More Amazon Counterfeit Double-talk

Amazon’s old program with a new name lacks teeth

March 1, 2019, Los Angeles, CA – Amazon introduced “Project Zero” Thursday, claiming the new self-service program “empowers brands to help drive counterfeits to zero.” A bold claim from the e-commerce giant that is flooded with an inexhaustible supply of counterfeit products.

Looking past Amazon’s self-congratulatory chest pounding and The Washington Post’s P/R press pump reveals the program is “currently an invite only program” with a waiting list, and only about 15 brands are participating out of 100,000+ brands fighting fakes on Amazon.

All of the self-congratulatory back-patting cannot hide the fact that brand enforcers know that Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting practices are nothing more than lipstick on a pig; ineffective, cumbersome and dysfunctional. The reality is that counterfeit notifications to Amazon can languish for weeks, or be flat out denied.  Products that are counterfeit on one Amazon website may be allowed to remain on any of Amazon’s 13 other websites, even though complaints include all Amazon websites, and the products are likely shipped from China, eliminating any recourse against the sellers.  As proof, below is a recent response from Amazon: 

While Amazon escapes secondary liability for third party sales, claiming to be ‘just a venue,” Amazon employees act as trademark authenticators for 5 billion listings. These 'experts' often deny product removal because they “could not locate the trademark.” "We realize we're not perfect" says Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon's vice president of world-wide customer trust and partner support. The counterfeit items remain, and Amazon takes a transaction fee for each fake sold. As proof, below is a recent common response from Amazon:

Amazon’s claim that “Our aim is that customers always receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon” is simply not true. Amazon’s hyper-competitive environment is laced with scams, fakes and fraud, and Amazon can’t blame just its third-party market place sellers who account for about 50% of Amazon sales.

Amazon is a direct retailer of counterfeit goods, e.g.; "ships from and sold by Amazon.com," and doesn’t escape liability. Amazon Prime, Amazon Warehouse Deals, and the Fulfilled by Amazon ("FBA") offerings are plagued with counterfeit, fraudulent and replica items. Counterfeit and fraudulent products are even endorsed with Amazon's coveted "Amazon's Choice" designation.

Amazon's own reports reveal they receive an infringement notice for 1 of every 100 customer page views, and over 100,000 brands have signed in to Amazon’s Brand Registry program fight counterfeits on Amazon -- a shocking revelation of the enormity of Amazon's counterfeit problem.  Amazon’s practices enable and facilitate the sale of counterfeit, fake and replica products, begging the question “Is Amazon America's Biggest Consumer Fraud?”

While Amazon recently warned investors of one of the biggest problems facing its online marketplace is counterfeit products, the reality is that Amazon has some explaining to do regarding their business practices.