> People might not care if they are knowingly buying a counterfeit item, but they certainly do care if they think they are getting a legitimate brand name item and then receive a different (especially inferior) product.
I personally would be very cautious if I saw a $1500 Gucci handbag on sale for $45 and expected it to be genuine.
Have I come across a $1500 Gucci handbag on sale for $45 and it was genuine? Yes, at an auction because a colleague of mine flips these as a side business.
Would this pricing be available retail? No.
If you're saying someone was sold a $1500 Gucci for $1500 and it turned out to be counterfeit - I feel for them.
Solution: Return it and file a chargeback if the seller does not take returns.
I don't understand the relationship between a made up scenario about a gucci bag and my comment.
Problem # 1 is the cost of returning an item and chargebacks is very high. I (and hopefully many others) are willing to pay a premium to a vendor that performs quality checks on their vendors. It's the whole reason premium brands exist.
Problem # 2 is there exist many items which consumers are not able to easily determine the legitimacy of, for example USB wall outlet AC adapters or batteries and many other small consumer electronic items where inferior parts can be used but are indiscernible to most people.
That's not what happens with Amazon though. You're buying a widget at 10% less than it sells retail at the nearest big box, and what you receive is either a genuine but returned and obviously used item, or a knock off that someone sent in and that was co-mingled with the real SKUs others sent in. Yes, even if you buy "shipped and sold by Amazon".
If you've never seen the original, some knockoffs are very hard to tell apart from the genuine item. They won't perform as well or be as high quality, but if it's your first ever experience with the brand/item, you'll just assume that's what a widget from ACME inc feels like.
In that case, there is no way to tell and it is a lottery whether you get what you pay for or something subpar. It's not as obvious as the 1500$ Gucci bag for 45$ from the back of a pickup on the parking lot.
I personally would be very cautious if I saw a $1500 Gucci handbag on sale for $45 and expected it to be genuine.
Have I come across a $1500 Gucci handbag on sale for $45 and it was genuine? Yes, at an auction because a colleague of mine flips these as a side business.
Would this pricing be available retail? No.
If you're saying someone was sold a $1500 Gucci for $1500 and it turned out to be counterfeit - I feel for them.
Solution: Return it and file a chargeback if the seller does not take returns.