Punishing consumers for ordering a product for which the supplier/supply chain sent a counterfeit which was flagged by customs is just dumb.
Importing and selling counterfeit products is already illegal. If the person has a 20' shipping container full of counterfeit product, maybe investigate it and level penalties.
But to disqualify someone from an entry program because of one counterfeit product, when clearly no one from Amazon, CBP, or the manufacturer put in any effort whatsoever to investigate, is just wrong IMHO. The article states the manufacturer took the lazy route and punished the innocent customer because going after Amazon and someone in China would be more effort/expense.
I just confirmed with a professional IP attorney who has handled merchandise counterfeiting cases before: the buyer is NOT responsible if they were not aware that the goods were counterfit.
(Disclaimer: this post is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer even though I asked one, etc)
Amazon's distribution centers reside in many states.
In Indiana, since they have a presence, they are legally obligated in collecting sales tax.
My bank statement shows "AMAZON", not 3rd party importer.
I find your claim of "technically an importer" to be completely bunkum. The importer here is Amazon, and full blame on import fraud should be levied against them. I have no issue in giving a grace period to get "shit in order", but they've known about this for quite some time. Enough's enough. (Claiming that I buy stuff from Amazon makes me an importer would also make me an importer buying crap from Walmart.... And yet we don't see that, do we?)
> I find your claim of "technically an importer" to be completely bunkum
You may well find his claim to be bunkum, but he's correct. If you purchase something from a third party seller in a different country on Amazon's platform, and the seller ships it from their country to your country and it passes through customs, you are the importer.
Walmart imports goods from China and gets them through customs and then sells them, so you are not importing things when you buy them from Walmart, unless you purchase something from a foreign country from a third party seller on their marketplace platform, just like Amazon.
The sale is made to Amazon, The product goes through Amazon's warehouses, and Taxes are paid to Amazon...It's an Amazon Sale and they are acting as the importer for these goods.
Now, Alibaba/Aliexpress on the other hand, I do agree wholeheartedly with you. Because you are ordering from a Chinese company, ordering Chinese goods with no regard to US copyright/patent/trademark law.
You can have it fulfilled by Amazon and pay $392. It's already past customs and ready to ship to you.
You can order it from a third party seller, where the description says 'Ships from Japan' and warns you about customs fees for $370. You are purchasing the item directly from someone in Japan via Amazon's platform and any customs or importing fees are on you. They explicitly state it, I'm not sure how you're still confused.
What you're saying is only true for items fulfilled by Amazon. Not all Marketplace items sold on Amazon are fulfilled by Amazon. On those items, especially on items sold by Chinese sellers, you won't be charged taxes, and the item is shipped directly to you. It's a lot like using eBay + Paypal. The packaging will have the seller's name (not Amazon) and your name.
I've purchased stuff from Chinese sellers on Amazon, and it's been sent directly to me from China. Actually, I didn't even realize that the seller was Chinese, until I saw the three-week delivery estimate. And there was no indication that Amazon was involved after I ordered the stuff.
On the Amazon product page, you'll usually see a "Ships from and sold by" line for products not fulfilled by Amazon. If it's fulfilled by Amazon, the line is usually "Sold by [seller name] and Fulfilled By Amazon".
I don't know whether they are embargoed or not, but on Amazon.ca and Amazon.uk it's very easy to find Android Kodi boxes pre-loaded with sketchy apps and Kodi plug-ins that are also fulfilled by Amazon. I'm pretty sure in Canada and the UK, that those products have been heavily targeted by the government for piracy. Several local sellers of those boxes in Canada have been prosecuted/shut down, yet they are still so easily available on Amazon.
Punishing consumers for ordering a product for which the supplier/supply chain sent a counterfeit which was flagged by customs is just dumb.
Importing and selling counterfeit products is already illegal. If the person has a 20' shipping container full of counterfeit product, maybe investigate it and level penalties.
But to disqualify someone from an entry program because of one counterfeit product, when clearly no one from Amazon, CBP, or the manufacturer put in any effort whatsoever to investigate, is just wrong IMHO. The article states the manufacturer took the lazy route and punished the innocent customer because going after Amazon and someone in China would be more effort/expense.
Guilty until proven innocent. Ridiculous.