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0 pointsmk893y ago0 comments

Any sources on stolen goods? That's the first time I hear it, it's quite nasty honestly. Bad stuff, scam, I can even tolerate, as I can send back, but stolen goods no way - how do I know it's stolen?

I also learnt over the years what to buy and NOT to buy, but sometimes, especially for "compatible" pieces (e.g., a phone screen protector, not official from Samsung or Apple, if they exist) it's like gambling: you don't know what you're getting, and the reviews seem to be about other things (toys, remote controllers, ...literally anything).

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6 comments · 2 top-level

Zircom3y ago· 4 in thread

Tide laundry detergent is a big one. People steal it by the cartload, and either relist it themselves or sell to unscrupulous resellers who list it themselves.

Pretty much any fungible commodity that grocery stores sell that's easily stolen, if it's available on Amazon almost certainly has stolen instances mixed into the supply chain, especially with FBA items.

Guarantee there's plenty of people making decent money doing this in San Francisco and other cities that no longer prosecute shoplifters, there's literally no risk or downside.

nkrisc3y ago

If you want to or an end to that, persecuting the shoplifters won’t do a thing.

The people running the shoplifting ring aren’t out there doing the shoplifting. You can keep arresting the people doing it and the ringleaders will keep recruiting people and your jails and courts will just be full of people on minor shoplifting charges.

No, if you want to end it you need to go after Amazon and the other fences along with the ringleaders running the show.

partiallypro3y ago

You have to go after BOTH. The supply is largely coming from areas where stores are powerless to stop it. Eventually they are just going to close the stores, which will negatively impact those communities even more. It's very possible we could go from "food deserts" to "retail deserts" because of these abysmal policies on both ends of the transaction.

jonatron3y ago

Tide has been a currency for more than 10 years: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5023204

Zircom3y ago

You're absolutely right, my point was that Amazon makes it even easier by removing what is by far the largest hurdle with stolen goods, which is the actual distribution and selling of them.

hattmall3y ago

Yeah there's huge shoplifting rings that pay crackheads $1 per item and resell it through FBA. They do the same for food stamps. If you drive in the hood they will have signs out. They know the items that poor people get excess of and advertise it then they bring up the other opportunities. Diabetic test strips is a big one.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/17/the-fight-against-stolen-pro...

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