Ordering from Amazon has become second nature to many of us. If you are a seasoned Amazon customer you have likely received many products that have exceeded your expectations…. And you have probably received some mysterious products that were nothing like what you thought you were ordering.

At Contour Living we sell our full line of comfort products on Amazon through our seller profile “ContourLiving”. Over time, we have seen mystery sellers pop up on our products and we are limited in ways to prevent them from selling our products. Our #1 priority is that our customers be satisfied with their purchase. And part of achieving that goal is to ensure that our customers be informed when purchasing anything with our brand. We have outlined some common mistakes and tips for shopping on Amazon.

The first step is to understand who can sell on Amazon and what their capabilities are.

Anyone can create a seller profile on Amazon and sell either new or used items. With such freedom to become a seller there are many people who are “sellers” but have no idea what they are doing. Purchasing from one on these third party sellers can lead to the worse kind of buyers remorse.

Reasons to be careful of Third Party Sellers and Counterfeit Items:

• Inaccurate Item descriptions. Ever order something from Amazon and it’s not at all what you thought you were getting? This is because the seller listed their product under the wrong item listing. Truly there is little that can be done to fix these rogue product listings. PS- if you want a good laugh, Google, “Amazon purchase fails.”
• Poor customer service. If you order from a third party seller, it is likely that you will encounter an unresponsive “customer service” team that refuses to answer questions or honor warranties or returns.

Always watch for:

• Falsified reviews. For the past two years, Amazon has been changing their guidelines to prevent sellers from bribing their customers for reviews. However, prior to this time Amazon was like the Wild Wild West when it came to rules for asking for reviews. Here’s what you should look for to identify relevant reviews:
  • Look for recent reviews. Reviews within 3 months are most likely to be the most valid
  • Seek out the most critical reviews. You can filter your reviews so that you only see the one and two stars. Read them and be aware of the date they were posted.
  • Look for detailed and specific reviews and only consider reviews that say “verified purchase.”

• High Seller Ratings. When you browse the list of sellers on a particular product there is usually a seller score underneath their name. Most legitimate companies will have between a 93%-97%. Be cautious of those with a 100%; look at the amount of seller feedback.
• Seller Names. Most companies will make their seller profile names match their company names, if the Seller profile is the name of a person chances are that you are getting product from someone who is reselling product. Other companies will make their seller names match legitimate companies so closely that the misspelled name will be hard to spot and you will think you are purchasing something from a legitimate company. If shopping Contour Products, always look for our seller name, “ContourLiving.”

When it comes to Amazon, you can shop until you drop, but by being a careful and informed shopper, you will end up with less disappointing purchases! Happy shopping!