I know this is an old thread but it is an important one. We own a small US Based manufacturing company that both sells through and manufactures for Amazon.com. This means that we offer around 2000 items we sell as a 3rd Party Amazon Seller. We have another 700 line items we build that Amazon buys directly from us to stock in their warehouses offered as "Sold buy Amazon".
After 8 years we know how Amazon operates
Most 3rd Party sellers are honest hard working merchants - BUT - 2 years ago Amazon chose to open selling to the Chinese. Unlike US Based merchants the Chinese had very little if any vetting of business credentials and history. If you see a "New Listed" seller with 500000 yes that is 500 hundred thousand new items for sale all available overnight, that is what you are dealing with. If you see an item that is 1/3 the price it should be, doesn't say where it is shipping from, from a seller with only a few or no feedbacks, you pretty much know what is happening.
TIPS TO RECOGNIZE A SCAMMER
1. Seller Profile - each seller on Amazon has a profile page that provides details about their business, Customer Service phone numbers, return policy etc. For instance - Amazon REQUIRES a 30 day return policy. But some sellers like our company offer 60 days. Good to know?
2. Seller Feedback - This can tell you a bunch. Feedback on Amazon runs about 1% of total sales. Any seller with over one thousand feedback has been there for Years. Amazon doesn't play games, screw around and they will close your account. To stay a seller long term means you take care of customers.
3, Items Listed - Does a sellers storefront consist of a few specialty areas or are they selling everything from t-shirts to car parts. Sellers who specialize tend to know more about their product lines and have long term relationships with the Brands they offer. Sellers who sell everything many times are selling knock-off or buyer returns from department stores. You don't want an item that has been returned once already.
4, Used Like New - A LOT of these are folks who have bought returned or open box goods at auction and are dumping them on Amazon. Others are scammers who will never ship.
5. Tracking # from China - Do you have a seller who advertised an item as shipped from the USA and yet you get a tracking number showing shipping from China with delivery in 5 weeks? CALL AMAZON NOW - demand order cancellation and your money back. They will try to get you to wait 5 weeks - DON'T. 95% of these items will never arrive in the USA.. Chinese companies can generate tracking numbers all day long. The tracking doesn't go anywhere...
If you see hundreds of product reviews with almost none being a verified purchase you know those reviews are fakes. There are Chinese companies that will provide 100 fake Amazon reviews for $5. BUT - they are written in broken English or all copies of the same wording over and over. Also, you will not know an item is shipping from China when you click the buy box.
Another thing mentioned in this thread is "Commingling" within an Amazon warehouse. Lets say you have 11 sellers all offering a brand name item. 8 of those sellers can send in the legitimate item and 3 from China send in the "Chinese OEM" version. What you get when you order it whatever is on the shelf. Almost no US based sellers allow commingling now because of the counterfeiting.
If you receive an item that is not legit
PLEASE CALL AMAZON. Don't call the seller - call Amazon and just get your money back! Don't put up with receiving cheap Chinese knock-offs! PLEASE help all good sellers out by reporting the scam artists. Almost real is NOT the same as buying a real item. Companies spend their heart and soul to build their businesses and Brands and far too many US buyers don't seem to care they are receiving fakes when a real item is advertised. The only way to stop scam artists is to report them!
