Anker has some serious quality issues now, or at least it feels like that with fakes on Amazon. It's hard to tell what's geniune Anker anymore, but I've had really bad luck w/ low quality build of some stuff I've bought there. It's not expensive enough to bother sending back, but I used to automatically buy Anker and now I look for other newer brands that aren't potential counterfeits yet due to the copying of the name.
I purchased a different bluetooth speaker from them - https://www.anker.com/products/A3102011 and I really like it too. I use this speaker at home in the kitchen and it's amazing how well it sounds for a 35$ gizmo.
Amazon has a huge problem with counterfeits. I've noticed that it's especially bad for two things: almost anything that you'd typically find at a place like CVS or Walgreen (e.g. toiletries), and cheap electronic peripherals like USB drives, SD cards, and cables. I avoid buying things from these categories on Amazon whenever possible.
Seriously - it's gotten so bad that I buy those things on eBay of all places. Even though there's counterfeits there too, at least the reviews tend to be better about weeding them out.
I had the same from Amazon. I've always used Anker screen protectors and have been very impressed but the last time I ordered one I ended up with something that definitely wasn't Anker. May not be Anker's fault but it reflects badly on them.
My understanding is that not even that is safe. Amazon mixes stock for the same sku product from all their suppliers, so even if only one of them is selling fakes, you can get one.
Not even "Ship from and sold by Amazon.com" is safe for the same reason I believe.
To clarify: This is based on experiences I've had en AmazonES buying things directly from Amazon (Gillete razors from the top of my head) and them being obviously fake.
Also from previous discussions in HN
This happened to me with a Steam Controller. Ordered "Ship from and sold by Amazon.com" and received one without retail packaging and accessories and was defective. Had no issues with it getting replaced by Amazon. I assume some sellers use FBA to let Amazon deal with customer service so they can get away with selling bad products.
Really wish they wouldn't mix SKU and stock. Perhaps its cheaper for them and if the customer notices they can replace it and still come out ahead. But it doesn't seem fair for someone who can't identify a fake product.
I believe Amazon does co-signing when you buy "sold from Amazon". Are you sure they also do so when sold directly through supplier , and not under prime ?
If it's not fulfilled by Amazon, then it's not coming from Amazon's warehouse. It could be subject to counterfeit by the seller, seller's supplier, or possibly even the sellers fulfillment center.
My understanding of FBA is that each SKU can have multiple suppliers, and stock is assigned to its supplier as it arrives in the warehouse (e.g. 250 Anker chargers with SKU ABC123 from AnkerDirect arrived May 22nd and are stored in warehouse X, unit Y, location Z). An order for a SKU from a specific supplier (e.g. ABC123 charger from AnkerDirect) will be taken from that stock, and the quantity remaining is reduced accordingly.
So, to answer your question: if that all happens, and assuming AnkerDirect doesn't have shady stock, then yes, it should be genuine.
It depends even more on whether there are any sources other than Anker Direct for those branded products. If they're the only source and Amazon is their only channel, then any other seller is either counterfeit or purchased through Amazon and is now trying to resell.
Losing that "we are the only source/seller for our branded products" factor is likely to be a downside of expanding to other retailers. If you know you're the only possible source it should make it much easier to detect and shut down any possible counterfeit sales on Amazon.
