Quote:
Originally Posted by leebase
I believe it's in EBay's and Amazon's best interest to police what is sold. They have all kinds of smarts and AI know how. They can sniff out, if they choose too, what is legit or not.
When I buy something from Amazon, I want to know I'm not buying counterfeit goods.
The reputation system helps, but there is more they could and should do.
|
Quite seriously--and trust me, I'm not supporting counterfeits, stolen property, etc.--how? It's all well and good to say "AI," but that's like the old cartoon with "...then a miracle occurs..." in the middle of the formula. AI sounds good--but what's it mean? Does it mean that Deirdre with her "someone gave me this and I don't want it and I'm reselling it" gets "sniffed out" as a counterfeiter? What about those entities that buy designer goods in Asia, and resell them? That's legit, even if US Sellers wish it weren't. I buy Asian Skin care goods on Amazon and other vendors all the time, that I'd pay a LOT more for in Macy's, etc. Ditto legitimate sellers that have EBay stores, in addition to their other online storefronts. How can Amazon possibly sniff out what's the legit, versus the not? Or eBay, for that matter?
I think that this is one of those things that
sounds easy, or sounds practical when you say "AI" really quickly--but in practice,
it's not. I see that sort of thing
all the time--"All I need is for someone to JUST fit this PDF that was made for 8.5" x 11" into 8" x 10"," as if that's something you and Gumby can do, in two minutes or less, when
in fact, that requires a whole new layout of the book. It's not "easy" and it's not
"just..." in terms of
"just" being able to do it.
I suspect that sniffing out "bad" goods isn't that simple. And what about the goods that aren't cheaper, but which are still counterfeit? I'll give you a perfect example of the problems inherent in assuming that "the customer knows":
I saw a raft of reviews, on some jade items (jade facial rollers, as it happens, which my sister had requested as a gift), all screaming that "these are coutnerfeit! COUNTERFEITS!" and
proudly bragging how these diligent shoppers had of course, reported these nefarious Fagins to Amazon, right? Y'know
WHY they
knew that they were counterfeits, and unworthy of money being spent?
Quote:
|
"Because this so-called JADE isn't even GREEN! It's WHITE!" It's fake, fake fake! I've reported these crooks to Amazon!"
|
Yeah, right. Let's all rely on the (illiterate) customer to tell us what's real, and what's counterfeit, you betcha.
Hitch