Over the last few
weeks I got a close-up view of this process when I bought a dozen fake
and illegitimate Orwell books from Amazon. Some of them were printed in
India, where the writer is in the public domain, and sold to me in the
United States, where he is under copyright.Others
were straightforward counterfeits, like the edition of his memoir “Down
and Out in Paris and London” that was edited for high school students.
The author’s estate said it did not give permission for the book,
printed by Amazon’s self-publishing subsidiary. Some counterfeiters are
going as far as to claim Orwell’s classics as their own property,
copyrighting them with their own names.Catch up and prep for the week ahead with this newsletter of the most important business insights, delivered Sundays. What
unites all these books is that none of them paid the author anything,
which means they could compete with legal Orwell titles as a lower-cost
alternative. After all, if you need a copy of “Animal Farm” or “1984”
for school, you’re not going to think too much about who published it.
Because all editions of “1984” are the same, right? Not always, not on Amazon.
In my recent experience this is but the tip of a massive iceberg, or a large canary shouting at the top of its lungs before it perishes.
Having been an avid a trusting Amazon user for well over two decades I have found it often indispensable, until now. What is happening? Third Party vendors. Originally Amazon sold the product and stood behind it. In the past year in my experience almost half the third party vendors I tried to use were a near disaster. They say they have something, collect your money, and never deliver. Then you read the fine print on Amazon and they disavow any and all responsibility. That is, the one great Amazon reputation is being despoiled by the third party vendors whose reps and warranties are worthless in my opinion.
It is not only fake books, it is also medical supplies that should not have been sold through the channel. For example is you were to purchase glucose test strips you get ones to be sold only through a Medicare channel and not Amazon. But Amazon third party players sell these in unauthorized channels. Batteries from China, with knock off labels, Knock off books, not to be sold in the US. Multiple types of defective merchandise.
Perhaps this is profitable for the time for Amazon but then there is the FTC which if it gets enough complaints could become a costly strategy. Trust is a very valuable asset. Loss of trust can destroy a business. Hopefully someone at Amazon is listening.
My only short term solution is to buy only what Amazon sells, any other seller is a risk in my opinion and in my experience.
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