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Comment by anoncoward111 | Hacker News Reader

>at least I know what I'm getting

Lorddddd I am holding back laughter right now. Ebay is the original defintion of online scamming and counterfeiting.

The real way to do this would be for someone to buy a bulk order from the manufacturer, import it, and then sell it piecemeal with a social media profile that demonstrates legitness and quality of product.

Ebay's fees and lack of quality control add negative value to this transaction.

Of course one wonders why in 2019 the manufacturer doesn't sell direct to consumer

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Amazon launders counterfeit goods on a regular basis. Remember fiasco with the solar eclipse?

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/eclipse/amazon-eclipse-glas...

Amazon does not track things 100%, so you may think you're buying from one seller, and you are actually getting something from a different seller. That should be illegal and actionable by consumers as well as sellers, with more than just a refund.

IME product details given in eBay listings refer to that product from that seller, rather than a similar product from anyone of a number of current or past sellers (as Amazon appears to).

Thus ratings are useful, as are reviews.

User rating does refer to the individual, yes, but product rating is across all examples of that product. I've been asked by eBay to rate products I've purchased, and it even says in the guidelines "rate the product, not the seller". Product description should be specific to the one being sold.

I don't think I get that sort of product review on eBay listings; I was meaning the "review"/data given by the seller.

Because manufacturers don't typically have their own fulfillment infrastructure for retail-sized orders?

What you're proposing with somebody buying a bulk order and divvying it up is basically describing what the existing retailers do. The reputable ones are worrying about their reputations.

Retailers that aren't big enough to do this themselves go through suppliers, who in turn handle breaking a bulk order down into units to sell to smaller retailers. Those suppliers are worried about their reputations too, you just don't see that because you largely don't see them.

(Edited to clarify)

Amazon is also very reactive. They eventually take things down, but they rely on user feedback to notice that something is going wrong. And that can be gamed as well.

> sell it piecemeal with a social media profile

Isn't eBay basically a social media profile? Facebook selling groups are also scam hotbeds, I don't see how that works any better.

I think anyone who is willing to put their real face and name in front of what they are (re)selling can be trusted more than any fake LLC or profile or ebay user account.

If they have videos on instagram and do a live demo and walk through and you can see who their real friends are, then you can probably trust them as much as currently possible.

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