Nothing bought on Amazon should be consumed or applied topically or otherwise come into prolonged contact with your body. I learned this the hard way a few years back with some counterfeit shampoo that severely burned my scalp after a single use.
Here's my list of things I won't buy on Amazon.com:
- Anything which goes in or on my body (foods, medicines, etc.).
- Anything which is easily knocked off (SD cards, memory, SSDs, etc.)
- Bed sheets (oddly enough, you'll often get lies on materials and fabric)
- Thing I need reliably / reliably on-time (I cancelled Prime after several shipping issues)
Since I cancelled Prime, things added to this list include:
- Most digital content (they added ads to music I paid for as soon as I cancelled Prime, and many newer Kindle books are hard to back up into non-DRMed formats)
Most of what I will buy on Amazon are generic gizmos, like kids toys, cables, generic keyboards, battery chargers, basic tools, and basic clothing (kids pyjamas and that sort of thing). However, it's no longer my first source. I'll go Aliexpress, eBay, and Walmart first.
I now have Walmart's equivalent of Prime instead. It's not great, but it's better. There is zero customer service, but shipping times are more accurate than Amazon, generally faster, and they'll actually let you know if something is running late or early (which is huge, if you're planning a project). Walmart's selection is worse than Amazons, but I'm hoping it will catch up. I also am starting to go to local stores again.
Agreed with your post – except on the “Kids pajamas” – they should probably be reclassified under the “Anything which goes in or on my body” list you made.
Whether it’s undisclosed flame retardants, toxic dyes, or other harmful substances, kids bodies are generally more susceptible to harm via environmental pollutants. Such harms may not be at all obvious in the short term, but could still be very harmful over the long-term.
I wish I knew of a vastly superior option (ie, safer option) for buying kids or baby clothes. (Anyone have suggestions on this?)
That said, I believe Amazon is probably at the riskier end of this spectrum vs.traditional stores because of their distributor-centric structure.
Basically, if a harmful product were to receive any negative press, it would more easily be equated with a single company/seller from another country, and probably one with an odd-sounding name.
With a more traditional brick and mortar store, the product may be sourced from the exact same producer, but the reputation hit will be greater to the brick and mortar store, because the customer tends to equate the product more closely with the the store itself. Often, they present themselves to the public as the “seller” of the product whereas Amazon will more give the presentation of “distributor” on behalf of “(_insert_generic_inscrutably-named_foreign_corporation_name)”. Fly-by-night seems an apt description for these companies most the time.
This seemingly reduced level of accountability is the biggest problem I have with trusting them but it’s not the only one; it’s just compounded by the often fraudulent reviews, their practice of taking down authentic but critical reviews, and of selling counterfeits – even occasionally when one orders via a “Prime” option, or fulfilled by Amazon, or seemingly buys an item directly via the manufacturer’s Amazon ‘store’.
Of course there are many other issues as well but these are a few that have created headaches for me in the past to the point that I now avoid them for most purchases.
Can you name any specific instance where people were harmed by toxins in clothing? The skin tends to be a pretty good barrier. Creams and cosmetics are often designed to penetrate it, but clothing fits within my risk profile. I come in contact, skin-ways, with all sorts of nastier things day-to-day, even when working on my house.
My concerns around clothing have more to do with durability, comfort, and quality. For example, bad pyjamas can be not very breathable or collect sweat.
That's pretty easy to tell, though.
So that's shady clothing fits in my risk profile.
As a footnote: I'm not implying it should fit into your risk profile; I'd avoid based on hypothetical risks like lead contamination, PFAS, and other hypotheticals if I earned perhaps 50% more than I do today. I'm asking since if there are specific instances (not of contamination but of harm), I might change my risk profile.
Do you know who sells on Aliexpress, and to a large extent on eBay? The very same shady Chinese/Indian sellers peddling counterfiet products you are seeking to avoid by not shopping on Amazon.
Aliexpress was literally set up as a direct-to-US-market Chinese factory marketplace, which results in 99% counterfeit and knock-off products being pushed directly to consumers.
Sure, but it's obvious, unlike Amazon where you get duped. So if you want a real name brand product you shop at none of the above, and if you want cheap junk you go to AliExpress. There's not a large reason to roll the dice on something in between (Amazon) unless you want junk with much faster shipping and streamlined returns (at double the price of AE).
It's just super ironic the parent post said they avoid counterfeits and knock-offs by shopping on Aliexpress. Aliexpress is basically counterfeit and knock-off central...
On Amazon, look at who the seller is. If it's Amazon or the actual manufacturer, you'll be fine. For the rest, you need to do some additional research on the seller's business - but it's understandable to not want to do that effort.
With that said, you can't actually lose on Amazon. Just return the item for a full refund and select "not as advertised" as the return reason. You'll get a free pre-paid return label, or drop off at a local store. I've bought plenty of expensive electronics on Amazon without reasonable fear.
