Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by amf12 2113 days ago
The purpose of a ban isn’t to prevent fraud on Amazon, it’s to prevent unwanted seed from entering the country.

I don't see how it helps though. The product page for such scams doesn't show "seeds". It's an actual product, but the seller sends seeds. Banning the sale of seeds doesn't stop this.
3 comments
HenryBemis 2113 days ago
Protect the country's ecosystem by a species that may 'invade' and take our existing flora [0],[1]. If 5% of the recipients want to do something "green" and plant these in a park/forest near them, without knowing the impact.. well 10-20 years from now you may have wiped out other more useful and necessary species.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species [1]: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/invasives/index.shtml

link
function_seven 2113 days ago
Understood, but the question is still: how does this affect the actual trend of sellers gaming their metrics via seed shipments? Those seeds aren't actually being ordered. They're just a cheap, light item to ship to get a tracking number.

It was already fraud before this rule. It's not like the scammy seller is going to obey this rule when they're already flouting the more fundamental ones.

link
aarongolliver 2113 days ago
I think this comment has the right idea [0]. Amazon has two problems with seeds:

1. people doing what appears to be a weird scam that involves seeds being mailed across boarders

2. seed sellers on amazon have been flagrantly violate import controls for years.

This new policy seems to be addressing #2, which is important to Amazon now more than ever because of the increased scrutiny caused by #1 making international news.

I've personally bought seeds from Amazon which were declared as "bookmarks" to sneak past US customs.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24393395

link
amf12 2113 days ago
I think this comment has the right idea

Yep, I can see how the new policy can help with #2. The news post seems to be suggesting Amazon is doing it to address #1 - which the policy doesn't do anything about.

link
booleandilemma 2113 days ago
Can’t they just ban the sellers then?
link
DarthGhandi 2113 days ago
> ban the sellers

Something I find perplexing about this theory, they do have the shipping number right? Shouldn't it be trivial to find who is benefiting?

link