THE BLONDTOURAGE

(amazon.not ?)

SIGH.

Let me preface this by admitting my all encompassing love and dedication to amazon.com.

Not only has Amazon Prime changed my life, and in turn, Prime Now, but also the company is based in my hometown of Seattle, Washington!  Rain City is the place where I learned to be a capable woman, raised in a community of people who had loyalty and intelligence and and gave a crap about the environment and education. Bomb AF.

Maaaayyyybe though….Amazon had a couple of screws that went loose when it came to ensuring hair products (amongst other things sold on the site), were legitimate. Again, SIGH. 

I’m not here to point fingers or say anyone besides the seller is maliciously trying to sabotage us from having amazing hair care that makes all brunettes jealous. Oh!  It’s probably brunettes who are selling the fake goods!!!  (JK they never made me submit a current photo when buying any conditioner or anything LOL.)

So the end decision I have made is to CAREFULLY  buy any hair stuff or beauty products on Amazon.

Here’s how I’m seeing Amazon works since researching the issue:

Amazon has three ways they handle fulfillment of their orders:

–Sold by Amazon

These products are sold to Amazon to resell to customers by actual companies and vendors, so they are most likely the actual product.

–Fulfilled by Amazon

These products are not sold by Amazon, but are shipped from an Amazon fufillment center.  So they are at least processed by Amazon, but there’s a chance they were not verified.

–Ships From and Sold By a Third-Party Seller

These items are never in the hands of any amazon employee and ship directly from the Third-Party Seller.  This is how most of the counterfeit products are sold.

Reviews and How They Get Away With It:

-Fake Reviews 

I actually heard a story on NPR a couple weeks ago about this. Sellers are giving free products to “customers” in trade for a review.  I know that some of us would not trade free stuff for a 5 star review, but it seems that the swag stops to the reviewers when the 5 star ratings aren’t there.  Add to that, I’m SURE they don’t send the fake stuff to them anyways! HELLO!

-Selling of REAL product, then having cycles selling FAKE products

I went on amazon and checked out reviews for a seller that retailed “It’s a 10” leave-in treatment. The 5 star reviews were chronologically grouped together, and so were the 1 star reviews.

Example:

October 2013, August 2013, February 2014, there was a string of bad reviews stating that the product was fake, and that they knew so by comparing it to the product the had bought before in a store in person, or even brought it to their hairstylists who told them it was definitely NOT “It’s a 10“.

Then, there was months of good reviews. 

Again, in November 2015, December 2015, and another November 2015, the reviews stating the product was not real were left.

Then, another few months of positive reviews.

And, once again, another cycle of claims it was a fake product. THREE 1 star reviews claiming “It’s a 10” was counterfeit in May of 2016. You can tell that people are utilizing the reviewing process more and more, which makes sense because more and more people have started counting on amazon for household purchases.

My Experience With Amazon Haircare Purchases

I personally have a haircare product that I recommend to clients (and use myself) that I get on Amazon. I 100% let them know ahead of time that there’s a possibility of the seller going rogue, but the product I buy on there is not available in a large size anywhere in a Los Angeles salon or retail store. I use the exact same seller and only tell my clients to buy it by using the link I send them, which is where I originally purchased the item.  Also, I do have them touch and smell the product at the salon, so they know what to look for.  My clients are so awesome they even send me pics of it when they get it!  The product is so good for the hair, it is worth the risk to me.

Now here’s another story….

Roza’s Experience With Amazon Haircare Products

Uh oh. My BFF and favorite person in the world, Roza had a totally frustrating experience with this…. She bought a conditioner and when receiving it, felt like it wasn’t real… Actually, KNEW it wasnt real because she had used the product many times before. It ended up being hair CHOLESTEROL. A super cheap yellow “deep conditioner” used at beauty schools for practice. She complained. She wrote a bad review. She even contacted Amazon. Her review was taken down due to what she thinks was other positive reviews outweighing her claims. Or just basically in Roza’s words: “Everyone is a cheater liar”.  And lets be honest… She may not be the sweetest person on the phone when dealing with customer service representatives. Im pretty sure I would quit my job if i worked at a call center and she was a customer I had to help. I think she had just gotten over it when I went to Dallas to visit her and brought her a liter of the real thing as a surprise present. She ran into her bathroom and came out with the fake shit yelling I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!!  I’m actually the one that had to tell her the stuff she bought for $34 was cholesterol…ouch!

Well I hope this has been of some help!

Here’s to Amazon weeding out the liars and fakers.

Love and Legitimate Fluffy Feel,

Caitlin ❤

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