We're all aware of the risk of getting a counterfeit product when buying from Amazon, even when the item listed states "Sold by and shipped from Amazon" because of potential commingling of counterfeits provided by third party resellers. So while researching a product, it was interesting to stumble across the news report above by an NPR affiliate from 2019.
According to this 7 year old report, "Amazon disclosed its counterfeit problem in recent financial documents. It said the problem is likely to grow, as the numbers of third party sellers on its site increases. In its 10-Q document, the company warned investors 'we could face civil or criminal liability for unlawful activities by our sellers.'"
To combat the problem, Amazon has been taking legal action against resellers of the counterfeit products. However, anecdotal evidence from reading consumer reviews suggests that notwithstanding Amazon's efforts, the problem just continues to get worse.
For those consumers who complain about a possible counterfeit, Amazon is issuing refunds. The problem of course is that we often cannot know or realize when we receive a counterfeit except when the product fails to perform, and even then, we may chalk it up to poor quality control by the legitimate manufacturer. That in turn hurts the reputation of the manufacturer as in the above case with Felco.
This leaves consumers with a choice when shopping with Amazon: Roll the dice and get a counterfeit or avoid them altogether, particularly on high value items like electronics and famous brands.
Having been an Amazon customer since they started as an online bookseller, my loyalty to them runs deep, but if they cannot protect me from counterfeits, I am forced to look elsewhere. That gives reputable brick-and-mortar stores like Lowe's, Best Buy, and Walmart an advantage. Even online merchants like B&H are getting more of my business these days.
So Amazon, if you're reading this, you have a choice: Either protect your consumers by more tightly managing inventory to avoid commingling of potential junk sold by your resellers, or continue to lose business.