eBay, Amazon and Alibaba - Marketplace of Fakes

Counterfeits common, consumers easily fooled.

Los Angeles, CA, October 8, 2014 - Good deals and easy shopping on the Internet can be fun, and an occasional bargain can be found. However, consumers are often easily deceived and unknowingly purchase counterfeit products from eBay, Amazon and Alibaba. Counterfeiting is a profitable $1 trillion global criminal enterprise, and consumers are easily duped into losing billions on these websites. Counterfeit product purchases often go undetected until the product fails, is returned for warranty, or causes an injury. Some are deadly.

While e-commerce sites reap billions in revenue and profit from transaction fees, counterfeit detection efforts  and consumer protection is severely lacking. After dozens of test purchases, The Counterfeit Report^® found similarities and differences in the three giant’s anti-counterfeiting efforts and failures.

“Fake” products -- products that never existed in a manufacturer’s product line, but bear a manufacturer’s brand, are easiest to spot.  “Counterfeits” -- products that are specifically designed to deceive consumers by visually imitating the authentic product are more challenging and often go undetected by consumers. After each test purchase by The Counterfeit Report^®, and hundreds of complaints to the offending websites, the listings remained, consumers duped, and the transaction fees continued. eBay even allowed counterfeit sellers to block purchases by The Counterfeit Report^®, yet allowed the counterfeit sales to continue.

What can buyer expect can expect if they identify and dispute a counterfeit product within the website’s guidelines?

eBay
Counterfeits are common. eBay’s Office of the President spokesperson, Alynna Wesley, advised that  “eBay receives 1000’s of item reports a week,” and that the removal of counterfeit or prohibited product listings on eBay could take months.  “Once through the system, we’ll get to the listings as soon as possible” said Wesley -- hardly a confidence builder for eBay consumers.

Hundreds of reports from The Counterfeit Report^® were submitted to eBay’s Trust and Safety Team including fake Over the Counter (“OTC”) drugs, dangerous and deadly counterfeit Apple iPhone Chargers, links to off-shore prescription pharmacies, and supplements with FDA warnings, yet the listings remained.

Consumers get a “work it out” response from eBay who insulates high volume “Power Sellers” from disputes and negative feedback for 7 days, leaving consumers vulnerable. eBay consumers are usually burdened with a product return demand, and return shipping costs as a condition of obtaining a refund. In doing so, consumers immediately lose their only proof of the counterfeit purchase, which can now be disputed by the seller. Published Counterfeit Product Alerts^® for eBay consumers were blocked by eBay, and eBay did not comment on previous counterfeit buyers being notified and refunded once a counterfeit product is identified.    

Our advice: Avoid branded products from unauthorized sellers on eBay.
(note: Most manufacturers do not authorize eBay sales)

Amazon
Amazon provides three global product outlets; Amazon (direct retailer), Amazon Fulfillment (offered by a third party, but shipped by Amazon) and Amazon Marketplace (seller direct new and used products).  Problematic commingling of counterfeit and authentic product inventory is being addressed by Amazon.

Extra caution is warranted on branded products from Amazon Fulfillment and Marketplace. Amazon listings generally use various stock photos of branded products and consumers may receive substantially different, fake or counterfeit products. In Amazon’s favor, prompt responses, and a strong A-Z Guarantee cover third party sellers.  

Our advice: Avoid branded products from unauthorized sellers on Amazon Fulfillment and Marketplace.

Alibaba
This China global giant with nine main subsidiaries is larger than eBay and Amazon combined, and an ideal distribution platform for counterfeits, 90% of which are made in China. Responsive and diligent buyers using English subsidiary AliExpress.com may make the fatal error of clicking the “Confirm Goods Received” button on delivery of their goods, and will immediately lose any chance to dispute a counterfeit, or a refund.

If a dispute is successfully opened, the process can take months, with demands for international return shipping, including US Customs declarations. Alibaba allows infringing sellers “three strikes” before listings are removed. If removed, sellers can simply relist under a different identity.   

Our advice: Avoid the website and subsidiaries.

Consumer Recourse
Trafficking in counterfeits is a crime with criminal and civil penalties. The Counterfeit Report^® offers this advice to consumers;

• Avoid all online purchases from China and unauthorized sellers. Buy online from the manufacturer direct, or authorized retailers.  
• Always buy with a credit card, never cash, PayPal withdrawals or wire transfers.
• When in doubt about a product, compare it with an authentic product at an authorized retailer.
• Always retain the product; it is your only proof of receiving a counterfeit. If returned, sellers will simply deny it is counterfeit and sell it to another unsuspecting consumer.
• Dispute the purchase and request a refund from the seller or website.
• If a refund is denied; notify your credit card company that you have retained the counterfeit product and are disputing the charge.
• Notify authorities that you received a counterfeit and have retained the product.

Consumers can easily submit information to TheCounterfeitReport.com website for the appropriate notifications.

Each website has a serious counterfeit problem to solve. Consumers’ confidence would be much better served if protection was put before profits with aggressive proactive research, harsh penalties for sellers, and appropriately staffed anti-counterfeiting efforts.

Website: www.TheCounterfeitReport.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Counterfeit-Report/131568053660579
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The Counterfeit Report^® is the first and only website to provide consumers a free and informative visual guide to detecting counterfeit products and promote consumer awareness. Manufacturers can immediately list and update their counterfeit product information in a central venue for the greatest mass-consumer exposure, and benefit from enhanced brand protection and direct consumer education. The Counterfeit Report uses thousands of authentic and counterfeit product photos to show consumers the sophistication of counterfeiters, and their ability to create visually identical counterfeit products and packaging specifically designed to deceive.  Consumers can also report seeing or purchasing counterfeit products and the source directly to the manufacturer and authorities on the website. The Counterfeit Report^® has been featured on ABC, NBC and Fox News TV, and distributes to over 4000 news outlets.