Originally Posted by
u235
People are mixing several different issues here. Junk parts, off brand, cheap parts, knockoff parts, counterfeit parts. Counterfeit is bad because they are deceptive regardless of the actual quality of the product you got. All others are YMMV
If you bought Shimano cleats and they ship Shinamo cleats or Shimano cleats that were obviously bogus then I understand. I can buy an off brand set of cleats that is complete garbage or great on Amazon, the quality is not specific to Amazon or Amazons fault.
fair enough, but the thread is discussing Amazon - they’re not the only source of stuff, but they’re the ones under discussion here, and whether or not it’s Amazon’s “fault”, the fact remains that buying from Amazon can be risky if you don’t know exactly what you’re getting. I use Amazon all the time, and it’s fine if (1) you’re buying some commodity item, the source of which is irrelevant - so, for example, I recently bought a small slow cooker for melting chain wax. Do I care what brand it is or what company made it? Not a bit - it’s for melting wax and it cost $13 with free shipping - job done, or (2) you’re buying something that that you can be reasonably sure is the real thing- either because you can tell real from fake, or it’s not economically fakeable. I’ve bought plenty of brand name bike parts on Amazon with no problems, because I’m pretty sure that, for example, producing a fake Campagnolo part with the same fit and finish as the real thing wouldn’t be economically feasible. Would I buy a Pinarello CF frame on Amazon? Unlikely. Too much financial incentive to counterfeit.