Dumpster divers say it’s easy to list discarded toys, electronics and books on the retailer’s platform, where just about anyone can set up shop. So we decided to try.
Source: You Might Be Buying Trash on Amazon — Literally
Another trick is to sell products that have a “best if used by date”, after that date has come and gone. They likely purchased these items at fire sale prices from legitimate vendors who do not sell expired products. The Amazon consumer, however, has no way if knowing that they are buying a product (think food or even OTC medication) that has expired.
I recently bought an aged, hard cheese, in bulk, from a third party vendor on Amazon. After it arrived, I saw that the best if sold buy date was a few months ago. In this case, the hard cheese had been refrigerated and this just aged it a few more months, which made the cheese even sharper in flavor. Got lucky with that one.
Another Amazon feature is that you may not get your product from the vendor you ordered from. If the same product is available in an Amazon warehouse closer to you, but from a different vendor, Amazon may substitute the same product sold by a different vendor.
Other third party vendors buy bulk returned goods that originated from Amazon – and then resell them on Amazon.
Ever write a positive product review on Amazon? I did, a few days ago. And each day since I have received several emails from unidentified vendors offering to send me a free product in exchange for a review (5-star, presumably).
