Comment by reeddavid
1 day ago
I think this comment references something many people don't realize: Even items that say "Ships from Amazon, Sold by Amazon" could be counterfeit, because the inventory from third party sellers is co-mingled with Amazon's own inventory.
If you see "Ships from Amazon, Sold by RandomCompany" you might worry about counterfeits. But the "Sold by Amazon" item might also have been sourced from (or counterfeited by) "RandomCompany".
> co-mingled
Note it's actually commingled - it's not a typo despite looking like one.
I began noticing this about seven or eight years ago when the oil filters I bought changed from official ones to obvious counterfeits (certain pieces were missing entirely + media was much thinner than the real ones). Had to switch to a local auto parts supplier to guarantee the correct part.
How did you notice that the media was thinner? On passenger vehicles at least, the filter media is in a stainless steel cup that precludes examination.
Not always - some passenger vehicle filters have exposed media. An example GM filter: https://parts.gmc.com/product/acdelco-gm-original-equipment-...
My current car has a traditional steel-can filter. I cut those open after oil changes to inspect for debris.
BMW at least has the media completely exposed. There is no canister like you might find on Honda oil filters. Basically on BMWs the oil filter housing is permanent. I don't think it's a BMW specific thing. Might be a German car thing?
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It was a suzuki with a paper filter cartridge you load into a metal cylinder that is part of the engine. So you can see and feel the media.
Toyota Tundra filters (at least) are the ‘innie’ pieces, and the cup is a removable/reusable part on the vehicle. A counterfeit would be pretty obvious unless it was at the microscopic level.
I’ve seen this stated many times on HN, but never knowingly experienced it with Amazon in the UK. Is it possible this varies by market?
It does happen with Amazon UK, or at least has within the last year because I've twice had it, first time with a microsd card, second time with an ssd.
They obviously replaced it no problem but it highlighted they were either still mixing stock or were using a dodgy supplier themselves.
For what it's worth, been buying from Amazon for the past 15 years or so, and not once received a counterfeit product. Granted, I still don't like they they mix up their inventory, but I think it's a smaller problem than people make it to be. Most people are buying household supplies off of Amazon; that's not really a category that gets affected by counterfeits.
I can say I've received counterfeit camera and laptop batteries, counterfeit chargers and USB chargers (like Anker), and SD/microSD cards from Amazon.
All of that stuff I buy now from BH or Adorama.
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Amazon UK With replacement phone or laptop batteries, most definitely. I've seen other stuff sold that looked sketchy enough to not be worth the risk.
Most definitely what? There are counterfeits, or there are not counterfeits?
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