I am mystified as to what people are buying that they have such problems with fakes and knock-offs on Amazon. I've had Prime for around a decade, and I can remember exactly once where they screwed up and sent me a wrong package.

Can you tell whether or not this is authentic?: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightning-Cable-iPhone-6S/dp/B0...

It's the first seemingly non-third-party listing on Amazon.com for the search term, "iPhone lightning cable." It's the 4th search result. If you hover over the first of "Other sellers" you'll see a store which has a 67% satisfaction rating. If you click through and read the negative reviews, almost all of them list getting a fake product. Amazon lists the brand of the cable as "Apple." The item description says that it comes in "non-retail packaging."

[not the parent] Apple.com's cheapest lightning cable is $19.99, and I don't recall ever seeing a 3rd party discount a genuine product by so much, and it says "Non-Retail Packaging" which is a bit strange, so I'd assume it's a knock-off. But you make a good point — it says "Apple" and it is the first result that looks exactly like the original: my family members would probably buy it.

On a related note, is this an AmazonBasics knock-off? https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Lightning-USB-Cable-Cert... or are they really selling a product that bad (looking at the reviews/photos)?

Right? It's ridiculous. Why does Amazon let random, unvetted third parties list products under the Apple brand? I can't even find the authentic cable on Amazon. Here's another: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MD819AM-Meter-Lightning-Cable/d...

Same $19.99 price as an Apple original. Amazon lists "Apple" as the brand. But read the reviews--2.5 stars over 379 reviewers. First review: "Fake Apple cable. Doesn't work."

Under "Other sellers," Amazon.com is listed as an alternative, albeit for $5 more. That one is surely authentic, right? But what if the inventory is co-mingled with that of the other sellers for the same product?

Amazon will sell the counterfeits just as willingly as through a third party, from my experience at least.

I'd suspect the problem might actually be the NUMBER of reviews --- 26,000 is a lot, and I suspect many of the reviews are bots meant to tip the score.

This is insane, I actually believed I was buying from Apple when I saw their name listed under the product.

The interesting part to me is the reviews are half one stars.

For a lot of things I buy on amazon, being authentic or not is irrelevant, being of good quality or not is my only concern. Of course for a lot of brands 'authenticity' and good quality go together, but that's only a signal to me, authentic products can also be crap.

Perhaps that's also why I don't buy most brand stuff on amazon, as it gives me nothing more than the official retailer's site, prices should be the same, and customer service will be on par or better.

To be clear I don't condone selling fakes, I just think it's a fool's errand to look for 'good deals' on amazon or any third party site when it comes products where brand matters over all.

Yes, it's not sold directly by Amazon but by a 3rd party named "BREED". That should be your red flag.

For all small electronic phone/charger stuff I buy Anker. Hasn't let me down once.

It’s fake. It’s sold by a company named “BREED”.

looks authentic to me, but if it gets the job done, do I really care if it is authentic?

no. the answer is no.

Because a cheap knockoff device that plugs into AC current could kill you.

http://www.righto.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hdn0MuCK_0 is another interesting example.

Hooo boy, that is scary!

well, then, it wouldn't be getting the job done, now would it?

.............

You're okay with paying a premium for what turns out to be a fake product? What if it ends up burning your house down?

You can get a 6-feet lightning cable from Five Below b&m.

All depends on what you are buying. A lot things I could care less about, usually knock-offs are decent enough quality. But when you go out of your way to buy the genuine product and you get a fake that's a problem.

I buy photography components off Amazon, buying a B&W UV filter has become impossible on Amazon. The fakes are actually a lot better than bottom-end UV lenses which is fine, but I didn't spend $45 for a knock-off. I spent that money for the real thing. If I could get the fake at a knock-off price I'd even consider it, but the fakes are being sold as the real thing at full price.

After I found out how how to spot the fakes I found that half of the UV lenses I already had were fake. The real ones are made of brass and have better glass coatings. The fakes are made of aluminum and the threads are not as good which is important for lens filters, you don't want one getting jammed on a $1200 lens. They are painted black so the main way to tell them apart is to weigh them.

The amazon review comments for B&W filters have extensive coverage of how to spot the fakes: https://www.amazon.com/77mm-XS-Pro-Clear-Multi-Resistant-Coa...

Uhm, how about trying to buy a genuine new battery for a MacBook? Buying the "Apple" product has resulted in 2/3 of the batteries I received being fakes. One of those fakes I got even when the site claimed I was buying and got fullfiled by Amazon. In the end I switched to going with obvious copies (where the seller did not make any attemot to mislead) whenever I needed a new battery.

I generally agree with you, but I have definitely seen some sketchy listings, and also bought really bad knockoff 9-Volt batteries.

It's bad out there for some products.

> in Shanghai trying to find a pair of authentic Nike Air Jordans.

The fact of the matter is that today China is such an important market for Nike that it's probably easier to get a rare authentic Air Jordan in Shanghai than it is in your local American city. Greater metro Shanghai is larger than any single American city.

You're 100% right and I simply wrote it as an ill-considered figure of speech. Too late to edit, but <facepalm>.