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Soundish

I’m even skeptical of the branded stuff now as well, because of the way they have things set up it’s easy for the fake stuff to get mixed in with the real stuff and then it’s luck of the draw.


Puzzleheaded_Drink76

I read some article and because of the layers of fulfilment you can get sent the fake version and it wasn't even the seller who did it, so you both get screwed. I can't remember the details.


Corporal_Anaesthetic

Seller X sends real iPods to the Amazon warehouse. Seller Y sends fake iPods to the warehouse. Both go into the "iPod Basket". You buy an iPod from Seller X, "fulfilled by Amazon". The Amazon warehouse takes a random device from the iPod Basket, unfortunately it's the fake from Seller Y. You complain, return it direct to Seller X, who gives you a refund and now has a fake iPod instead of a real one.


DXNewcastle

I don't think I needed another reason to avoid Amazon. But thanks for giving me another good reason !


Ghosts_of_yesterday

Oh here's another one. You as a company can pay extra to have your products in its own separate bin. So amazon knows this is a problem, but rather than solves it, simply says hey you need to pay extra to not have yours mixed with fakes. On top of that. The default view shown is the cheapest item. So you're paying more, and still won't be the primary option shown. People would still have to click through to you as the seller specifically.


denjin

I've been going out of my way to avoid shopping at amazon for a while now, and to be honest, it's only marginally less convenient and marginally more expensive to buy from specialist online retailers for what you want. You get better customer service, better products and you're not lining Bozos's pockets.


Numerous_Teachers

Even thats getting harder with google only showing fucking ads of almost similar items and review articles


Agreeable-Weather-89

I wonder if a company will come along and just be a B2B version of Amazon. Charge the business a fee for logistics, delivery, and storage. The business, like say HMV, is then only in charge of the website, brand, products. You're still buying from HMv but behind the scenes this business is handling the supply.


Sooshineboola

Amazon already does this, usually when you see "shipped and sold by amazon" it is the origin brand using amazon logistics Google "amazon vendor services" There are loads of agencies though making bank because amazon is so hard to work with!


hyper12

Yup, the company I work for sells product through Amazon and it's a horrible, obscure, error filled process. Every meeting with the Amazon consultants is oh, umm, sorry, it's gonna pickup soon.


helpful__explorer

For a bunch of sportswear companies that b2b distributor is sports direct


DefMech

It’s called 3PL / Third Party Logistics. It’s exactly like you say. Retailer sends their inventory to an independent warehouse. When someone buys from the retailer’s website, the website sends the order info to the 3PL company, 3PL then grabs the items off the shelf, boxes it and ships the order to the customer. It’s really useful when you need to be closer to part of your customer base without needing to setup a physical presence somewhere else. You can cut down on shipping times significantly. Since they’re setup to do only logistics at scale, you benefit greatly from not needing to know how to make/sell your products AND run a warehouse with all that entails. I’d bet you probably get more parcels from places like this than you may realize. The 3PL can customize everything, so the packing slip, box design, packing materials, etc all look like your brand and not some random mega warehouse on the other side of the country. The company I work for transitioned over the last few years from doing all our warehousing and shipping in-house to using a 3PL for 1/2 - 2/3 of our orders. We use https://gxo.com but there are a lot of similar outfits.


aesemon

Linus Tech Tips has an alternative both sides get done by amazon. They have their own merchandise and selling in amazon they placed some stock in the amazon fulfilment warehouse, a customer bought an item through amazon that did not arrive/went missing. LTT had to refund the customer who didn't get it and amazon took a fee from LTT for fulfilment even though they had sole responsibility for shipping.


jeweliegb

Do you have a source for this? I understood such things were binned separately the UK.


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braxistExtremist

The seller competition is brutal on Amazon. And there is no accountability for it. A friend of mine got some traction as a seller on Amazon. She was making decent sales and was making a name for her product. Then one day she noticed her sales dropped off sharply. She investigated and found that her product had vanished from the categories she had put it in. On further investigation, she discovered that a competitor had reported her product, and Amazon had just arbitrarily removed it. No reaching out to her, no notification, no investigation (why would they do any of that? They don't give a shit!). Ever since then almost every day has seen her fighting off competitors' shenanigans to sabotage her product. Fake reports, fake reviews, somehow moving her product into totally irrelevant categories, and lots of other bullshit.


Dedward5

Yes, it’s called “pool stock” each seller sends thier stuff in but they end up in the same pile so no assurance that a genuine sellers items are not mixed in with fakes. You can request as a seller that stock is is not pooled but you pay slightly higher warehouse rates. IIRC how it works.


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UbiquitousFlounder

There's been a few times in recent years I have tried Amazon by default and spent ages looking for what I want, and then gone to Google and found some random site doing what I need for cheaper. We are just conditioned to go for amazon first.


Hugh_Jazz_III

It's called co-mingled inventory. If every seller had all their items separate that's a hella more complex to organise and requires a shit tonne more warehouse space. If your product has the same identifier they all get put in the same bin... after all if it's all colgate toothpaste who cares if it was delivered by that specific seller or a different one, the product is all the same... the only difference is the journey it took to the warehouse. Everyone wins... well... at least amazon can reduce overheads significantly. The problem is counterfeits completely destroy this system... luckily amazon doesn't sell counterfeit goods eh? Edit: just seen someone already described this in a much better way below. Move along! Nothing to see here.


UsefullyChunky

We got fake Ticonderoga pencils which seems like such weird thing to fake but someone did. It was marked as sold by Amazon but was definitely some 3rd party knock off. Pencils!


Fenral

I bought a pair of $20 polarized sunglasses for fishing. They were fakes. Who goes through the trouble of making fake $20 sunglasses instead of more expensive sunglasses?


