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Comment by andypants | Hacker News Reader

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andypants·

I recently tried to buy a new mouse on amazon.

I found page after page of cheap identical rebranded products: https://i.imgur.com/KRNTBDB.jpg

I did not buy a new mouse on amazon.

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I don’t know how much success you were hoping for in buying a commodity item from no-name brands like that. That’s always going to be a free for all. If you look for mice from reputable companies the results on Amazon are fine.

But then you're playing counterfeit roulette as you figure out what seller to buy from and who is even selling it anyway.

Are counterfeits listed as brand names that big of a problem on Amazon? I make most of my electronics purchases from Amazon (tons in the last few years) and have never received a counterfeit item to the best of my knowledge.

Certain categories of items are ripe with them, fake Sandisk SD cards have been a problem for years, for example.

That's precisely the problem: I don't know how big of a problem it is, and I'm not keen to find out. I know it's enough of a problem that it's easier to simply shop elsewhere.

I personally know a few people who have gotten counterfeit items, even including consumables like protein powder. I don't have to buy from Amazon so it's just a chance I'm not going to take until such a time I can be convinced it's not a problem. It's not any more difficult or even expensive for me to shop elsewhere so I don't have to be particularly rational or thorough about it (I don't have time for that!).

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