Today I will be talking about a very ugly trend in the world of Amazon third-party sellers. It’s the hate directed at “Chinese sellers” on Amazon who are mischaracterized as evil and blamed for all of the bad stuff happening on Amazon Seller Central. I’ve seen it for years, and today I decided to speak up. It’s not only stereotyping against a group of people, it’s factually wrong.
But first, look around you. At your phone. At your furniture. At the computer on your desk, the jacket in your closet, the coffee maker on your kitchen counter. The shoes on your feet. It was very likely made in China, and the quality level is very high. My iPhone is 4 years old, and it is fantastic. When I replace it in a few years, I will get another one. We also sometimes buy Chinese brands that were designed in China, like Anker. They are also fantastic, and in some cases, like Xiaomi, very innovative.
Yet going to the world of Amazon Seller discussion forums, it’s like a parallel universe. Chinese manufacturers and brands and sellers aren’t recognized or praised. Chinese sellers on Amazon are demonized en masse by many Amazon FBA sellers. It’s pervasive, and it’s stereotyping to put it mildly. Here are a few random examples:
Amazon seller forums, podcasts, and Youtube videos blame “Chinese sellers” on Amazon for crackdowns against innocent sellers, or blamed for breaking every Amazon FBA and FBM rule under the sun – counterfeits, paid reviews, brand hijacking, knock-offs, low-quality manufacturing, you name it. Here’s another one:
Vendors in China manipulate Amazon.
They leave fake reviews for their competitors products so that their Chinese brands end up at the top of the search list.
They will buy competitors’ products, report it as dangerous or fake, return it, and then Amazon suspends the solid vendor’s sales because of a high defective return rate.
Chinese vendors also write fake positive reviews for their own products.
Even when Amazon bans a vendor, the Chinese vendor just makes multiple shell accounts to operate from whenever one gets banned.
To artificially boast sales to get their fake reviews, they send empty boxes to 3rd parties who are part of the game, and claim them to be genuine transactions.
There is a video on YouTube as a proof of how chinese seller manipulate amazon search results and play with hardworking honest US sellers
Note how this alleged behavior is contrasted with “hardworking honest US sellers”. That’s ironic, because a lot of the sellers who admit (on the Seller Central forums) that they broke Amazon terms of service also admit they are from the United States.
Further, the accusations against sellers from China are accompanied by another claim – Chinese sellers are getting special treatment. Amazon is supposedly looking the other way, ignoring the rule breakers from China.
It’s time to take a look at the facts.
First, regarding fake reviews, these often are posted by American companies – and they often get caught. Here are some examples from the mid-2010s:
Amazon filed its first suit against fake review writers in April. In that instance, a California man was allegedly operating several review selling websites including one called buyamazonreviews.com.
While this is only the second suit Amazon has brought over fake reviews, the Federal Trade Commission has filed several.
And in 2013, the New York state Office of the Attorney General got 19 companies to pay more than $350,000 for posting fake reviews online.
Further, most Amazon sellers who self-report that they’ve been busted by Amazon for breaking terms of service are not from China. We know this by looking at Amazon Seller Central forums. Every day, dozens of native English speakers as well as non-native English speakers from other parts of the world admit it. Some Chinese sellers do, too, but on the Chinese language forums. And those forums are not nearly as active as their English-speaking counterparts.
Here’s another fact: As an Amazon seller for many years, with several brands, and registration in the Amazon Brand Registry, here is what my personal breakdown of offenders looks like:
- 1 Italian
- 1 Vietnamese
- 2 or 3 from India
- 1 person from Nigeria
- 1 from the U.K.
- 3 or 4 from the U.S.A. (at least!)
Notice any Chinese sellers? No. The other thing – despite being burned by multiple third-party sellers from India and the U.S., I don’t blame every seller from those countries for being a bad actor.
Go to the Amazon Seller forums and look at the people doing retail arbitrage and getting busted. They’re from all over the world.
Yet many Amazon Sellers, if they find one instance of a seller in China doing something against Amazon TOS, this is twisted to ALL Chinese sellers are breaking the rules, and they are the root of the problems on the Amazon third-party marketplace. It boggles the mind.
Here’s another thing. If you want to look for a culprit behind the rule breaking on Amazon, look no further than “gurus” and “classes” and “experts” on YouTube, social media, and podcasts who have told other sellers for years to use Alibaba to buy cheap junk to resell on Amazon:
Or the “passive income” apostles who are looking for the lazy way to live on a beach in Thailand using online arbitrage or some other Amazon get-rich quick scheme. Or flat-out lying, posting doctored screenshots of their alleged Amazon 6-figure earnings, and promising you can do it too if you sign up for their masterclass.
These youtube gurus and podcasters aren’t from China. They’re from the West. Often from North America, judging by the accents.
Chinese vendors DO use either fake feedback or feedback that has nothing to do with the product advertised on Amazon . This makes the positive reviews on their product look better and some people go directly off the ratings and don’t read the reviews. I, for one, have a problem with this. I also noticed that a few vendors on eBay don’t even ship your items until you threaten to cancel, then the item is immediately shipped. This is not hate, this is disappointment and disgust towards the morals and ethics of the sellers.
I would have a problem with what you’ve described, too. But you’re tarring and feathering an entire class of people – all Chinese sellers – for the misdeeds of a few. Like I said in the video, most of the Amazon rule breakers and cheaters I’ve encountered come from other countries, including the United States. Should all U.S. sellers be tarred by the same brush? Of course not.