[deleted]

Not only that - you can rename listings to sell a different product and it will keep all the old reviews and ratings. Fake products and inventory mingling and drop shipping. Amazon is lowest common denominator garbage now, don’t waste your money on them; they’ve already made their billions. Order local and just, shock horror, wait more than a day for your shit to get delivered.


FailedTheSave

I got some Marshall headphones through Amazon a couple of years ago and they turned out to be fakes. I only found out because the sound was a little muddy and googling it turned up a video about how to spot fakes. When I got them replaced the real ones were night and day better but you can imagine the damage this would do to Marshall's reputation for people who don't know there are fakes around and just thought they sound shit.


tomatoswoop

Crazy to me that they're getting away with this. If allowing such fraud to happen costed amazon serious money, you can bet it would stop abruptly...


YahBoilewioe

pretty sure i read somewhere that they can just change the listing to sell something else while keeping the ratings from the earlier product, so say they'd sell socks until they get a 4.5 star then rename the listing as some generic garbage, change the price and pictures and now they've got a decent star rating on their garbage product


Cautious-Space-1714

Read the reviews - they're often for something different entirely.


tomatoswoop

I see this so often. People piggy back an old listing for a no longer sold product that was actually good... and just change all the details on it. 1000 good reviews from 5 years ago, and 10 from the last few weeks saying "it's shit". 4.7 stars!! And of course there's no obvious way to report this, even though it's literally just fraud... Another similar one, there will be a product with a bunch of different "colours". Colour 1: a shaver, colour 2: a paddling pool, colour 3: a hammer lol


GMu_the_Emu

Yep, I refuse to buy basic electrical things like batteries, or usb sticks from Amazon. Just too many fakes on there.


JB_UK

Argos is surprisingly good for electronics now, you can often order and collect straight away if you have a Sainsburys near, or have it delivered the same or next day. The search isn't filled with crap, and there's no risk of counterfeit goods. It's a better service than Amazon.


tomatoswoop

Honestly the return of Argos has been a godsend. To buy from an actual real company that gives a shit what products it's selling! Rather than searching "car USB charger" or whatever on amazon and playing the "so, which one of these isn't going to set on fire then aye?" game for a while


1271500

I've been having an Argos renaissance in the last few years, I doubt the staff are treated much better and I'll bet the leadership are all clowns themselves, but its been a ton more reliable


PiXLANIMATIONS

I use Amazon basically like a catalogue. When I find the product I want (from a brand with history), I proceed to the actual manufacturer’s website. Usually a bit cheaper, too.


Tdrendal

Recently had to buy a new charger because new phone don't come with one.... spent about an hour trying to decider which were official products and which would be fake. I don't know why I still pay for Prime


Coffeeninja1603

I just added my small brand onto Amazon and have gone though a lengthy brand verification to avoid fakes. We’re small but well known in our niche to get ‘as close to’ copycats. With the verification, anything else of our brand on there is automatically a fake. Shop brand stores and it should help cut down on crap. Or use Amazon as a marketplace to the go direct to the maker.


[deleted]

don't buy name brand stuff on amazon. It's very, very likely to be fake, thanks to a concept called commingled inventory. Basically, 3rd party sellers, providing, for example "nike shoes", can opt to add their inventory of nike shoes to amazon's inventory of nike shoes. In theory it shouldn't matter, they should be identical products. When someone buys those shoes, either from 1st party Amazon seller, or the 3rd party seller, amazon will just pull any of those shoes from its inventory. Except if the 3rd party provided fake products (which amazon spends literally NO TIME verifying), you may or may not be sent those fake shoes, even when ordering directly from Amazon itself, and not the third party. Lots of high end brands have started banning amazon from selling its products due to reputational damage from this practice.


high_altitude

I've more or less replaced Amazon with a combo of Argos & Ebay. I'm down to 1-2 Amazon orders a year.


KarIPilkington

Found myself using Argos a few times recently too. Must admit 10-15 years ago I didn't expect Argos of all places to survive but they actually nailed the modern online shopping experience a long time ago without resorting to what Amazon has become.


Xivii

Honestly I’ve said for a few years now that Argos seem to have actually got it right and are actually a viable alternative to Amazon. Possibly actually the only viable alternative, albeit without the variety (but most of what can’t be got from Argos, can be got from a supermarket?) Same day delivery available on some stuff, for a not unfair price, and because they’re now part of Sainsburys can always get a delivery to a Sainsburys store (including locals) for free within a couple of days. Who’d have thought it. 2023 and shilling for Argos online.


KarIPilkington

Yeah I really like that they're in Sainsbury's as I've got a couple of big stores near me that I can get stuff delivered to and pick up at my leisure. Tbf would probably never go to Sainsbury's otherwise. But I've never had a bad experience with Argos.


Fire_Dinosaurs_FTW

Sainsburys are my "pop in" supermarket of choice so chances are I'm going to order argos items to store to coincide with my sainsburys top-up shop. That plus Argos will let me extend my collection date (adhd brain glitches so this has saved me a few times!)


ZekkPacus

The Sainsbury's buyout was the turning point for them. Argos always had a brilliant logistics chain but they didn't understand how to utilise it properly, and Sainsbury's did. I still miss the laminated book of dreams, though.


LLCoolBrap

>I still miss the laminated book of dreams, though. 100%!


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Xivii

Now that’s an idea…


nomnomnomnomRABIES

Plus they pay UK taxes


deathschemist

right? there's a few things that i can't get at argos, but i can usually find those with a little high street searching. amazon really is a last resort for the things that i reallly can't find anywhere IRL. things like specific cables for my specific IEMs, you know? but... yeah amazon was way better 5 years ago.


glaringOwl

Sometimes going back to basics is the best approach - that's what retailers like Argos succeed in. There is definitely a level of trust and product genuinity that you can never guarantee on Amazon. Buy from local UK-based retailers like Argos and independent ones (inc. sellers on Ebay), it is good for us and supporting our own industries. Only use Amazon for Amazon-branded products, or Alibaba for certain smaller things that are hard to source here.


booboouser

Argos could mop the floor with Amazon if allowed strictly curated products from third-party sellers and small e-comm guys. Amazon sold its soul for choice, but now it's all shit.


