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Comment by maaaats | Hacker News Reader

> (...) from the millions of independent merchants who sell products through Amazon’s website

It may make Amazon of lot of money, but it has become increasingly frustrating to try to buy products through Amazon. Get thousands of hits on a search. Mostly the same crap through a thousand dropshippers. Used to shop through Amazon because it was consistent and easy. Now it's like shopping on Ebay.

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It gets worse the closer you get to generic items, like usb cables. What’s more annoying is filtering by prime and selecting amazon as the seller doesn’t actually stop marketplace sellers from showing up. All they have to do is be just one cent cheaper than amazons price.

eBay is actually better for "generic" items like USB cables, because at least you know you're getting whatever's in the picture. There's no telling what you'll get from Amazon... unless it's sold+shipped by Amazon.

Even if it’s shipped and sold, because they comingle inventory there’s a chance it won’t be identical. That’s why anker products are listed the way they are. Prevents 3rd parties from coming in and selling fakes.

I don't think Amazon comingles "Sold and shipped by Amazon" inventory. Or at least they didn't use to - do they now?

Purchased a Pure water filter shipped and sold by Amazon for my girlfrend...it arrived yesterday. I go over to her apartment to install it and wow what a surprise. It was a used filter. The filter element was in a ziplock bag. One of the faucet attachments was out of its packaging and the inside of the main unit was wet. It has nearly caused me to not renew Prime this spring.

This is a different but similar problem. The wearhouse employees mark pretty much every return as "sellable" and put it on the shelf if it's in the box it came in. Even if the return reason is "tried it and it doesn't work." Leads to a lot of people getting returned items.

I wrote this is a comment last week:

>Several years ago I sold a memory card via FBA. The buyer returned the card, they said they were returning it because of a defect, they said "card slows down significantly after it gets half full." Amazon's wearhouse receives the return, they mark it as sellable, and then sell it (as new) again!! Clearly its not new, the problem was evident only from using it!...If the return reason is "defective," why would mark as sellable ever be possible?

That's incredible! What stunning dishonesty on their part.

Can't say 100% if its on sold by Amazon products but there have been a lot of reports of shady sellers using this to ship out fakes by faking the manufacturer barcodes. The FBA faq pages list commingling but are not specific about how its applied.

They do. Try to buy OEM oral b toothbrush heads someday. You'll get Chinese fakes even if you buy the ships and sold by Amazon ones.

They always have.

How are Anker products listed?

Sold by Anker but fulfilled by amazon. It supposedly makes sure your product isn't commingled.

I do a lot of shopping on ebay, and lately I've been getting many of my packages from Amazon, so it appears that a lot of ebay sellers are having their fulfillment done by Amazon... havn't had any problems yet, but it could get bad.

For USB cables specifically, I tend to get AmazonBasics cables, which seem likely to be authentic.

It hasn't been an option for USB-C cables though.

Even worse, doesn't Amazon substitute inventory between sellers of the "same" SKU, leading to all sorts of fraud potential? This is one flaming battery on a plane away from being sued out of existence, but I sure don't want to be the person with that battery.

Amazon has actually gotten a few fines from the FAA.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/23/amazon-faa-fine-dangerou...

>Last week, the FAA announced a $350,000 fine for Amazon after the retailer mishandled chemical shipments that resulted in injuries to UPS workers. Today, the agency hit the company with two more fines totaling $130,000 for similar incidents. In 2014, Amazon shipped separate packages, corrosive rust remover and a flammable gas used to clean air conditioners without properly labeling the boxes or sending along the required paperwork. Failure to do so violates the FAA's hazardous materials guidelines. The box containing Rid O' Rust Stain Preventer Acid leaked through, but there were no injuries reported

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/314077-faa-proposes-910...

>The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing fining Amazon $91,000 for potentially violating hazardous material regulations.

>Amazon allegedly attempted to ship undeclared hazardous materials on FedEx air transportation in May of last year, the FAA said in a Thursday release.

>The chemicals in question were more than two gallons of toxic clear diesel fuel and tank cleaner. Workers at a FedEx facility in Sioux Falls, S.D., found the shipment leaking.

>The fine would not be Amazon's first wrist slap by the agency. The FAA has levied 22 civil penalties totaling over $1.4 million against the company since 2013.

I was thinking of something different: Amazon sells X, and super-sketchy company B claims to sell the same X "fulfilled by Amazon." I believe Amazon ships from the same stock to people ordering from both A and B. In other words, even if you order your X from Amazon, you might get an item from B's stock, since they're mixed.

As a buyer it’s even worse than eBay. At least on eBay most products have at least one seller, sometimes many, who provide fast free shipping. With Amazon it’s rare. I used to buy everything at Amazon but more and more I am switching to alternatives.

Which alternatives?

ebay, walmart.com, newegg.com, depending on what you are looking for. I also sometimes use aliexpress. (not the OP)

Plenty.

I'm not the GP but I don't shop at Amazon very often, maybe once or twice a year only.

I have used Newegg, Walmart.com, Target.com jet.com, chewy.com, eBay (for some items), drugstore.com, Kohl's.com, Bestbuy.com and cowboom(RIP), overstock.com, toysrus.com, Rakuten, b and h photo, TigerDirect. Plus ordered direct from manufacturer on some stuff (Columbia jacket, Pyrex.)

Thats what I can think of off the top of my head.

Yup. I only buy items that are “Shipped and sold by amazon.com” because I know they may mix some inventory and I’m kind of overpaying but it’s a huge quality signal when amazon themselves sells a product.

My information is also not shared with some random seller with terrible security.

Amazon also needs to ban manufactures and sellers that offer review bribes.

Using amazon.com exclusively made Amazon work for me again. I would cancel my account if it was only third party sellers.

I think it's more of a sell-through volume signal than a quality signal myself.

It means a lot of metrics are good including return rates and reviews. I also filter by 4 stars and look for 50+ legit looking reviews always. Also check the distribution of the review scores.

"My information is also not shared with some random seller with terrible security."

Take some comfort in knowing that no customer data is shared with third-party sellers.

name, mailing address, product(s) purchased -- all shared with third party FBA sellers. Sounds like customer data to me.

> Used to shop through Amazon because it was consistent and easy. Now it's like shopping on Ebay.

All the hassles and searching would be worth it if the prices on amazon weren't so horrible. Especially their scammy amazon pantry. Household items like paper towels and laundry detergent are sometimes 2X or more what I'd get in my local supermarket on a sale.

Prices are terrible on amazon but at least amzn's stock price has skyrocketed.

Amazon prices are insane, and not in either a bad or a good ("Crazy Eddy") way. Take a look at the price of a pack of toilet paper, which has fluctuated by almost 3x this year: https://camelcamelcamel.com/Charmin-94045-PGCCT-Bathroom-Tis...

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