10 Gadgets And Tech Items You Should Think Twice About Before Buying From Amazon

Amazon is arguably the most prominent retail logistics company in the world. You can purchase almost anything and receive it the next day with an Amazon Prime membership, which also bundles hundreds of films, TV shows, and games. However, Amazon has its weaknesses, especially with gadgets and tech.

Abundance isn’t the problem. You can buy many cheap and reliable drones, for example, and the company even has its own private umbrella of products, Amazon Basics, that offers quality products at reasonable prices. However, you will always find a few rotten apples in even the best harvests, and the Amazon marketplace is no different. Some pieces of tech just aren’t worth buying through Amazon. Several of these items are cheaper through different retailers, while other products are the result of scammers taking advantage of Amazon’s different systems.

Amazon sells a mix of its own products and items designed/produced by other companies. You will find some obvious overlaps between Amazon products and other big-name devices, especially when an Amazon Basics gadget resembles those of another manufacturer. However, you are usually safe purchasing both through Amazon; the operative word here being “usually.”

In 2016, Apple sued the company Mobile Star over copyright infringement. The suit alleged that Mobile Star falsely advertised its own third-party accessories on Amazon as genuine Apple products. According to Apple, they bought 100 Apple-branded items from Amazon, and around 90 were fakes. This controversy was a dark day for Amazon, as it demonstrated that customers couldn’t always trust listings for Apple products on the site. However, there’s more.

As Amazon tech products have several rivals, including Apple and Google devices, lifestyle blogger Kallie Branciforte claims this consumer competition paves the way for “fraudulent listings.” Customers are more likely to purchase fake Apple and Google gadgets through Amazon than they are through other retailers, simply because Amazon sells its own lines of similar devices. While that doesn’t mean you can’t find legitimate Apple AirPods on Amazon, you will probably spend less time searching for them on other sites. And you might get a better deal, too.

Some PC parts you should never buy used, and purchasing an inexpensive computer monitor is a roll of the dice, especially on Amazon. Generally speaking, computer monitors are expensive (at least more expensive than modern TVs) because they pack in more pixels for extremely high resolutions, and they have higher refresh rates and better color accuracy when compared to most television sets. You can find plenty of worthwhile PC screens on Amazon for $200 or less, but if you try to find a deal on a monitor for under $100, then you are wandering into problematic territory.

Cheap computer monitors are unreliable for many reasons, especially if you want to use them for gaming. You usually have to make do with obscure brands such as Sansui and Koorui, and many reviews complain about similar problems. Many users encounter horrible ergonomics, poor color accuracy, inadequate customer support, and even screen failures at worst. With computer monitors, you get what you pay for, and if you don’t pay at least $200 for one through Amazon, don’t expect a lot in return.

Electric toothbrushes such as the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean are hefty but potentially worthwhile investments. They’re more expensive than manual toothbrushes, but they get rid of more plaque and clean in crevices that most hand-powered bristles can’t reach. Still, you need to replace the brush heads now and then, and like printer ink refills, that’s how companies get ya — because trying to save money on brush heads is a bad idea.

Let’s say you need to buy a Philips Sonicare replacement head. You can purchase a pack of two from the Philips website for almost $30 or a pack of four for $44.96 (at the time of writing). Alternatively, Amazon has a pack of eight generic replacement heads for $10. Which sounds like the better deal? According to reviews, the latter isn’t a deal at all, because you’re paying $10 for items that don’t work.

While the generic heads have numerous good reviews, many users complain about the quality. They’re not as comfortable as bona fide Sonicare heads; they lose bristles easily and are loud during use. These problems aren’t unique to the third-party Sonicare heads, either. Customers who reviewed generic Oral-B replacement heads on Amazon complained about similar issues, ranging from uncomfortably hard bristles to excessive vibrations. While some generic alternatives can be worth the purchase for certain products, third-party electric toothbrush heads are not among them.

The Amazon digital storefront holds a dark secret: Not every item sold through Amazon is sold by Amazon. This isn’t the same as Amazon using third-party companies to manufacture its products. Instead, companies and stores might use Amazon to sell their products…and occasionally scam customers.