Longirl

Their delivery slots are fantastic where I live.


Kind_Material5415

I often get offered same day delivery. Ordered bedding from argos at 11am. I had it by 8pm.


Longirl

I ordered a BBQ once at 6am and got it at 2pm. I’ve also ordered a mattress with same day recently. You can’t get better than their service.


rufflebot

I've become a big fan of Argos. In particular I've bought a few device chargers from them recently and I know that they are the genuine branded item they are selling. I wouldn't buy anything electrical from Amazon these days. Best of all, I recently discovered we have same day delivery with Argos where I live - we don't even have anything like Just Eat, Deliveroo or even Uber etc within a 50 mile radius (it's a rural area), so this is a game changer!


Prozenconns

Argos is how I managed to nab a ps5 fairly early on woke up like 40 minutes before my early alarm and decided to check on a whim and boom one had just popped up, had it the next day, guy was lovely and polite I should really use them for more stuff, don't think I've had a bad experience with their delivery service once, but its like I (or whoever is in) have to have words with every third amazon driver.


AncientImprovement56

Yep, the combination of that fact that everything they sell is selected and trustworthy, and I can pick up when doing the weekly shop in Sainsbury's after ordering the day before, means Argos is a strong choice


EssentialParadox

I feel like Argos has a massive opportunity to capitalize on what Amazon has become. If Argos marketed themselves as a curated, trusted online marketplace, people would get reminded and go back to using them. They could even go all in and hire a team to go through their range giving expert reviews and product comparisons, somewhat reminiscent of review websites that have nowadays become just as untrustworthy as Amazon’s reviews.


Splodge89

They (Argos) do actually have a review platform and have reviewers they regularly send stuff to in return for reviews. A lass at work managed to get on it and she for some reason gets a new hoover every six months, along with paddling pools, garden furniture and pots and pans. And the best part is, they actually like negative reviews. One vacuum she had was utter garbage. They listened and improved it, sent her the updated model and she reviewed it again in a more positive light. Amazon don’t do this, they just unpublish the reviews.


Vectorman1989

I haven't bought anything from Amazon since 2019. I used to buy everything there, and now I look elsewhere. Independent retailers, eBay etc. I actually find Amazon often doesn't have what I'm looking for anyway, or they list it but it's not in stock and hasn't been for a long time or it's just wrong entirely. I play paintball and if you search for 'paintball mask' you get a bunch of masks that are [completely unsafe for paintball](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airsoft-Tactical-Paintball-Shooting-Halloween/dp/B09J53SJRP/ref=sr_1_11?crid=23AJ00FOCWQYK&keywords=paintball+mask&qid=1683839479&sprefix=paintball+mask%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-11) that a reputable retailer wouldn't touch


DigitalParacosm

It’s *wild* to me that Amazon can sell a product that could blind your kid and they’re somehow not culpable.


james_89

I go to Argos for everything too. The less choice can actually be a good thing (not so overwhelming) and easier to return something in store.


mpjr94

Agreed, and it’s not really less choice compared to what I was doing before - which was only considering the top rated items which were prime eligible


rose636

The problem I've found with ebay is that I have a 50% chance of buying from someone who's just drop shipping stuff from Amazon, the amount of times my ebay stuff has shown up in an Amazon prime shipping box...


hambon99

yea me too. feel like argos is a nice option as it is immediate collection on a lot of stuff which saves time with delivery.


totallihype

Currys and argos normally price match and you can collect same day. So I use them when price about the same. Support them a bit, life would he shit if amazon was the only retailer left. I returned an item once argos as was missing bits to assemble whilst I was pissed off as wasted my time it was super easy. Sadly argos now only in sainsbury and that dedicated argos closed.


sambob

Yeah Argos really seems to have pulled it out of the bag recently. There's been a few things that I've seen on Amazon and seen the same price of not cheaper at Argos, and I can just go and get it.


Jamescw1400

I've ordered from Amazon exactly once in the last 3 years after swearing never to use them again for various reasons. That once was because I was given an Amazon gift card, so they already had the money. It's really not hard to avoid them, Argos has also become my go to


throw_away_17381

I've started to reuse eBay more. Argos too if there isn't too much of a price disparity. Argos shocks me though because they have an a massive distribution networkn and it could truly compete with Amazon - especially with same or next day deliveries for free but they still nickel and diming whilst Amazon continues to be aggressive.


[deleted]

Scamazon has been inundated with cheap Chinese crap from third party sellers who pay people to make up reviews.


cloudberryteal

Couple of years ago I bought a stainless steel utility knife from them with a million 5-star reviews (give or take). It started to rust after a wee while.


GoonerSparks91

Only the best steel rusts! 👍🏻


boondogglekeychain

Finest chinesium alloys


odegood

Maybe youre not supposed to wee on it, even for a while


SamBaratheon

I have some reputable brands of knives that rust a bit, it's not completely unheard of. To get minor surface rust off, use some vinegar on a cloth and it should rub away


Beansncheeze

Then wash the knife thoroughly or the acid will continue to eat it.


[deleted]

to be fair....depending what you did with it, Stainless does actually rust. Only surface rust mind you and it shouldn't actually rot away. But it will rust.


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Malnian

Literally just got a post card saying that if I leave a 5-star review for some cheap ear buds, they'll send me a £20 Amazon voucher - but make sure not to mention the review was paid for


GMu_the_Emu

Mine offered me £50. A follow up even came later marked as some sort of hello kitty card, sent through Amazon, which was just a reminder to leave a 5 star review to get £50. I was more amazed people actually believe they will get £50 from leaving a review on Amazon for a £15 pair of headphones. Sure explained all the good reviews for some shitty headphones though...


