Amazon Loses Huge Footwear Company Because Of Fake Products, a Problem It Denies Is Happening (cnbc.com)

Several sellers on Amazon had noted earlier this month that the platform is riddled with counterfeit products and that things have gotten worse after Chinese manufacturers were allowed to sell goods to the consumers in the United States. Amid the report, the German footwear company Birkenstock has announced it will no longer sell its sandals on Amazon. The company added that it will also ban any sales of its products by third-party sellers on Amazon, effectively making its products unavailable on the world's largest online store, according to a report on CNBC. From the report: "The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an 'open market,' creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand," Birkenstock USA CEO David Kahan wrote from the company's U.S. headquarters in Novato, California. "Policing this activity internally and in partnership with Amazon.com has proven impossible."

Comments

So they are just letting the fakes win?

[turp182]

It seems like this approach would just let the counterfeit products completely control the Amazon market for their type of product.

I wonder if Birkenstock is aware of a website called Aliexpress.com... A quick search shows that $20 off retail is much more than one needs to pay for a counterfeit version of their shoes.

Re:So they are just letting the fakes win?

[sjbe]

If you noticed the blurb, they've been "working with" Amazon to tackle the issue. However Amazon is unable or unwilling or a combination of both to give them the tools they've been asking for.

If they want Amazon to "solve" the problem like eBay then I'm glad. EBay basically gives brand owners free reign to delete listings for products that compete with theirs with no recourse for the seller even if the listing is legit. I used to sell stuff on eBay for a living and we had auctions halted and strikes against us for merchandise (like fancy hand bags) that we knew beyond any doubt was authentic with a complete paper trail to prove it. EBay threw small sellers under the bus. Hopefully Amazon will have more of a spine.

Re:It happened to me

[110010001000]

There is no company that is designing "knockoff electric knives" with separately tooled factory lines. It doesn't make financial sense to do so. What they are doing is making extra runs of the "real" product without B&D knowing about it and throwing them into packages. The product is the same. The main issue is that the Black and Decker knife is crap, like most of BD stuff made in China.

Oh noes!

[ScentCone]

All of the Birkenstock wearing hippies will have to buy their overpriced status symbols somewhere else. The horror!

The issue here, really, was that some vendors were actually willing to discount Birkenstock products instead of sticking to full retail price - and that made BIrkenstock's brick-and-mortar and small-web-site retailers cranky. So Birkenstock would rather lose a huge outlet for their products than lose a lot of smaller ones that don't want to compete on price. That's their call. But this is only marginally if at all about knock-offs. This is about competition and price, and Birkenstock is chopping off a venue where shoppers might save a few dollars on shoes so they could spend it on tofu instead.

Re:Summary leaves out a key part of the quote

[dj245]

Summary quotes the Birkenstock CEO as saying "The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an "open market,” creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand." It leaves out a later sentence in the same paragraph, which it probably at least as much of an issue as the counterfeiting problem: "It also includes a constant stream of unidentifiable unauthorized sellers who show a blatant disregard for our pricing policies."

Birkenstock wants all dealers to sell at full list - stores were selling on Amazon at a discount, and undercutting other dealers, who were complaining to Birkenstock.

I used to be 100% against such policies until I realized the advantage. With MSRP policies, vendors have to compete on service and customer satisfaction. Without minimum pricing policies, the main competitive advantage comes down to price. Minimum sales price policies protect small vendors against large ones, to some extent. The big companies might be getting a volume discount from the manufacturer, but at least the small businesses have a chance at competition on their merits (service / reputation / customer satisfaction), rather than on price.

Another point is that the manufacturer dodges the potential legal problems of preferring one reseller to another. They can point to their MSRP policy as proof that they don't play favorites (they don't illegally play favorites, anyway) with their resellers.

I'm not saying MSRP policies are good, but they aren't 100% bad either.