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Comment by ninv | Hacker News Reader

8 out of 10 people cannot spot counterfeit goods. I bought a major brand perfume, Sold and fulfilled by Amazon. When i used it after 2 months i was suspicious a. One day i was in Macy's, saw the same perfume (on same price). I tried the tester and i realized that perfume at home is a cheap knock off.

Initially i though that Amazon did not store it properly and warehouse heat must have destroyed the smell. Then i saw one star reviews. For last 6 months people were complaining and getting refund for this perfume. My refund windows was already closed. Anyway, lesson learned. Amazon is a hit or miss these days like eBay.

Here is one example, 84$ Magpul sights. If you have never seen the original product, you cannot spot the difference.

https://www.amazon.com/Magpul-MBUS-Front-Backup-Sight/produc...

edit: Added "Sold and fulfilled by Amazon"

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That Magpul sights link is a great one. Many negative reviews that call out fakes, and name the sellers.

The reviews are from fall of last year, so plenty of time for Amazon to address the issue.

The sellers mentioned are still selling the sights. So, either they were selling fakes, and Amazon doesn't care. Or, they weren't, and it was a commingling issue, but Amazon hasn't fixed the reviews....Innocent parties are being blamed.

Has to be one or the other. Either way, Amazon isn't doing the right thing.

Never buy perfume from Amazon. It's one of the most commonly counterfeited items out there. Go only to the site of the manufacturer or an authorized retailer.

Not to mention grey market items, which are a commonplace in Amazon UK.

If you buy many items from Korea or Japan, expect to get some plain plastic bag without instructions or traces of original packaging.

When I followed your link it says:

Sold by MSP Sales LLC and Fulfilled by Amazon.

I don't know about that particular product but Amazon's inventory can go in and out of stock. Also they do not give themselves the buy box all the time, they do share it with third party sellers.

Amazon does not allow one to create a permanent link to a specific seller. You can only link to the ASIN, which will determines the seller to display on-demand.

Unless the product category or brand is "gated" (and to be fair, many are), meaning it requires pre-approval to list on Amazon, anyone can hitch onto any ASIN by telling Amazon they have that product in stock (if FBA, by sending in "that product").

It changes frequently. I tried the link this morning and it is "Sold by HandAProduct and Fulfilled by Amazon."

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