How to Avoid Scams and Shoddy Wares on Amazon (2025)

With a few keystrokes you tin find astir thing connected Amazon ... and bargain it with arsenic small arsenic a azygous click. It’s a wonderbox of capitalism. Take, for example, powerfulness banks. Search “power bank” connected Amazon and you'll get backmost much than 40,000 results, ranging from well-known brands similar Anker oregon Belkin to obscure names with zero reviews. There are hundreds of companies and sellers to sift through, with varying capacities, larboard options, and charging speeds.

Which brands are precocious quality? Which listings are legitimate? What’s a bully terms to pay? Are these powerfulness banks really immoderate of the best deals connected Amazon Prime Day, oregon are the discounts fake?

These days, astir anyone tin merchantability items connected Amazon successful three casual steps. The tract hosts millions of sellers, making it much similar eBay than Target. But Amazon does not vet everything connected its virtual shelves thoroughly, if astatine all, and that means you person to beryllium cautious astir what you’re buying. The tract has known problems with fake reviews and counterfeit items, and a increasing fig of sellers person flooded the tract with unusual caller off-brand products. Amazon does person reasonably bully instrumentality policies, including an A-to-Z warrant for items sold by 3rd parties. But ideally, you'll debar having to woody with a instrumentality successful the archetypal place.

WIRED tin help! Below are a fewer tips to assistance you amended wage attraction to what you’re purchasing astatine The Everything Store, successful an effort to take items that are much apt to get arsenic advertised.

Updated June 2025: We've refreshed this communicative with existent tips and information.

Buy Directly From Bezos

Whenever possible, you should bargain items straight from Amazon. Amazon keeps a acold amended oculus connected its ain inventory than it does connected its third-party sellers. Items it sells straight are much apt to get arsenic advertised and suffice for free two-day Prime shipping. Because Amazon manages everything, returns are usually painless. I’ve gotten refunds for defective items without adjacent having to instrumentality them astatine all.

If you’re already checking retired a merchandise connected Amazon, similar our favourite iPad, ever make definite the seller info says "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com." This accusation is typically successful 1 of 2 places. Either it’s nether the reddish terms (and greenish "In Stock") oregon it's nether the yellowish Add to Cart and orangish Buy Now buttons connected the close rail. If you're connected the Amazon app, it's besides nether those buttons.

If you’re browsing done Amazon listings, filter the site’s hunt results to lone amusement items sold by Amazon.com. It volition apt amended the prime of the items you see, cutting retired a batch of less-relevant, lower-quality hunt results. And again, the items are vetted, truthful you’ll astir apt get what you expect and person an easier clip returning it, if request be. I'll usage the Google Pixel 9A arsenic an illustration of a merchandise you mightiness hunt for. It's our prime for the best affordable phone.

Step 1: Search for a peculiar point successful Amazon’s hunt container with class acceptable to “All.” In this case, I searched for "Pixel 9A."

Step 2: Amazon's hunt should take the close Department automatically, but if needed, you tin navigate to the apical of the near obstruction and click connected a Department that fits.