondhand Sonos Shop'.
I would think most folks here would be savvy enough to know the difference and pay attention to whom they are buying from on Amazon.
Yes, but if you're concerned about buying a fake Sonos product, don't by from anyone other than the official 'Sonos' seller that's shipped and sold by Amazon.com.
I don't think you are understanding the point that others are making: for many products, Amazon commingles inventory. If you order from "Sonos Corp", but the closest warehouse has the same item that was sent in by "Sonos Clone", despite your explicit choice of vendor they may send the closer item and you may get a fake. Details about the approach are here: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/03/20/1553085361000/Amazon-...
If anything, rather than going out of your way to make sure the item is shipped by Amazon.com, if you want to avoid fakes, you probably should prefer items that are shipped direct by the manufacturer. And once you are doing that, the question arises why you are shopping on Amazon in the first place. Personally, I tend to agree with the approach of buying only items shipped by Amazon. While the chance of getting a fake might be higher, the return process if I have a problem is easier. But I can see why others might want to avoid Amazon altogether.
I actually tried to buy a product from a manufacturer because of these concerns. Their website catalog just links to Amazon for purchase.
It is a Shenzhen company, though.
People gripe about "Chinese" companies, but everything is made by some Chinese company. Chinese companies who build a reputation for their brand are good.
