If you do a quick search using Google and type in “Does Amazon Sell Fake Products”,Does Amazon Sell Fake Products you will easily be able to find 20+ different complaints from Amazon Buyers about their experiences with buying fake products sold on Amazon.com.
This is one of dozens of credible complaints that I found on one of Amazons discussion boards about fake products being sold there.
Posted on Apr 10, 2013 7:06:18 AM PDT
Lara says:
I visited with a friend this weekend who sells consumer electronic accessories through Amazon. They have spent the last nine months in battle with Amazon to get them to stop selling counterfeits on their products. They did the investigations, brought the offending distributors to Amazon’s attention. Amazon refused to do anything. Doing their research by ordering as secret shoppers, they discovered that over 70% – that’s OVER SEVENTY PERCENT – of their product sold on Amazon by third-party sellers was counterfeit. Only when they filed a lawsuit did Amazon BEGIN to cooperate with them. BUYER BEWARE.
Reply to this post
Now the post states 70% of the products sold by Amazon third-party sellers are counterfeit. That’s a high number, but understandable if you have ever been a third-party seller on Amazon and have looked for products to sell. You see as a third party seller, it’s a challenge to find new products and many of Amazons third-party sellers end up buying knockoffs from companies like Aliexpress rather than setting up seller accounts directly with a Brand name company.
The fact of the matter is that there are tons of counterfeit products sold on Amazon everyday that come from third-party sellers that buy their products directly from China.
How Do Fake Products Get into Amazon
Setting up an Amazon third-party seller account is very easy and anyone in the world can do it. And if you know anything about China’s ability to copy and replicate brand name products, then the picture becomes quite clear.
China is incredibly gifted at copying whatever product they can get their hands on. Once they get a hold of a molding for say an iPhone Case, they can replicate that product almost perfectly.
And they care absolutely nothing about US copyright laws or restrictions.
Does Amazon Support Selling Fake Products?
I would think no. But it’s a tough call to say after reading so many complaints. There are numerous stories about people reporting counterfeit products to Amazon and ranting about Amazon’s lack of effort to reconcile the situation. Does Amazon Sell Fake Products
I personally have used Amazon for years and one time had a fake product sent to me. I complained about it and Amazon immediately refunded my money and the seller just told me to keep the product.
When I called Amazon’s support line about this issue, they clearly stated that they do not support selling counterfeit products.
But “Generic” products can be sold if sold correctly. Huh?
As long as the products are labeled correctly and don’t violate copyright restrictions, you can sell them legally on Amazon.
What are copyright restrictions? Use of brand name, trademarks, and photos in the advertisement of the the Generic Product.
Look at this ad below. This is an ad for a brand name cell phone case made for iPhone 5. It’s called Lunatik Taktik Extreme. It’s a military case that has Gorilla Glass and a protective matrix system that provides incredibly protection for your iPhone.
It normally sells for $120 USD.
This ad is a perfect example of a counterfeit product that is being sold today an Amazon. There are easily 3 copyright violations in plain view.
How do I know it’s a fake. Well the dead giveaway is that the product is sold by Generic. Also, look at the price of $24.83. That’s about 80% off of the retail price. Sounds to good to be true, it is.
Now look at the Yellow highlighted sections, these are clear copyright violations using the Lunatik Taktik name and the trademark name of Gorilla Glass. Plus they are using a copied picture from Google images.
Does Amazon Sell Fake Products
Do You Care About Buying Fake Products
The reality is (from the consumers perspective), there is nothing wrong with generic products in the marketplace. That is to say if they are sold honestly as a generic product. They can actually help the consumer save quite a bit of money.
Many times generic products cost 50-80% less than the original brand name and performs exactly the same.
In the ad example listed above, the seller has a 3.5 seller rating. It’s not the best. But after reviewing 22 customer reviews. He’s got 13 great reviews and 3 that are poor. Take a look at his two most helpful reviews.
Most buyers don’t really care about a brand name when it comes down to it.
The real issue is how does the product perform. If it functions exactly like the brand name version, who cares? Especially if you’re getting the product at a 70% discount.
Do you really care about getting a fake Gucci Bag for 150 dollars if it looks and performs exactly like the original Gucci Bag that costs $600 dollars. It just depends on who you are, but my guess is that most people would choose the knock off and save $450 bucks.
But if the product is inferior and doesn’t perform as expected, most people are pretty upset about this. And with good right to be so.
Now Amazon is awesome about protecting their buyers. So if a problem arises, they will refund your money and hold the third-party seller responsible.
But who wants to go through this type of buying experience? Kind of a pain, wouldn’t you say.
5 Tips to Avoid Buying a Fake Product on Amazon
Once you’ve spent about a 1,000 hours on Amazon like I have, it’s pretty easy to spot the Fakes from real Brand Name Products. Here’s some tips to improve your chances of not accidentally purchasing a counterfeit product on Amazon.
1). Where is the seller shipping the product from?
If it’s a brand name product, then it usually is going to be shipped within the US. Most brand name companies use logistic companies or have their own storage warehouses here in the United States. So if the product is being shipped from China, you know that it’s a fake.
2). If the price is significantly less than the known retail price, be suspicious.
Unless the item is being sold as used, if the price is 30% – 80% less, keep on investigating.
3). What’s the sellers rating?
Go into the sellers profile and see what past buyers have to say about them.
4). What are the customer reviews of the product?
People are honest on Amazon, check out what they have to say about the product. Maybe it’s a good quality fake. People will put that down if it’s the truth.
5). Read through the entire ad.
I see many third-party sellers on Amazon that use a brand name in the title of their listing. But then in their product description, they state the product is generic.
If you see Generic anywhere in the ad, then you know it’s not a brand name product. Also, Compares to… is another dead giveaway.
Conclusion
Well, I hope this article has improved your awareness regarding the amount of fake products that are sold on Amazon. I hope I didn’t scare too many people from shopping with Amazon, because they do offer excellent buyer support and great products.
Most of the problems that occur with counterfeit products are from third-party sellers, not Amazon themselves.
Hopefully you are now better prepared to spot a fake product so that you can have greater confidence in your online buying experience. Personally, with such a large selling platform that Amazon provides, it seems impossible for them to police all the activity that occurs by third-party sellers.
I hope you are now wiser about your online shopping with Amazon.
If you want to sell products on Amazon to make money online. It’s an awesome gig if you’ve got the products. The problem is expensive importation costs for buying in bulk and time to establish a good relationship with your suppliers.
Personally, for me, I wanted to work online but didn’t want the stress of clearing customs, buying large quantities of inventory, paying storing fees, having to constantly check the quality control of my products. But I wanted to be able to work online. I eventually found an easier way to create an online business that worked for me without all the headaches that come from the importation industry.
And if you have any inclinations to work online, I would highly recommend you check out Wealthy Affiliate. They provides a revolutionary online platform and community that gives you the results that you’ve been looking for, discover their innovative approach to building online wealth NOW.
Cheers,
Todd