When it comes to cameras, the problem isn’t cheap imitation products, but dubious third-party sellers selling established brands. Amazon lists these vendors’ products through the storefront and then ships the items when bought. Sometimes you can find rare items that Amazon normally wouldn’t carry through a third-party seller, but no matter what, don’t expect anything they sell to carry the standard Amazon seal of approval.

If you can purchase a camera sold by Amazon itself, you should receive a quality product, assuming the reviews for the camera state as such. However, throughout the process, you should always triple check to ensure that Amazon is actually selling the product. If not, you might accidentally purchase a camera through a third-party seller who isn’t trustworthy. Although, in the spirit of fairness, every now and then Amazon accidentally sends customers a heavily-used camera instead of the shiny new one they purchased. The r/Cameras subreddit recommend that if you want to buy a camera, you are better off shopping through a more specialized retailer like B&H Photo. You might even find better prices than on Amazon.

When you think of a vacuum, what names pop up? Probably companies such as Dyson, Shark, and LG. If you purchase something like the LG CordZero Vacuum, you probably know you are buying a quality product. But have you ever heard of vacuums by companies such as XenonLab or FoxNoble? Probably not, and for good reason.

Inexpensive, non-brand-name vacuums are infamous for their lack of quality. You will often find customers complaining about underwhelming suction power and extremely short battery lives. Yes, many of these no-name devices are cordless vacuums, which sounds like a blessing since many vacuum cords stop just short of where you need to clean the most. However, you will be lucky to get 30 minutes of life out of these generic cordless vacuum cleaners, which might make you yearn for the reliable stream of energy that power cords provide.

After learning that obscure-name vacuums tend to suck when it comes to battery life and suction power, you might wonder if they at least consistently suck. The answer is yes. These devices are so unreliable, one customer of the Uninell Home Cordless Vacuum Cleaner claimed they only got one use out of the device before it never worked again. Given the price of that item ($139), shelling out around $300 for an LG CordZero Vacuum sounds like a bargain.

Unless you’re happy walking to the local river, a good washing machine is a necessity. You can buy these at many retail chains, such as Costco and Home Depot, and you might think that, since Amazon delivers every order to your door, you could purchase an appliance through them. We’d advise caution. 

The quality of large appliances purchased through Amazon shouldn’t be your primary concern. Instead, worry about everything else, starting with the warranty. If you buy through Amazon, you usually have to “contact the manufacturer directly,” and it’s a roll of the dice if they will ever get back to you, let alone honor the warranty. And if you buy an especially large product such as a refrigerator, don’t expect the delivery person to help install the new appliance or haul out the device it’s replacing. Oh, and did we mention that installing an appliance on your own often voids the manufacturer’s warranty?

Given all these issues, you’d better hope that nothing goes wrong with your appliance. Granted, most people do that regardless of what they buy and from where, but if you purchase an appliance from Amazon, you can’t always rely on the warranty for repairs. Moreover, Amazon often lists appliances sold by third-party retailers, many of which are refurbished instead of new. If you’re not careful, you might buy an appliance that doesn’t come with a warranty and fails within a month of purchase.

Many companies are hoarding RAM to fuel AI data centers, and we’re the ones paying the price. Future game consoles and computers will cost more, and new phones will have storage problems, all because of RAM shortages. And if you think you can find some RAM on Amazon, think again.

Recently, Amazon customers discovered a rather insidious scam. According to reports by sites such as VideoCardz, a customer ordered four new DDR5 RAM kits from Amazon, specifically four XPG Caster 32GB DDR5 RAM sticks. However, one of the packages contained older DDR or DDR2 sticks with stickers meant to replicate the heatsink label and an errant metal plate to make the package feel more in line with the expected DDR5 weight. And the kicker? The box with these forgeries was shrink-wrapped. The running theory is that the buyer was the victim of return fraud; someone else purchased the DDR5 kit, swapped the RAM with the DDR2 sticks and metal plate, resealed it, and returned it, possibly for a refund.

