B+W Counterfeit Filters on Amazon – The Chang Zhanh Episode

 

So first off, for any pissy Amazon PR people out there... I do not know 100% that the filters being sold by these insanely suspicious Amazon stores, using a standard Amazon scam technique, are in fact counterfeit.

And I am not going to give my money to counterfeiters to prove 100% that they are in fact selling counterfeit B+W filters. Instead I am going to continue highlighting the incredibly suspect behavior that is occurring and try to make sure nobody gets scammed.

 

On the last episode of counterfeit B+W filters we found a suspicious new Amazon store called Red Li Li selling B+W filters for a significantly lower price than both Amazon itself and B+W official retailers like Adorama and B&H.

On today’s episode we have a brand new Amazon store called chang zhanh selling B+W filters for significantly less than official B+W retailers.

Hmmm….. starting to seem repetitive isn’t it…

 

Chang zhanh sells only a single “B+W” filter along with a bunch of cheap women’s clothing.

 

They follow the same pattern as other scammers…

  1. Launch a new Amazon store
  2. List a bunch of cheap crap you can get in bulk off Alibaba
  3. Warehouse your junk with Amazon so it will seem official to consumers
  4. Undercut the price of already listed products just enough to be shown automatically by Amazon leading to unaware consumers buying the counterfeits
  5. Get that sweet sweet fraudulently earned payout $$$

 

The most important aspect of the scam is getting the “Fulfilled by Amazon” label. Consumers incorrectly assume that means Amazon has verified the authenticity of what’s being sold and has some responsibility for the product. It does not.

Amazon does nothing and does not care. It only cares about getting storage and fulfillment fees because they in essence subsidize Amazon’s own warehousing and shipping infrastructure (turning a cost into a profit maker). Verifying and genuinely inspecting products would increase costs for Amazon and the hassle for sellers. It would require real work, real effort, real care, and we no longer live in a world that wants to do that.

 

The next important aspect… automatically being shown by Amazon.

 

It’s important to remember that Amazon automatically shows consumers the lowest priced seller of a listed product.

 

There are multiple sellers of B+W filters, one of which is Amazon itself, and all seller’s products are shown with the same information and reviews. Because the reviews are for the product only, NOT the product from THAT SELLER. Meaning to be automatically shown and get those 800 reviews and 4 out of 5 stars the seller just has to undercut the real price by a few dollars.

The current price at an official retailer for a B+W 67mm XS-Pro UV Haze MRC-Nano 010M Filter is $30.95.  Amazon itself is selling the filter for $30.47. The suspicious seller has priced their filter at $30.46.

 

Are you starting to see how easy it is for sellers to pass of counterfeits as genuine filters?

 

Another Amazon seller, lezeleme with a total of 3 reviews and no information about itself, only has B+W filters listed on Amazon. They follow the exact same pattern as Chang Zhanh.

They have undercut the official prices for the B+W 52mm, 55mm, and 58mm XS-Pro Clear UV Haze filters by just enough to be shown automatically. The products are all fulfilled by Amazon.

And one of their 3 reviews states that the product they purchased had its tamper tape cut… an open product was sold as new. Which is against Amazon’s rules I do believe. Oh by the way… that’s a different kind of scam. You remove the genuine product from its packaging and then either insert a counterfeit or even just a brick. But we’ll get into that later.

 

Anyways, the point is, buyer beware.

Amazon is not your friend and does not care.

You need to pay attention when purchasing B+W filters.

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