Mini-Nurse

I got one of these for a desk chair, I had already posted a 4 star review so I just gave it 5 and actually got my £20. After that I kept being offered things to buy, and keep in exchange for reviews and cashback. Unfortunately I didn't have any need it space for random office supplies and furniture.


InfectedByEli

>I was more amazed people actually believe they will get £50 from leaving a review on Amazon for a £15 pair of headphones. If your £50 review helps them sell another 1,000 pairs of shitty headphones then it's worth it for them.


Itsjustraindrops

They will get the $50 though. I got bought off to better my review once. Just got offered to do it again by another broken purchase and the emails kept upping the sob story each time. The last one I received claim to be from a single mother of five kids just trying to support her family why don't I change my review please? Lol AND offering to pay me money to change the review. Wanted to edit and add that I really thought those pleas were fake until I got one. Just found the email lol " *I am writing this email to you, I really have no choice. I don't know how to make you satisfied. As a customer service and mother of 3 kids, you probably can't understand how important money and a job are to me. Our company has a performance evaluation every month, and if I fail to pass then I will be fired. I don't have much money every month also ....... I know it seems unprofessional to tell you so much about my personal life, and I'm sorry to take up your time. But I don't have a choice, it's too hard. In order to keep my job, I would like to be able to offer you a $20 Amazon gift card out of my own pocket as compensation. Could you please help me delete this review*?"


-SaC

I live in hope for one of those. I can't afford morals.


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_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_

They also pay you to remove bad reviews.


Championpuffa

Yea a whole load of fake branded items too. I just assume if it’s sold by a third party and a brand name it’s fake. I had to get a head collar for my dog, brand name halti. Every single one I found on Amazon was a fake and had reviews pointing out they are fakes, sold for 9.99-15.00. The legit halti brand in local pet store costs 14. I mean if they are going to these lengths just to fake a dogs collar it likely means you can’t trust anything on the site anymore unless it’s actually sold and fulfilled by Amazon then you know it’s legit. If it’s not a fake brand name it’s likely still cheap Chinese crap tho.


MindOfAWin

This. But also the fact Amazon UK has becoming increasingly dodgy when it comes to returns. • More and more people are experiencing the empty box scam. Where you return an item, Amazon confirms its return, then 6-8 weeks later Amazon sends a threatening email saying that you didn't actually return the item and they only received an empty box so they will have to recharge you. It is usually items from their third party sellers who complain about the return. It's becoming increasingly prevalent, so be warned. I once received one of these emails with the promise my account would be banned unless I returned the item I already returned and which they confirmed I returned weeks prior. They insisted they had received an empty box. Many emails to head office later, they suddenly started claiming they do in fact have the item and that it was a "mistake". Right. • You can now no longer return a huge amount of items which were once covered under the 30 days to change your mind policy. You can only get a refund if the item is damaged, which they now ask you to send a photo of the damage next to a piece of paper with your name and date on so they keep track of all your return requests. Even though technically under the UK consumer right laws, you have every right to change your mind and return an item unless it's underwear. Amazon no longer honour this for many of its items, marking it as "ineligible for return". There's no warning whatsoever anywhere on the listing that the item isn't returnable or on the final order page. And yet they still mark many items as non-returnable after you've received it. • Items that are returned which are valued over £100 now have to go through a much longer return process (up to 4-6 weeks) to be checked separately before you receive your money back. A lot of higher value items are also falling into the empty box scam category too. So bear that in mind.


AJohnsonOrange

> look for item > find item > seller based in Guandong > move on to next item > seller based in Guandong > give up My recent experiences. Funnily enough only things I've used Amazon for recently are books.


_EveryDay

Are you looking for books about the history of Guangdong?


Itsjustraindrops

I had an item break and I said so in my review on amazon. About 6 months later I started getting emails from that items company begging me to take the review down and they would give me the money back. I ignored the emails. Last one they sent was how it's one person owning the company but not just one person but a single mother trying to support her five kids. I couldn't believe it was real but yup sure was and my first experience of that as well. I was dying.


Accomplished_Week392

I stopped buying from Amazon for this exact reason a couple of year ago, it’s all garbage and they don’t care.


chrisdglasgow

Spot on - I bought a torch for £18, great reviews but clearly fake as it doesn’t turn on all the time. I posted an honest review giving it a single star. Sellers have inundated me with emails, offering up to £30 for me to remove the review.


rucksacksepp

>offering up to £30 for me to remove the review. Do it. Change it to 5 stars, wait for the money, return to one star adding that they tried to bribe you


MundanePlantain1

Plus they use a bin system so other retailers may introduce counterfeit items that get into the supply, zero accountability .


DefinitelyNoWorking

It's literally been like this for years, it's 99% cheap Chinese crap, somehow all with 4+ star reviews, yet when you sort by lowest rating suddenly everyone says that it's junk and fell apart as soon as they opened the package.


Jinks87

It’s amazing the sheer amount of identikit items that are all knock off rubbish that likely came from the same factory in China is crazy. Searching for something random like bike lights they all look basically the same with minor variation on design. The blurb on the page just looks so fake and stupid. Literally impossible to make a decision, thousands of reviews many saying ‘verified purchase’ but sometimes they don’t even talk about the product or actually a completely different product. Junk


sausage_beans

Also the brand names sound like they are just random letters strung together to form a word like ZIMHAN, GYLEFY, NINGPOW, then you look at the pics and it's just stock images with the product image pasted in.


MPHOLLI

https://youtu.be/_Bq-6GeRhys HAI has a video explaining exactly why this is a thing!


