According to an investigation by The Guardian, the Amazon Marketplace is still packed with counterfeit goods despite years of efforts to fight off the phenomenon.
The e-commerce behemoth, who earns $550 million in revenue every single day, has been facing mis-selling for years despite strict policies for its online retail platform.
The Guardian investigators were able to order on Amazon’s site:
- counterfeit Apple AirPods,
- counterfeit Louis Vuitton iPhone case
- and fake Kylie Jenner lip gloss.
Researchers first found that the AirPods were fake when they saw the “HBQ-i7S” label on the package.
Also, the Kylie Jenner lip gloss was made in China and looked exactly like the real thing. What’s more, the investigation revealed that some refurbished but genuine items on the site are sold as new products.
The Guardian bought the fakes on the website’s Marketplace platform, which enables third-party companies to sell their merchandise via Amazon. The company is taking a small share of the revenue.
Last quarter, Marketplace generated a revenue of $9.2 billion, which represents 20% of Amazon’s total revenue.
Amazon Marketplace Packed with Counterfeits
The counterfeit Airpods were shipped via the “Fulfilled by Amazon” feature, which enables third-parties to store the items in Amazon’s warehouses before delivery. The items are handled and packed by Amazon staffers and delivered via Amazon’s delivery services like Amazon Prime.
After the British newspaper contacted the U.S. company to complain about the counterfeits, Amazon scraped several knock-offs from sale and rebranded some items from New to Used.
The company has been fighting counterfeits for multiple years. Two years ago, a German sandal maker refused to do business with Amazon because of the cheaper imitations on the website. The German firm returned to the website a year later, after Amazon launched the “brand registry” service.
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