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Amazon Responds After Third-Party Sellers Put Bootleg Games on Its Store (venturebeat.com)
Jeff Grubb, reporting for VentureBeat: Over the weekend, some thrifty gamers spotted a deal on Amazon. A downloadable version of the tough strategy survival sim Frostpunk was available on the Amazon Marketplace from a third-party seller for $3, which is a 90 percent discount from the standard $30 price. But after looking into the game, some customers who dropped the three bucks had some questions. For example, why does the metadata for this version of Frostpunk refer to the DRM-free version that people can buy from GOG. [...] So I reached out to Amazon, and it provided the following statement from a company spokesperson: "Our customers trust that when they make a purchase through Amazon's store --either directly from Amazon or from its third-party sellers -- they will receive authentic products, and we take any claims that endanger that trust seriously. We strictly prohibit the sale of counterfeit products, and these games have been removed." That's all it would say on this.
And the sellers have been removed as well?
>> "We strictly prohibit the sale of counterfeit products, and these games have been removed." That's all it would say on this.
What else did they need to say? Someone violated their policy and they bounced them.
Just be careful out there: when buying from Amazon/Walmart/NewEgg, NEVER buy from ANY of the marketplace folks and use the vendor filters if necessary, and they'll eventually just go away on their own.
Amazon sells anything they can get paid for. They really don't care, just like their customers.
I don't respond to AC's.
Our customers trust that when they make a purchase through Amazon's store --either directly from Amazon or from its third-party sellers -- they will receive authentic products
We HOPE to get authentic products; however, I generally go by the belief that if it looks too good to be true, it probably isn't. Amazon sells a lot of pirated and counterfeited goods. I've seen a lot of sellers on Amazon even include in their description of a product "if you see this product sold by a different seller it is counterfeit"- sellers know just like we do that there is a lot of "not genuine" products out there.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Amazon has a poor track record in counterfeits for board games. Often Amazon will pool the games it sells along with any third parties into one inventory. When a customer buys one, even from Amazon itself, they get a game pulled from this inventory which has been a counterfeit from time to time. Amazon has a hard time tracking back where they got the fake from and customers can receive a poor quality reproduction thinking it is real. There are lengthy discussion topics over at www.boardgamegeek.com.
The real problem is that Amazon runs on the cheap. They don't do quality control like screening products being sold or police third-party sellers effectively. They may have some algorithms, but they're not very effective. Instead, they rely on buyers or other third parties to blow the whistle on scams. Sometimes they screw up and block legitimate third-party sellers or self-publishers. And they make it hard to complain effectively or reach a human because that would cost them money.
Jeff Bezos don't care.
Jeff Bezos don't give a shit.
Amazon got their cut of the sale. Amazon LOVES fraudulent products and sellers. They profit from them.
I know this from personal experience.
I bought a projector lamp from them (being sold by Amazon itself not a third party) and it overheated and melted the projector mirror. I sent the projector off to Optoma who examined everything and said the bulb was a counterfeit. Presented with this evidence Amazon said they believed their supplier that the bulb was genuine and refused to admit any liability.
They literally said the people that make the product were wrong. I've never bought from them since (5+ years and counting).
Amazon don't care unless it costs them money.
Popping up as a new one. It is not as of their stock has been confiscated. Nothing a bit of scripting could not handle.
Because it all depends how much they get, not how much they did not get.
I bought a microSD card from Amazon and I got a fake labeled with more capacity than it really had. Amazon really didn't care; they got their commission. I had to fight to get a refund from a Chinese seller who is still ripping people off many years later.
I will never buy from Amazon again.
You can say what you want about Walmart and Home Depot and other retailers, but bricks-and-mortar retailers hate thieves more than anyone else. If they accidentally sell counterfeits, they take it very seriously.
Jeff Bezos may be the richest man on the planet but I feel like he's one of the most unscrupulous. I wish only the slowest and most painful of cancers on him.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
I'm kind of okay with counterfeits as long as it works as advertised, and the originating talent gets a cut (which I know isn't the case). Sincerely put, if you're going to counterfeit, cut the devs a check why don't ya? Slip em a fat nickel every time you get a download please. Devs, please consider open sourcing your game apps after like 5/10 years, or when the hardware they're designed for is no longer physically made or otherwise inaccessible. Games should have a timer to enter public domain. Sharing is caring: https://www.rockpapershotgun.c...
That is part of the reason I shop for a good amount of things locally. While the microcenter branded SD, microSD, and USB drives aren't quite as cheap as the cheapest ones on amazon it isn't a crap shoot with what I am getting either. Add in that if one craps out I can get it exchanged so I end up getting a better overall product and experience. I've never had one crap out on me as I find they are usually too small to keep using long before that happens but it is nice that if one fails after 6 months I could get it replaced at a cost of a 3 minute drive out of my way to or from work. With microcenter I know what I am getting when I buy it, with amazon I know what I ordered.
Time to offend someone
Some people shop locally, find what they want, then buy on Amazon. I do it the opposite way, I find a product on Amazon, read the reviews, check out the user guide, then do a search to see who has it locally and go there.
Spoken like a bigblockmopar fan. Get a real car, gramps.
No wonder you're posting as AC. Even from here, I can smell the cheese under your foreskin.
Half an engine, pointed the wrong way under the hood, and driving the wrong set of wheels... is that what you like to drive?
Gramps is crazy, Gramps takes shit from no one, Gramps was on the Internet before it was even called the Internet, and Gramps will step on your face.
Too bad you're not man enough to post under your own name.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
Some people shop locally, find what they want, then buy on Amazon. I do it the opposite way, I find a product on Amazon, read the reviews, check out the user guide, then do a search to see who has it locally and go there.
Amazon: the world's greatest catalog. I like it. :)
Fire and Meat. Yummy.