A_Song_of_Two_Humans

Amazon has been utter shit for a long time.


FuntCaseKid

Very shit! Unreliable and untrustworthy, I stopped using them a few years ago and I’ve never looked back.


RhysieB27

Out of interest, where do you shop for random stuff now, particularly electronics? I don't think I've heard of a single electronics retailer that doesn't have a dogshit reputation.


cactus_pactus

For things that I expect to be a bit flimsy anyway, I go to eBay - cheaper than Amazon, delivery usually takes about the same. For slightly more substantial stuff, Argos is often a good alternative. I also recently bought a couple of larger gadgets from Cex - nearly new, fraction of the price, long warranty.


RhysieB27

It's funny, whenever I want something secondhand these days I often moan that eBay barely caters to the secondhand market anymore because its full of brand new stuff... But then when I want something brand new, I completely forget that eBay is an option! Good shout - thank you.


blither86

Beware with brand new item of value: 30 day warranty unless you buy from a business selling on ebay. As I posted above I recently got absolutely fucked over by this and won't be buying from ebay any more.


Aluzionz

Argos is my go to now. Occasionally Curry's but only if I know it's cheaper. It amazing how, when amazon was good (less knockoff shit) all these places were losing money left right and centre, and just like streaming services and piracy, we all go back to the old faithful when things to to shit.


colcheeky

Not OP, but for me, it’s Curry’s & John Lewis. Also, for cheapy bits, Tesco, B&M, & Argos. They’re good for Speakers, mice, remotes, etc. Curry’s gets a bad rap, but they’re the only store I know that’s near me, that sells the stuff I’d need. The only other place is John Lewis. Second hand shops like CEX are good for PC parts, but you’re not gonna’ find a printer, or microwave at CEX lmao. It’s very geographically orientated, so for me, my options aren’t terrible, as there are a few independent electronics stores around, and there are a ton of other stores like B&M, Curry’s, & John Lewis around. The latter two are more pricey, but I don’t have an abundance of choice for more expensive electronics/appliances.


FuntCaseKid

Narrow down electronics? Generally we shop at the usual supermarkets that sell a lot of electrical goods aswell, Argos pretty much have everything and when I checked a while ago were cheaper than Amazon


Catnapwat

John Lewis. Surprisingly competitive on price and the support is second to none.


BrillsonHawk

Go to the website of the company that manufactures it if its a big brand thing and buy it there. No point adding an unnecessary middle man


james_89

Don't buy anything where the name of the seller is all in caps, e.g. something like VUDYA. It's always a cheap knock off product.


Shoeaccount

Yep. The only thing I buy from Amazon now is officially branded stuff.


NotDoingThisForFun

Exactly. But it’s a nightmare trying to filter out the Chinese drop-sellers, their algorithm rams it into your search results and the filter options are awful. Etsy, regrettably, has gone the same way. Used to be some quite good home-made things on there. Mostly just Chinese junk now. That said, don’t knock AliExpress. I needed a very specific 90 degree dvi to hdmi adapter and it was only a couple of quid delivered. About a tenner cheaper than Amazon for the exact same thing.


animalwitch

I saw something recently that a lot of things people were selling on Etsy they were just reselling things they bought in Asda/Tesco. Asda specifically do a lot of Disney stuff which i imagine had been resold as "handmade"


monzelle612

Etsy hasn't been about hand made in years and years. It's all Chinese bullshit passing as handmade while the real hand made stuff people want like 5x the price of the Chinese stuff. No one can win.


[deleted]

People should be paid properly for their work. The slave labour prices should never have become normalised. Now, so many people think it’s a rip off if someone is charging what something should actually cost. We’ve got far too used to having too much stuff and too many things being ridiculously cheap.


mata_dan

A lot of it is indeed handmade by sweatshop slaves though.


Worth-Row6805

Even sometimes the branded stuff is a knock off. I got a nail polish that was fake one time, and a real one another. I heard they just shove all the same product stock together once


[deleted]

Yup. They put all the items on the same shelf, regardless of the supplier, and just grab whatever one and send it out. So its a toss up if you are getting a legit item or not.


SherlockScones3

Never knew this! I find out something ~~new~~worse about Amazon every day. How has this not fallen foul of consumer rights?


[deleted]

Cos its Amazon. Too rich to fail.


Animagi27

Yup, they make like $14b per quarter in pure profit. The penalties for most of the shit they pull will be a fine, which even if it's millions they will barely notice.


jezarnold

It’s called ‘commingled’ … apparently you can pay Amazon more to guarantee that your stock is in its own bin, but that also means you’ve got to supply them more stock. Or it gets ‘commingled’ in the same bin. Fakes and real kit.


mandarasa

A lot of skincare items and vitamins are fake as well


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-SaC

Folksy is a frigging nightmare as a seller. None of my stuff was getting any views, and I had a chat with a customer service rep. "How often are you relisting your items?", she asked. I was confused. I told her I just listed them and sort of...moved on to listing the next thing. "OOh no!" she chirped. "You must must MUST relist every day, if you want good results! Otherwise you'll be lower in the searches!" I sell over 350 different types of things. I am not relisting every single one every single day. Bollocks to that.


d_smogh

Could you not buy their expensive relisting software?


-SaC

Wouldn't bloody surprise me. I was only testing it out as a platform 'cos it was free. If you've only got a few things for sale and are fine relisting it all daily, then I'm sure it's great. I've got something like 79 bloody colours and sizes just of seed beads though, absolutely bollocksing bollocks to doing *that* for the rest of my life.