Ughh, always someone making it a political issue here. Let’s point out the simple things, for one no its not wrong to call put the fake sellers that sell a duplicated/fake product for a quick buck. If they want to they should make a concerted effort to help the genuine sellers get more publicity and make them stand out from the crowd. also why not let china’s competitors in the ring? like I dont know.. that country they so desperately want but cant have.. *ahem*.. Taiwan..
Ian, you are (incorrectly) racially sensationalizing this issue. This is an issue of cheap manufacturing, counterfeits, and gamey sales tactics sold on Amazon- BASED OUT OF CHINA.
NOT an issue of American hatred of Chinese sellers. Not to say racism, specifically against Chinese people, isn’t an issue in and of itself…and for some I’m sure it bleeds over. But the overall issue is not racially motivated.
Hear me out….
In 2019, pcmag.com reported that OVER 40% of Amazon sellers are based in China. In 2021, Market Pulse reported that OVER 75% of NEW Amazon sellers were based in China
Furthermore, as of 2022, ECOMCREW published a breakdown of Amazon top sellers. The data shows that 59.3% of Amazon’s top sellers are based in China….that is compared to the 34.8% in the USA and a mere .3% in Vietnam etc etc.
People are tired of scammy sales on Amazon for which the majority are based in China because that’s where manufacturing takes place and that’s where Amazon recruits
Another thing to note….you mention very nice quality items like your iphone being made in China. ABSOLUTELY this is the case. But there’s a reason you don’t go to Amazon to buy an iPhone. I shouldn’t have to point out that the reason for this is because you’re not going to likely get an actual iPhone.
My point is this-
-Amazon shoppers (and sellers alike) are tired of counterfeits, cheap products, false advertising etc. The vast majority of those listings are based in China. Therefore, Amazon customers and sellers are racist against Chinese sellers-
The entire premise is false and quite frankly insulting.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/over-40-percent-of-amazons-sellers-are-based-in-china
https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/75-of-new-sellers-on-amazon-are-from-china
https://www.ecomcrew.com/chinese-sellers-manipulating-amazon/
The one who has said something insulting is you. Ian’s point here is not only Chinese sellers do such ugly things on Amazon, but also sellers from everywhere else. Yet, only Chinese sellers, as a whole, bear the blame and are demonized by people as seen in those comments. You actually have admitted yourself that the majority of Amazon sellers are based in China, so it’s never been a surprise that lots of people found faulty products or behaviors from China are ‘many’. The larger the quantity is, the higher the chance you find something wrong. However, if someone indicates and only indicates this is a Chinese problem, then it IS with motive and racial. Imagine, if the largest portion of Amazon’s selling were not from China but from the US, and people who have had some bad experiences say ‘US sellers are blablabla’, ignoring there’re also bad sellers no matter Chinese or whoever else out there just because they’re smaller in number. Would you still feel that this is acceptable, they’re not racists? Here is what you said:
”Therefore, Amazon customers and sellers are racist against Chinese sellers”
The difference between a fair comment and a racism bullshit is if you take a group of people with differentiation or not. Do you think ‘Germans are Nazi’ or ‘Americans are racists’ is fair and not ‘insulting’? Everybody hates counterfeits, false reviews etc. Blame those who do such things instead of blaming an entire group. 10 sellers out of a thousand sell crap on Amazon or wherever else, then the other 990 good sellers all deserve those name-calling? I bet if someone in your family committed a crime, you wouldn’t want other people to consider you as a criminal too simply because you’re from the same family.
Finally, a reminder related to Amazon buyers: you get what you pay for.
10 sellers out of a thousand sell crap on Amazon or wherever else, then the other 990 good sellers all deserve those name-calling?
Those “statistics” are way off. Have you shopped in Amazon recently? I would invert those numbers for a better assessment.
Paris, look at these statistics from 2023. They are downright scary. China is taking over US retail. All the abuse that was there before has been magnified tenfold. I agree the premise of this article is insulting and incorrect. The majority of those China based sellers in Amazon are actually factories, not individuals. Ian figures that by racializing the issue, it takes its validity away.
Look at this. This type of “importance” gives them power and they are sure to abuse it, which they already are:
https://ecommercedb.com/insights/china-based-sellers-increasingly-important/3986
Ian, I took a screenshot of this posts in case you feel like removing it as you have my other ones.
Ian, you obviously have never sold in Amazon. There you see to the extent the China based sellers go to steal and attack competitors. Not only Americans (although mostly) but also others in China. It’s in the nature of the beast. It’s the way the country is run.
It’s what the government does and what encourages it’s people to do. It should come as no surprise that China grew so quickly. when you don’t have to invent the wheel, and simply copy it, you move fast and efficiently. Particularly , if you throw some dirt at the one who invented it in the first place. This is another thing they are good at. Your talk is nothing but just that , talk. So my assumption is either that you are gaining somehow from spreading this misinformation or that you are just out to lunch.
“Ian, you obviously have never sold in Amazon.”
You obviously have never read my blog, watched my videos, or used my products. I’ve been selling on Amazon for more than 20 years, 7 of them as a Professional Seller with branded products.
“my assumption is either that you are gaining somehow from spreading this misinformation”
I gain nothing from stating the truth. I don’t do any business in China, or have any suppliers there, or in any other foreign country for that matter. We proudly manufacture all of our goods in the U.S. Do you?
“or that you are just out to lunch”
I am just calling out the truth as I see it – many sellers in Western countries are incredibly biased toward sellers from China, either borne out of ignorance or outright racism. Which category are you?