I’m not clear on how this solves the problem. Counterfeits can be hard to detect. Counterfeit food, toiletries, and electronics can poison you or start a fire. And my redress is a generous return policy?

Amazon receives inventory directly from manufacturers. Third party sellers are significantly more likely to sell counterfeit products

Same reason you’re not likely going to find counterfeit goods on the shelves of a Target or Costco

they have a history of "comingling" goods that claim to be from the manufacturer but sometimes are not.

I've still received counterfeits that were sold and shipped by amazon.

Inventory commingling ruined any respect I had for them. They've done that for a long time but I still am beyond pissed by the trend they started of being a front for third party sellers, all French retailers copied them (darty, fnac, cdiscount etc) and searching for products sold by trustworthy entities on the internet is now a nightmare.

Everyone imitates the market leader so it really feels as if competition doesn't exist as an alternative to amazon here. They're all as bad, and sometimes worse.

I think the worst is when you spend extra to buy from someone that isn't amazon and the item shows up in an amazon box with an amazon receipt.

Damn, really? That’s very troubling