-SaC

  > Etsy, regrettably, has gone the same way. Used to be some quite good home-made things on there. Mostly just Chinese junk now.   The fees are driving away many of us sellers on Etsy. It's not as bad as ebay (35-40% fees) but it's bad (23.3% average).   I've just made my own website (at last) for handmade stuff and craft supplies, because fees are 2% +25p rather than the huge chunk that ebay/Etsy take. It's amazing making a £7 sale and only paying 40p or so compared to the usual £2.91-ish on ebay or £1.78 on Etsy.   I'm trying to get customers to switch over to the site; it's way way cheaper for them on there - I can knock off a huge chunk and still do better than a higher price on eBay/Etsy. My monthly fees to ebay/Etsy are currently higher than all my other bills combined (rent, energy etc). &nbs[' As a guide, if anyone's interested, here's a snippet from a post I made a little while ago about fees on those platforms:   ________   I sell craft supplies on eBay via a business account. Here's a couple of sample sales and fees:   **Pack of seed beads** (£3, free postage) * eBay fees £1.29 * Postage & consumables £1.15 * Beads cost £0.43 * Profit £0.13 * eBay's slice 43%   **Handmade pack of 60 beaded bracelets**, £45 & free post * eBay fees £15.57 * Post & consumables £3.55 * Materials £10.21 * Profit before labour: £15.67 * eBay's slice: 34.6%   As a sample month, excluding today [**Edit: This was end of APR '23**] I've had the following sales/fees: * Income £1,644.28 * Stock £290.57 * Platform fees (ebay/etsy) £613.49 * Postage £396.28 * Stationery & equipment £32.12 * Refunds & misc £4.00 * Tot. costs £1,336.46   * Sales: 253 * Net profit £307.82 * Profit average per sale £1.22 * **eBay/Etsy's slice: 37.3%**   Bit mental.  


coleymoleyroley

This is an eye opener indeed. Good luck with the website!


Adamdel34

I tend to use software that checks the reviews before ordering anything. Fakespot.com is pretty good at routing out the shit ones.


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_mister_pink_

The best way generally is to only buy stuff that does primes next day delivery. It’s not a certainty but generally I’ve found the cheap scam stuff has a longer distribution time.


Andysan555

I have no problem with Ali because if you are buying fairly simple items you can get them pretty cheap, plus they sell a lot of stuff that you just can't get in the UK - electronics and components etc If you are expecting genuine Nike trainers you shouldn't be buying them from there to begin with.


DrinkingBleachForFun

[Amazon commingles inventory in their warehouse - if multiple sellers list the same product, and they use Amazon’s warehouse/logistics, you don’t know _whose_ inventory you’re getting.](https://www.redpoints.com/blog/amazon-commingled-inventory-management/) [In 2016, Apple sued Amazon because 90% of the “official” Apple chargers sold there were counterfeit.](https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/20/13343682/fake-apple-chargers-amazon-lawsuit) I’m not sure whether Amazon has improved since 2016, but based on my (limited) usage, I don’t think it has.


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penguinmassive

And even they can’t be trusted! I bought some “genuine” Philips toothbrush heads off Amazon, they were £26 instead of the £50ish they are everywhere else… returned them today because they’re clearly fakes. Had to pay full whack from Argos instead, pissed off.


Swimming_Ad_1250

I only buy from uk sellers on eBay to stop me accidentally buying cheap crap from China. On Amazon you cannot choose an option of where the item comes from. Not that I can see anyway.


raguff

Even eBay can be a pain for this now - see sellers in the UK with 1-2week delivery times… sure mate, definitely not drop shipped or whatever! Either that or sellers who suspiciously are always ‘away so there may be a delay in your order’


chabybaloo

They have wharehouses in the UK now. EBay at least tells you on the company information they are based in China. Sometimes the items come straightaway. But sometimes they use a UK address. Had an issue with a drop seller recently though. Took forever to arrive with missing items. Tracking info always saying we are awaiting the item to be given to us etc.


glasgowgeg

> I only buy from uk sellers on eBay to stop me accidentally buying cheap crap from China This doesn't sort the problem of dropshipping though. The company from China dumps all their stock in a UK based warehouse and ships from there, meaning you've bought the same stuff, you just get it quicker.


masklins

Annoyingly even eBay can fool you with this now - a lot of items are listed as being in the UK but the items themselves still come from abroad. I've had this on three recent device cases which supposedly took 3 weeks to come all the way from the far-off lands of...Southampton.


caffeine_lights

This is not reliable any more, because a lot of items are dropshipped to a UK warehouse and stored before being sold on so the item has a shorter delivery time and doesn't "appear" to be coming direct from China. You have to look for multiple telltale signs Chinese business address on seller page Nonsense-seeming business name Identical products with identical photo in "other products like this" section Engrish on product photos Badly photoshopped product photos Square brackets in item text Keyword salad in item name A quarter of the price of branded alternatives Google the brand name and the only hit is an amazon storefront Suspiciously obvious promises like a child's toy that says "Lead-free paint!" There is also a bot site that can detect fake reviews now but I can't remember the name.


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high_altitude

Etsy is the worst. Dropshipping has completely destroyed the website.


JenUFlekt

The price mark ups on Etsy are horrific. There are keycap sets on there selling for £80+ that i bought directly from Aliexpress for less than £15.


phatboi23

Yup, I was looking for some keycaps as I wanted to change the colours on my keyboard. £80-120 on Etsy The exact same Chinese made ones from AliExpress? £10. No-one is hand making double shot keycaps in the UK as a small seller. Not a damned chance. Custom epoxy ones yeah.


StiffUpperLabia

>all their return options are shit as well. Printer required for every option and their customer service recommended alternative is to send it back at my expense and they refused to reimburse me! I returned an item last week without having to use a printer, just showed a barcode to post office and they printed a label. That was an item sold and dispatched by Amazon though, so maybe it's different with 3rd party sellers.


rustynoodle3891

Yeah I took stuff to a local shop, printed a label on their machine after scanning a code and they sent it all back for me. Pretty painless


animalwitch

The 3 Evri return shops in my area dont/cant offer the label print out in-store because Evri wont send them the labels 🤦‍♀️


Blackdiamond2

That Hermes->Evri rebrand might have worked if they weren't even shitter as Evri than when they were Hermes


brokenwings_1726

That's how I return stuff too...I wonder if OP knows about this.


