[thelittleone]

I'm just surprised that this hasn't become a big issue for Amazon. Is it that most people aren't aware? Isn't it a big enough story for some news outlet to investigate and report? If it became generally known that a large % of products on amazon are fakes, surely it would affect sales.

[patrick451]

I think it's not well known. I've mentioned the counterfeiting problem to several friends, and none of them had heard if it before. For some things, especially any sort of safety related equipment, it makes buying from Amazon a complete non-starter for me because the risk of getting a shoddy fake is literally life and death.

[ctchocula]

My experience as well. HN is one of the few places I heard people talking about the commingling problem. I wonder how Amazon is able to keep this information from being known by so few people.

[Larrikin]

In my life, I nor anyone I know has ever gotten a counterfeit product. I've gotten obviously opened, returned, and repacked shit, low quality AliExpress shit no one would buy if they inspected it in real life, but nothing actually fake.

I've used Amazon regularly, back even when it was just a place to get cheap books. I assume it happens but I think the comments on Hacker News are just not representative of the general public on this issue. Any Amazon thread on here is chock-full of people saying they constantly get fake products.

I avoid large purchases on Amazon when I can, but that's mostly because I want there to be competition for them.

[disgruntledphd2]

> In my life, I nor anyone I know has ever gotten a counterfeit product. I've gotten obviously opened, returned, and repacked shit, low quality AliExpress shit no one would buy if they inspected it in real life, but nothing actually fake.

I got a fake Google Pixel case for my wife. It looked identical to the real one, but didn't fit the phone.

[gilmore606]

I bet the Washington Post will get right on that.