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Comment by projectileboy | Hacker News Reader

Haha… Amazon, you say? You mean the large money laundering operation, putting third party counterfeit goods in the same warehouse bins as legitimate goods from legitimate suppliers, so that as a consumer you never know if you’re going to get counterfeit goods? Yes, that’s the Amazon we know and love.

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It's amazing how many people aren't aware of this. This should be way more publicized. I was talking to a business partner a while back and mentioned I'm not using Amazon and they were shocked. When I listed all my reasons and this one came up, they didn't believe me and we stopped talking until they looked it up online and were convinced. They were using Amazon to order all supplements and it stopped then and there.

I bought a simple Apple charging cord on Amazon once. I clearly did not get an actual Apple product as it introduced severe buzzing to the computer’s audio output. Even tried several return-replacements. Same issues. No issues direct from the Apple Store.

> we stopped talking until they looked it up online and were convinced.

So what did they see that finally convinced them?

It’s such a ridiculous idea that most people think it can’t possibly be true. Until they find out it is.

So what do they see that finally convinces them?

There's tons of corroborating evidence online, it's hard not to be convinced.

So what did you see that finally convinced you?

All I'm seeing here is a commenter who has made a claim and won't support that claim with evidence. I wish they'd answer your question.

Anecdotally, among my social group, almost everyone has heard of it, and no-one has ever experienced it.

... that they are aware of.

I got a pack of Uno cards recently - and never considered that they were fake, until I got out our other set - and suddenly it was clear the card stock was totally different, and it was missing the copywrite wording. But until that point I had no reason to think they'd be fake. It is a park of Uno cards that sell for £5 to £10 - but then go to Temu and find (fake?) packs for £2.50 delivered, so I guess the mark-up is worth it for someone.

I have no problem with receiving a counterfeit that is indistinguishable from the "real" product. Is it morally sketchy? Absolutely. Is the outcome for me the same? Also yes.

> I have no problem with receiving a counterfeit that is indistinguishable from the "real" product.

Would you hold the same opinion about stuff you'd eat such as supplements? What does `indistinguishable` mean in this context? Say lower quality fish oil which as it's a pill, you can't tell the difference? This would be the fortunate case, I wouldn't even want to bring up mislabeled vitamins or stuff which can actually cause harm that's hard to trace back.

Your mileage may definitely vary. In 20+ years, I’ve had four incidents of receiving obviously counterfeit goods; no idea if it has happened more often than that and I was just unaware.

Certainly fair! I suspect there's probably some concentration in particular product areas - would be interested to see any research done (though that'd be tricky, given the cost involved and the difficulty in proving something to be counterfeit)

Good point. I only have my own anecdata and that of friends; it would be nice to see some real stats. Of course, even if Amazon has that data, they would be unlikely to share!

It's wild that Amazon is allowed to continue this clearly fraud-enabling operation. Having no provenance paper trail of where something comes from? And it's sold to someone who buys a legit product? That's a fraudster's wet dream.

Not just counterfeit products, a lot of original stolen products are also there in the mix.

It really is an MLM. It's pretty crazy that it's been operating for this long without such visible degradation, until the last 2-2.5 years.

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