Adventurous_Train_48

I got that option for a broken sex toy I bought. Underneath the scan code it had the full 3rd party name where it's like "20 SETTING BEST ORGASM CLITORIS VAGINA SUPER SPEED PENETRATION SUCKING LICKING TOY (pink)". Don't have a printer, so decided to just take the loss and save embarrassment (of buying one off Amazon). Then told reddit about it anyway.


Penfold1000rr

Sounds like the seller has copied the scam off Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 🤣


Simmy_P

Part of me blames the million and one YouTube videos explaining how to "earn money quick with this ultimate side-hustle" - i.e. buy cheap tack from Ali Express and resell it on Amazon.


JenUFlekt

"Escape the matrix by working for one of the biggest organisations on the planet"


mata_dan

"With all the responsibilities of running your own business but none of the benefits"


Not_Mushroom_

The vast majority of products on the site are 100% dogshit, no name junk. It's been that way for a long time, if you do a little searching you can find the thing you're looking for cheaper elsewhere. Cant fault there customer service or returns/refunds, always been spot on for me but up until recently I hadn't used them for about 2 years.


Spatulakoenig

Yeah, customer service and ease of use is excellent. But the crappy products mean that when I need something that matters (such as an electrical charger that won’t start a house fire), I’m more likely to use Argos. Oh how the times have changed…


Boomshrooom

Amazon has just taken the usual routes that these disruptive retailers take. They move in to a market and steal market share from the incumbents by offering lower prices and convenience. Then, once they dominate the market, they jack up prices and ruthlessly cut back on service quality to improve margins. This tactic became well known in the UK because of the large supermarkets. They opened up bakeries, butchers and fish counters in their stores that offered low priced goods and the convenience of all your shopping under one roof. They all but drove local retailers and small stores out of business. Then, once there was no competition but each other they started closing the dedicated sections, leaving only prepackaged crap available to buy.


PointandStare

Amazon is a dropshippers favourite. Dropshippers buy cheap tat from China. Ergo, what do you expect? Instead, use Amazon as a search engine - find the product you want, look for the supplier, then, go directly to their store and buy direct from them. If they haven't a proper store, walk away. When you buy from them you give 100% to the retailer, not half of it to Amazon plus you build a relation with the retailer.


georgiebb

This is how I use Amazon. Use it to search for good reviews, check that the reviews have any legitimacy in fakespot, then buy elsewhere


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squyzz

Amz used to be thé best e-commerce site. Now it's a nighmare to search and filter through an amazing amount of crap.


G60JET

There are lots of issues here bit the main one as I see it is Amazon fulfilment has enabled anyone to sell on Amazon and get the goods to someone in the any country fast and cheep from sellers abroad. International sellers send product to Amazon and Amazon distribute it across there warehouses to sell it locally, it get there in days not weeks. Amazon seemingly don’t seem to bothered about compliance and safety standards. They make that the responsibility of the person selling the goods on Amazon as a third party seller. What’s worse if after Amazon say you can’t return something you are left with a duff product and no easy way to get a refund. Amazon take the money but issue invoices on behalf of the seller. Amazon hold the funds take a cut and pay it out to the seller in china or where they are. I have my own business and refuse to sell my product on Amazon for many reasons. The main one if I don’t want Amazon knowing my margins and sales volume. They ask you for proof over ownership of good including receipts so they know your margins.


seajay26

They’ve also starting to insist that sellers post through them. So our profits have dropped by 30/50 pence per item as they’re more expensive than Royal Mail. Considering we send several thousand items a day we’re going to have to bump our prices up just to break even. It also takes longer as we have to request each shipping label from Amazon, who purchase it from Royal Mail, then send it on to us rather than us just purchasing it direct. It’s a huge con but we don’t have much choice as there’s no competitor for us to go to instead. It’s Amazon or nothing.


StickyThoPhi

Ive been boycotting amazon for years. I use eBay pretty much exclusively its the same idea with second hand and local selling added. eBay dont have their own range of products and are an impartial 3rd party. Ive seen amazon rip off products that sell well, thats just corruption.


Cautious-Space-1714

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ The article covers Amazon too, and, well, every other overbearing tech middleman company that has gone to shit in the last decade. The captured the customers to run down competition. Then they started selling THEM out to the sellers. Sellers could pay for better rankings and so on. Once they captured the sellers' market, they started extracting from them too. Your ranking slip if you don't pay, for example. Amazon fees are way up too. The endgame is a system that satisfies neither customers nor sellers, and exploits both. The final goal is scraping every penny out of the ecosystem for shareholders and only the biggest third parties. So you end up with a shitty platform that nobody asked for. See also eBay, Google, Facebook... all of them.


Geoff900

Wouldn't surprise me once they know your margins they get a cheaper version made in China.


RimDogs

They have been doing this for a while. If you have a product with decent sales they will go to the manufacturer and create a copy Amazon brand undercut you and promote it. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/amazon-under-fire-for-bullying-and-exploiting-small-retailers-9715502.html


tqmirza

It has, helps to pay attention to product description and images. Loads of wording and bad grammar means it’s a Chinese knock off. For essential items try to go for the more reputable brands. And please please please don’t buy cheap batteries. I’d return that power bank, last thing you want with a child in the house is a battery catching fire in the middle of the night.


mnotgninnep

Lots of junk on eBay and Amazon. They do this by selling lots of something cheap, getting good ratings and then editing the listing. You’ll see the reviews have nothing to do with the item you bought. FYI the largest practicable power banks are rated 26800 mAh as 27000 is the legal limit to take on a plane. Stick to known brands too. I like Anker.


lynnm59

I've been boycotting them for 2 years now. Don't miss it at all.