> It's just super ironic the parent post said they avoid counterfeits and knock-offs by shopping on Aliexpress. Aliexpress is basically counterfeit and knock-off central...
You said "the parent post said they avoid counterfeits and knock-offs by shopping on Aliexpress" which I'm afraid is incorrect given that the post in question said "Amazon [is] no longer my first source [for] generic gizmos, [...] I'll go Aliexpress, eBay, and Walmart first" (if I may rearrange for clarity without changing the meaning).
"Generic gizmos" roughly equates to "counterfeits and knock-offs" in my book, and that commenter isn't trying to avoid them when shopping at AliExpress and formerly Amazon. That's separate from the situations where they do want to avoid knock-offs, listed separately from all of this.
Read the full paragraph yet again, carefully and closely:
Most of what I will buy on Amazon are generic gizmos, like kids toys, cables, generic keyboards, battery chargers, basic tools, and basic clothing (kids pyjamas and that sort of thing). However, it's no longer my first source. I'll go Aliexpress, eBay, and Walmart first.
Reading comprehension questions:
* Amazon is a source for the author for what type of products?
* Author prefers Aliexpress and eBay over Amazon. Therefore, what types of products does the author buy there?
* Does preferring those vendors over Amazon mean or imply that the author will buy things he does not buy on Amazon there instead?
I apologize, in advance, by the didactic approach. Some people, especially from some high-context American communication styles, will believe it implies that I'm being patronizing. However, it is not intended to be; I'm from a different culture with different communication styles. I am using it since it is effective for identifying miscommunications and / or explaining misconceptions. Given that this is my third shot now, I thought it made sense to give it a shot, at the risk of offending people across cultural backgrounds.
I don't wonder. Fakes and knock-offs were rampant on Amazon -- for a long time, more common than genuine product. People tested them. That's especially true for brand names like 3M.
I only bought through trusted supply chains. My masks were made in South Korea, and I bought directly from the manufacturer's US-based distributor.
Hate to break it to you, but Aliexpress is likely less reliable than Amazon (or have the exact same products). eBay is likely the same and Walmart allows 3rd party sellers so it's pretty much the same as Amazon unless you source the products curated by Walmart.
I'll go to Aliexpress and eBay first for: "kids toys, cables, generic keyboards, battery chargers, basic tools, and basic clothing."
I have the exact same list for them as for Amazon. I'll go there first for those products since Aliexpress has much better prices than Amazon. eBay has better seller reviews. I certainly wouldn't buy food or medicine from them, though, or even bedsheets or SD cards.
Walmart is a lot better than Amazon. They do have a search filter to disable marketplace sellers, and if buying from Walmart proper, I do trust them to still get supply chains adequately right. Amazon did okay here too, even a half-decade ago; it crapped out with Covid and never fixed itself. Perhaps Walmart will crap out too, but it hasn't yet.
> I'll go to Aliexpress and eBay first for: "kids toys, cables, generic keyboards, battery chargers, basic tools, and basic clothing."
I do too. I don't use Amazon Prime and can usually find the same products for cheaper on ebay with free shipping. The competition among other sellers is greater on ebay so the price will often be lower. It is difficult to do returns though
Aliexpress is fast, efficient, but completely random and automated in resolution. Products from Aliexpress are great 50% of the time, non-working or not shipped 10% of the time, and somewhere in between 40% of the time. It's cheap and complete roulette.
I almost never buy fancy clothes with materials like linen. I do buy fancy sheets :)
With work-at-home, most of my work day is spent in fluffy cotton pyjamas in the winter and simple underpants in the summer from basic-but-large companies like Hanes, Fruit-of-the-Loom, and similar. I'll put on a plain cotton t-shirt and a pair of jeans to go out to the store or whatever. If it's cold, I'll toss on a worn-out long-sleeved t-shirt (the good ones see very little use) and/or a jacket of some kind.
I do have fancy clothing for business meetings, as well as for specific types of exercise, but the total number of hours of usage on those is quite low.
I stopped buying health and beauty stuff on Amazon altogether due to the counterfeits or people returning items by replacing the actual product with something else which I ultimately end up getting. I had too many instances with vitamins and such where the labels and seals were sketchy, damaged, or didn't exist. Same with shampoos, lotions, face-washes, soaps, detergents, hot-tub supplies, etc. Reporting to the seller or Amazon was a pointless exercise as often times they'd shrug it off.
Where do you guys live where your getting these counterfeits and sketchy items? I really want to know. Not being snide. My experience has been very different with Amazon, which is why Im puzzled.
I had the similar experience back in 2018... Led to temporary hair loss (I remember my hair falling out in tufts) from what I believe was counterfeit hair gel (it smelled different from same product I've used for years). Stopped using the product from Amazon and only ever order from reputable sites like Sephora and Nordstrom now.
Amazon has lost all of my business for consumable goods. It's not worth the convenience to risk my own or my families health. Fuck 'em.
