Beware of On-Line Marketplace Resellers

Page Edition: 2024-02-02

I buy a number of health support products on-line, but my personal policy is to avoid buying anything ingested or topical on-line from a ‘marketplace’ reseller. A marketplace reseller is one that offers the same product SKU from multiple sellers. Examples include amazon.com (but not their Whole Foods stores, in person), walmart.com (but not their stores, in person), and probably others. Just avoid? It may be safe when the product SKU has only one seller and one shipper, despite it being a marketplace order.

It’s usually safe to order books 📖 from marketplace sellers.
Don’t eat them.🙄

{Normally} subscription-based supplement/food-testing service ConsumerLab has a public page tracking this issue: ℄Where to Safely Buy Real Vitamins and Supplements Online, Not Fakes or Counterfeits

⟲ Example Listing

Here’s an example on Amazon, ASIN (SKU) B01AH3RT9Y:
⎆BioGaia Gastrus Chewable Tablets, Adult Probiotic Supplement for Stomach Discomfort, Constipation, Gas, Bloating, Regularity, Non-GMO, 30 Tablets, 1 Pack

Notice the text box on the page with Other Sellers on Amazon (and they often offer lower prices). If you click on one of those, what’s loaded in your shopping cart is the same ASIN (B01AH3RT9Y). Your order may be filled from the same warehouse tote used by all the sellers of that ASIN. Where there are multiple shippers, that introduces separate uncertainty.

In the specific case of Gastrus®, I’ve seen enough complaints of failed L.reuteri yogurt, where all other ⎆usual-suspect factors have been ruled out (other than the ‘dead bugs’ test), that fake Gastrus simply has to be considered as a possible explanation.

⟲ So What’s the Problem?

It’s that “Your order may be filled from the same warehouse tote used by all the sellers of that ASIN.” bit above.

For most of the time that Amazon has been operating, your order options only controlled who got the money from the sale. You did not control what stock is used (and may still not). Yes, in this example when viewed in early 2024, you can click on it as sold by BioGaia USA, or even Amazon.com, but you may get what what was stocked-in by one or more {UnfamiliarNames}. These other sellers may be completely legit, but even a careful read of the feedback might not settle that—and you have to perform this due diligence for all of the other sellers, because you have no idea who provided that tote stock. Maybe…

Amazon is aware of this problem, and has been working on fixing it since 2017 or so. If you’ve ordered any products from them recently, see if the product package sports a label that looks something like the image at right. If you are willing to download and run the app, scan the 2D barcode and see what it reports. You may only get a ✔ or an ✘, but you might also be presented with brand-dependent additional data. See this ⇩later comment on the thread for an expanded discussion.

There’s a further problem where a customer return may be what was shipped—and you often have no real control over whether you get fresh stock or a presumably unopened customer return. This is a big concern with high-priced tech products.

This is sometimes known as the ASIN co-mingling problem. It was the subject of at least one lawsuit, which I have not so far seen as resolved.

⟲ Does This Matter to Anyone on Program?

⎆NOW Discovers Fraudulent Products Sold on Amazon Impersonating Prominent Industry Brands

This is only a partial list of the fakes found:
👎 NOW Apple Pectin 700mg 120 Veg Caps
👎 NOW Lutein & Zeaxanthin 50 Caps (Should be Softgels)
👎 NOW Magnesium Citrate 200mg 250 Tabs (Product is Capsules)
👎 NOW Psyllium Husk 500mg 500 Veg Caps
👎 NOW Saccharomyces Boulardii 60 Veg Caps

These are USD$20 products.
👮 If crooks will counterfeit these, they’ll counterfeit anything, and are even more likely to do so with higher priced products. It takes a while for anything to get done about these cases, because the crook is also counting on getting the money, and hoping that some other seller’s real product is being shipped to that buyer.

The risk is not merely getting rice flour instead of live cultures or Mg-citrate. NOW Foods surveys of various products have turned up counterfeits of other brands containing undeclared drugs.

⟲ Plan B

So what sources are safer? Vitacost.com and iHerb.com are examples of single-seller single-shipper for their entire inventory. VitaCost further isn’t presently accepting returns, which also closes that risk path.

You can also usually buy directly from the brand, and that can have expiry and stewardship advantages for sensitive products like probiotics or perishables. Watch out for brands that appear to be selling direct, but are doing fulfillment through some other marketplace seller. I recently fired two brands that had switched to using Amazon for brand site orders (and I couldn’t find them on any single-seller single-shipper sites).
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Bob Niland [⎆disclosures] [⎆topics] [⎆abbreviations]