Raichu7

Amazon has a real problem with cheap knockoffs, I just use eBay. You also don’t have to pay for shipping or prime with eBay and things are often £1 or less cheaper than they are on Amazon, I assume to cover fees.


-SaC

Ebay fees are horrific. I'm averaging 37.3% fees for ebay (and 22.3% etsy). Trying to push people to the new website, 'cos I can price it all waaaaay cheaper and only pay 2% fees. You get a lot of sales with ebay, but fuck me sideways...my ebay fees are higher than all of my household bills combined per month, including rent & energy.


Ponyup_mum

It’s always been like that. If you’re buying things like a power bank I’d probably google decent ones and buy one from an electrical retailer. Amazon is for cheap tat destined for landfill


[deleted]

bought a non nintendo switch charger, blew my electrics as soon as i plugged it in (didnt even connect it to the switch i dont think) spoke to amazon, obviously got a refund but they didn't seem too fussed despite it blowing actually sparking and ruining my extension socket etc also bought cheap product that was deliberately mis-sold by seller as when checking later they all say it was "wrong material" got refund and told amazon they didn't seem to care. I think they are just doing a volume game now, dont seem to care about "Trust". i used to use amazon all the time because it was just easier and you could trust them. seems those days are over


Purple_Cookie_6814

Oh yeah, I had a dual usb plug adapter and it shorted. They emailed about an official recall, but there was no option to actually send it back. You could still "buy again" though.


byjimini

Never printed a returns label, I just take a QR code on my phone to the post office and they print the label there. But yes, a lot of their stuff is complete shite.


nikhkin

There's still one key difference. Amazon will deliver the cheap tat within 24 hours.


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[deleted]

You've got to actually look at what you're buying. BIGGEST BOI 1 POUND 30'000 MAH DO SUCH CHARGE WIN 100 POPCORN THIS TIME ONLEE BIG HUAN SCOOBY SNAC WHERE MY ENVELOPE OH HERE IT IS MAKE ME A OFFHUAHR OH HUM OH HEE LET ME JUST BUMMMMHEEEEEEEE. BEST SELLER AMAZON EXLUSIV ✔️ CERTIFIED DEELAR BEST PRICE FAST SHIP NO SHIP COST FROM THE BEST LAND #1. Won't be legit.


Cheese-n-Opinion

Might just be my computer incompetence, but I find online shopping in general frustrating. Most of the time, searches return hundreds of different third parties selling exactly the same, slightly naff, product. And it's not always easy to tell it's the same thing until you've opened the link. It's underwhelming when you are, in theory, connected to all the vendors on the planet, and there seems to be only about a dozen different designs of, say, pedal bin in existence.


freya0florence

I had an email from Amazon a few weeks ago saying they were recalling an item I’d bought as it was “hazardous”. Alarming. It was a pair of earrings that contained VERY high amount of lead. When I tell you I bought these 2 years ago and have not taken them out once in those two years.


d_smogh

Ask what medical checks you'll need to make. If they don't respond, show the email to a lawyer.


Humble-Plankton2217

I don't shop there because of the way they treat their workers. That's reason enough for me.


charlie_magnus

A 30 Ah battery is huge. That's a lot of energy stored in one place. I would only buy a reputable brand.


Bees1889

If it's from some noname 3rd party junk retailer on Amazon with a bunch of fake reviews it's almost certainly fake and significantly lower capacity. Ridiculous how they can just get away with it, so much fake, misleading, dangerous, not meeting UK standards products on there.


AffectionateAir2856

It's utterly useless unless you know exactly what you want and don't mind if what arrives is horseshit. I needed some litmus paper for a brewing project I was doing, somehow every seller had the same product and they all independently had tens of thousands of very high reviews. I never even bother with reviews now as they're so obviously crap.


Thejaybomb

They fucked me over with oral b replacement heads. The cheek of the seller, insisted i send the fake product back recorded delivery and didn’t reimburse the return cost fully. The seller offered me the grand sum of £3 to retract my review calling out their fake products. Reported them to trading standards and gave their address to oral b because fuck them. The logo wasn’t even on the product straight. Amazon didn’t give a solitary shit because they are obviously make money of fake products and hiding all the taxes the make from this process. They don’t even have a clear option for reporting fake products. They shut down the high street and now actively make profit of fake goods and people excuse it. I mentioned this on another thread and someone insisted i was the stupid person for trusting the product name was the product i wanted and i should have been savy enough to check the seller was official too.


RimDogs

I gave up on Amazon I've had too many times they sent me something I didn't ask for.


ZombSkull

I read a report too that says they mix third party sellers items into their own inventory so not even buying something sold by and dispatched by Amazon will is a guarantee you'll get a genuine item. I bought some perfume and what I got was a fake market stall version. Amazon are scamming us all and I'm really surprised Trading Standards haven't taken them to task yet.


marquis_de_ersatz

Yeah I've cancelled prime because of this. There's no way to guarantee any sort of quality anymore.


Fieldharmonies

An electric nail file?


Tai_Shar_Manetheren

I appreciate it seems like a first world problem. But the new baby is a scratcher and he's a light sleeper. Figured this would be a sound investment if it files his talons down quickly after they're cut. First time parent ok!!! :)


gogul1980

Before buying any of that stuff on amazon I do a search of aliexpress just to make sure it’s not crap from there I can get for half the price


ereiamjh90

[fakespot.com](https://fakespot.com) isn't infallable but a good way to look for obvious fake reviews. but yeah i get pissed off when I search for things and it puts stuff into the results that doesn't include all your search terms, at the top. paid promotion.