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Re:Alexa Is in Households–and Amazon Is Losing Billions by derefr on Wednesday July 24, 2024 @07:57PM (#41063480)
These days, you can't even pick out a brand-name product from a brick and mortar store and be sure of getting the real thing.

People will buy something from a store, buy a fake version of that thing on AliExpress, swap the fake into the box, re-shrinkwrap the box, return the shrinkwrapped fake to the store, and sell the real one on eBay.

The store will often put the thing back on the shelf, because it's still shrinkwrapped, weighs the same, and even looks the same under an x-ray.

And then someone buys it and gets a dud.

This is why, except for a few high-margin categories, Amazon itself will never put returned stock back into inventory, instead always selling it off through bulk channels. It's effectively impossible to authenticate a return as legitimate these days, without converting the "BNIB" device into a "NIB" device.

Re:Alexa Is in Households–and Amazon Is Losing Billions by ta1243 on Thursday July 25, 2024 @08:05AM (#41067632)
> People will buy something from a store, buy a fake version of that thing on AliExpress, swap the fake into the box, re-shrinkwrap the box, return the shrinkwrapped fake to the store, and sell the real one on eBay.

Why not just sell the AliExpress one on ebay?

Re:Alexa Is in Households–and Amazon Is Losing Billions by bombcar on Thursday July 25, 2024 @08:43AM (#41067997)
Because eBay will respond very angrily when people report getting the fake piece of junk. Walmart doesn’t care if you are intelligent work hard at it. You don’t even have to give them your drivers license and they never know.
Re:Alexa Is in Households–and Amazon Is Losing Billions by bombcar on Thursday July 25, 2024 @08:42AM (#41067984)
https://toolguyd.com/amazon-sent-me-used-broken-knipex-plier...

Amazon put tons of stuff back on the shelf. It’s not quite as bad as Fry’s Electronics where every single thing they sold had obviously been opened and shrink up, but it’s getting close.