Re:Why you can’t buy a thermapen on Amazon (2016)
by jjeaff on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @12:39AM
(#27191301)
It is a well made product, returns and defects were minimal (less than 1%) when I was selling them. I simply replaced any returns and would occasionally repair them myself or send them back when I had a box full of defective ones. Most defective returns were actually just a bad battery or misconfigured unit.
When I sold them, my listing made no mention of Thermoworks. So I felt no obligation to spend time clarifying that the products could not be returned to Thermoworks for warranty servicing. Just like Walmart doesn't make it clear to buyers that they cannot return their product to Target. But I did actually match the warranty length that Thermoworks offers. Though I don't think I ever got a warranty claim outside of the 30 days or so that Amazon allows customers to return an item.
This sounds like the kind of business plan that breaks down once you consider returns and warranties. I see 3 possibilities, either
(1) you make it clear to your buyers that they are not buying from thermoworks US, and that they must notcontact them for support and that you will meet the guarantees that Thermoworks promise (two years according to their website?), and therefore you will have to ship items back and forth across the atlantic (or just send free replacements), eating into your profits.
(2) you don't make this clear, in which case Thermoworks US will receive "fraudulent" warranty claims (ie legitimate issues, but from people who did not buy from thermoworks). Maybe as the sole distributor in the US, thermoworks weren't even checking where people bought their thermometers from
(3) you don't give the same warranty as Thermoworks, in which case is this crystal clear to the consumer?