Now, to be fair, return fraud is nothing new, not even in the world of DDR5 RAM or even Amazon. Several years ago, YouTube content creator Tech Man Pat had an experience where he ordered a Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5 64GB memory kit but received chips with 32GB of RAM instead. However, since memory prices and scarcity are expected to skyrocket, so will the odds of purchasing a RAM kit off Amazon only to find that someone bought it before you, swapped the RAM out, and returned it. For the time being, you might want to buy your RAM from stores you walk into rather than ones you log into.

The Mifold booster seat is the poster child of Amazon’s counterfeiting problem. The original invention provided a child seat that was compact without compromising safety. According to reviews from outlets such as Cosmos Mariners, the Mifold achieves those goals, but only genuine Mifold booster seats do so. After the product hit the market, mediocre mimics soon followed at Walmart, AliExpress, and Amazon. These items were more affordable than actual Mifold products, but they weren’t as safe by a wide margin. Turns out these doppelganger seats were less expensive because they cheaped out on materials — the ones that made Mifolds so safe in the first place. While actual Mifolds protect children during a crash, the counterfeits couldn’t even pass crash tests in controlled environments.

Admittedly, counterfeits aren’t anything new to Amazon shoppers, whether they’re buying car seats or car parts. For instance, you might think you’re buying an NGK 6619 Iridium Spark Plug, but according to some reviews, several customers have received defective doppelgangers. However, car seats are arguably worse offenders because you don’t exactly buy spark plugs in the hopes they keep younger passengers safe during accidents. Whether you’re shopping for car seats or car parts on Amazon, if you think you have found a deal, you usually haven’t.

The world runs on batteries. Unless a device needs to be plugged in 24/7, it uses a battery that needs to be charged or replaced. You can buy plenty of batteries through Amazon, but stick to the names you know.

When we say you shouldn’t purchase cheap batteries through Amazon, we aren’t talking about packs of AA Duracells or even Amazon Basics’ alkaline batteries; we’re talking about lithium-ion replacements for everyday devices like your laptop or a power tool. Reports from outlets such as The Atlantic demonstrate that a scarily unknown number of lithium-ion power packs bought from Amazon and other stores are actually second-rate counterfeits that are ticking time bombs due to their shoddy construction. And that’s to say nothing of the countless batteries marketed as cheaper alternatives to brand-name batteries.

While power banks aren’t exactly batteries, they also fall into the “caveat emptor” category for virtually the same reasons. Like batteries, power banks need to carry a ton of electrical charge, and any manufacturing issues can make them figuratively and literally go up in smoke. Generally speaking, genuine Anker and Nitecore products are usually safe. They are more expensive, but cheaper power banks are made by cutting corners — the kinds of corners that normally prevent the gadgets from turning into surprise hand grenades that burn down your house.

The term “USB cable” stands for “universal serial bus cable,” and it’s called “universal” for an obvious reason: Any USB cable can work with any USB slot so long as it fits. However, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should, especially when it comes to electronics. Not every product is built to the same quality and safety standards.

Odds are you have walked into a random store — not necessarily an electronics retailer — and seen unlabeled USB cables for cheap. Amazon sells these kinds of generic USB cords, and they are generally less expensive than similar products sold by Anker or even the Amazon Basics umbrella. Since they are meant to be, well, universal, you might assume that it’s safe to buy one and that you’re getting a hot deal. Instead, if you use these generic, no-name cables, you’re playing with fire.

Unless you buy a genuine power cord from a reputable manufacturer, the charging cable probably won’t work as advertised. Or it will until it randomly decides to stop functioning. And that’s a best-case scenario. In 2018, Vice reported that non-genuine lightning cables can “kill” your iPhone, or at the very least seriously damage it. Turns out these inexpensive imitators cheap out on crucial components that ensure phones aren’t fried by all the electricity they receive while charging quickly. It’s wise to spend a bit more money on a USB cable that will last far longer than a cheap alternative, but it’s even wiser to spend extra cash on a cable that won’t brick your phone.