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Original poster

Can amazon sell knock off goods?

32 replies

goodmorningpenguin · 15/06/2022 11:20

YABU - NO, they cannot
YANBU - Yes they can

I always thought amazon sold genuine products. I have Amazon prime and only buy stuff from there.

But I have been reading reviews on some products and noticed people saying that the product is a knockoff. Not on prime stuff.

Does anyone know?

OP posts:
fyn · 15/06/2022 11:21

Amazon is a platform for anybody to sell things. Amazon sell things directly that I’d expect to be genuine. Other sellers sell things that probably aren’t genuine.

Isaidnoalready · 15/06/2022 11:22

Fulfilled by amazon warehouse should be genuine anything else not so much

MistyGreenAndBlue · 15/06/2022 11:22

Third party sellers often sell knockoffs on Amazon. I suppose it's difficult to police. Always check the reviews

StrychnineInTheSandwiches · 15/06/2022 11:24

Notorious for it. Especially perfumes/beauty products.

Regularsizedrudy · 15/06/2022 11:25

Yes of course. Anyone can sell on Amazon there are loads of fakes.

PeskyRooks · 15/06/2022 11:26

I was very surprised and disgusted this morning to see that amazon are selling Rebellious Hope tshirts that are not the official ones by Dame Deborah James.

Unbelievably out of order as people might not realise, and 0 of their money will go to the charity.

darisdet · 15/06/2022 11:28

I'd be wary about buying some toiletries and perfumes from there. You also see complaints on some trainer reviews.

I don't think they should be able to do this, but it does seem to happen.

Original poster
goodmorningpenguin · 15/06/2022 11:34

I like amazon because of the review and always have a good read before purchasing. I've never bought perfume/ toiletries off there. When I was looking at trainers that's when I noticed people saying they thought they were knock off so I bought from a genuine website.

According to Amazon they
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G422VB5VF4ZW7ZSE#:~:text=Products%20offered%20for%20sale%20on,of%20inventory%20in%20our%20possession.

I'd think I'm safe enough with prime? That comes from their warehouse right?

OP posts:
ThisSceptredIsle · 15/06/2022 11:47

If by knock off you mean fake/counterfeit - selling those is illegal in the UK.

Whether Amazon and sellers using their platform are 100% compliant with that law at all times - I don't know, and not sure how anyone can know unless they have bought obvious fakes on there.

SheWoreYellow · 15/06/2022 11:49

3rd party sellers can still sell their stuff through Prime.

mrsfoof · 15/06/2022 11:50

Isaidnoalready · 15/06/2022 11:22

Fulfilled by amazon warehouse should be genuine anything else not so much

Not true. Sold by Amazon should be genuine but Amazon also act as a warehouse for other sellers, many of which sell fakes. Check that it's sold and fulfilled by Amazon. But even then you can come a cropper as people by a genuine thing, return a fake in its place and it doesn't get noticed before going back on sale.
For something of any value, buy from a known well-respected retailer (e.g for Apple stuff, I'd only buy from Apple themselves, John Lewis, Currys etc)

rnsaslkih · 15/06/2022 11:51

No you are not safe enough with prime.

prime is a delivery service - doesn’t mean the goods are sold by amazon

to be safe you need it sold by Amazon and dispatched by Amazon

LookAtThatCritter · 15/06/2022 11:52

Even items that are shipped prime can be from 3rd party sellers. I don’t think a lot of people know quite how many items are sold by individual people running a business from their kitchen. Eg my items for Amazon are stored in our garage 😁

Badger1970 · 15/06/2022 11:53

I only ever buy when the seller is Amazon or a recognised company that sells via Amazon. I've had my card cloned by 3rd party sellers as well as receiving fake goods. And beware items with 5 reviews... I bought a "natural" alternative to canesten with rave reviews..... days later I got an offer from the seller to have my money back in exchange for a 5 review. The actual product was absolute sh1te and when I put all that in a review, it was removed Hmm

I can't believe it's legal, tbh, and I now check all listings extremely careful. I've bought less and less from there over the last 12 months.

InChocolateWeTrust · 15/06/2022 11:53

3rd party sellers put all sorts of knock offs/material not respecting copyright laws etc on there. I've found it increasingly poor in recent years for this.

I'm quite careful to check the sellers now.

If they are chinese (lots try to appear western with english names etc but there are ways to spot them) I dont buy from them.

How78 · 15/06/2022 11:54

Amazon is full of counterfeiter stuff.

I would never ever buy any tech from there.

I heard from a seller that they chuck all the same items from different sellers into the same basket in the warehouse. So even if you're ordering from a seller that has genuine stock "fullfilled by Amazon", you might get counterfeit stuff anyway.

Getoff · 15/06/2022 11:57

Not sure what counts as knock-off, but the last broadcast of John Oliver I saw featured a bag that Amazon especially commissioned to be made so they could sell it, and that bag was a copy of a very successful item another company was selling through them.

Getoff · 15/06/2022 11:59

So, apparently Amazon will go out of their way to pay someone to manufacture copy-cat items. To be clear, I think these are legal copies, they're not pretending to be the thing that was copied.

Original poster
goodmorningpenguin · 15/06/2022 12:01

I don't mind buying things like sports leggings they weren't branded but had great reviews and I really like them. I am looking at an electric product (Tefal) it says:

Dispatches from Amazon
Sold by Amazon

Under the buy now bit. So I am thinking this is a genuine product. I have never really thought about this before, and I've never had a product that made me think it was a knock off/ fake before.

OP posts:
itsnevertolate · 15/06/2022 12:03

I'm an Amazon seller you can't just send anything into Amazon, for a lot of items you have to show a proof of purchase invoice, you have to purchase a minimum amount and become ungated. You would not be able to send in anything counterfeit for example. I am an FBA seller (fulfilled by Amazon) not an FBM seller so I assume an FBM (fulfilled by merchant) could get anyway with selling something dodgy. However, Amazon are really strict and if a seller gets bad reviews their account could be deactivated and Amazon, in some case will keep the seller money. So it's really not worth it as a seller to sell something that will possibly get you kicked off the site IMO.

Alvinne · 15/06/2022 12:03

Just don't buy from Amazon. They treat their staff like shit, are full of counterfeits and fake reviews, and aren't even that easy to use or competitively priced anymore.

Original poster
goodmorningpenguin · 15/06/2022 12:09

@itsnevertolate thanks for your side of it. In general I really like amazon, DH and I use it quite a lot! I can't imagine we will stop using it

OP posts:
supertedlasso · 15/06/2022 12:11

Just make sure it says sold by amazon not just despatched by amazon.

RandomDentist · 15/06/2022 12:15

Are they supposed to sell counterfeit stuff - no.

Do they? Absolutely yes they do.

BotCrossHuns · 15/06/2022 12:16

lots of things are unbranded 'compatible' versions, even if they say genuine in the listing or on the pictures.

e.g., I bought some filters for my deLonghi coffee machine. The ones I have seem original, but other people in the reviews have said they've got unbranded ones that aren't. So it seems a bit pot-luck at times.