Amazon’s Prime Sale May Be Risky For Consumers

Consumers can receive counterfeit, dangerous or deadly items.

July 10, 2017, Los Angeles, CA – Everyone loves a good deal, and attractive prices draw millions of buyers to Amazon Prime’s 30-hour sale starting tonight. What consumers don’t know is that the e-commerce giant is flooded with counterfeits.

Counterfeit products appear right next to authentic items conveying Amazon’s endorsement, and the illusion the products are from Amazon. Consumers don't know they have a very real possibility of receiving visually indistinguishable counterfeit goods from unknown and unvetted global sellers.

About 50% of Amazon sales are not from Amazon, but from outside sellers, many from China, who can list just about anything they want, including counterfeits. Amazon still receives a transaction fee on each sale.

Amazon’s consumer protection practices are alarming. For example; The Counterfeit Report®, a consumer advocate and counterfeit watchdog, identified and submitted formal infringement notices, authorized by the trademark holders, for 29,122 infringing items offered on Amazon in just the past year.

• After being notified of the counterfeit products, Amazon does not tell deceived buyers that they have received a counterfeit item, even if it’s dangerous or potentially deadly, like OTC drugs, medical devices, auto suspension parts or exploding Apple® USB chargers.
• Apple reported that 90% of Apple® products it purchased directly from Amazon were counterfeit.
• Amazon often claimed infringing listings were removed when they were not, and was caught altering infringing content to allow the counterfeit item to remain.
• The Counterfeit Report also conducted dozens of name-brand test purchases from Amazon Fulfillment and Marketplace sellers, but never received an authentic item.

Consider the economic and personal risk of buying counterfeit goods, and be very skeptical of any online product unless purchased from authorized retailers. Consumers are easily deceived and unknowingly purchase counterfeit products from Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY), Alibaba (BABA) and recently Walmart (WMT). These counterfeit purchases often go undetected until the product fails, is returned for warranty, or causes an injury. Some are dangerous or deadly