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WITH A FEW keystrokes you can find almost anything on Amazon … and buy it with as little as a single click. It’s a wonderbox of capitalism. I once typed in “yak” for no good reason and Amazon’s algorithms suggested “yak cheese himalayan dog chews.” So I hit Enter and up popped pages filled with hundreds of different dog chews that I have since learned are an all-natural, satisfying, long-lasting treat for pups. Amazon had over 300 Himalayan dog chews to sift through, from hundreds of companies I’ve never heard of, sold by hundreds of different sellers.
I don’t need a bag of dog bones made of yak cheese right now. But, if I did, I would feel overwhelmed. Which brands are high quality? Which listings are legitimate? What’s a good price to pay? Are these yak cheese dog chews actually a good deal on Amazon Prime Day or is it a fake deal?
These days, almost anyone can sell items on Amazon in five easy steps. The site hosts millions of sellers, making it more like eBay than Target. But Amazon does not vet everything on its virtual shelves thoroughly, if at all, and that means you have to be careful about what you’re buying. The site has known problems with fake reviews and counterfeit items, and a growing number of Chinese sellers have flooded the site with strange new off-brand products in the past few years. Amazon has a fairly good return policy on its own items, but third-party sellers don’t have to abide by those standards, and many don’t.
WIRED can help! Below are a few tips to help you better pay attention to what you’re purchasing at The Everything Store, in an effort to choose items that are more likely to arrive as advertised and less likely to cause big headaches when you try to return them.
Updated June 2024: We’ve updated information throughout this story.
Buy Directly From Bezos
Whenever possible, you should buy items directly from Amazon. Amazon keeps a far better eye on its own inventory than it does on its third-party sellers. Items it sells directly are more likely to arrive as advertised and qualify for free two-day Prime shipping. Because Amazon manages everything, returns are usually painless. I’ve gotten refunds for defective items without even having to return them at all.
If you’re already checking out a product on Amazon, like our favorite espresso machine, always make sure the seller info says “Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.” This information is typically in one of two places. Either it’s under the red price (and green “In Stock”) or it’s under the yellow Add to Cart and orange Buy Now buttons on the right rail. If you’re on the Amazon app, it’s also under those buttons.
If you’re browsing through Amazon listings, filter the site’s search results to only show items sold by Amazon.com. It will likely improve the quality of the items you see, cutting out a lot of less relevant, lower-quality search results. And again, the items are vetted, so you’ll probably get what you expect and have an easier time returning it, if need be. I’ll use the Google Pixel 8A as an example of a product you might search for. It’s our pick for the best affordable phone.
Step 1: Search for a particular item in Amazon’s search box with a category set to “All.” In this case, I searched for “Pixel 8A.”
Step 2: Amazon’s search should choose the right Department automatically, but if needed, you can navigate to the top of the left rail and click on a Department that fits.
Step 3: Once the page refreshes, scroll to the bottom of the left rail and choose “Amazon.com” as your Seller.
Step 4: Now you will only see “Pixel 8A” products sold directly by Amazon.com.
If you still don’t see “Amazon.com” as a seller, try hitting the “See More” button. It will bring up a dense but readable alphabetical page of sellers. If Amazon is one of those sellers, it will show up in the list. You can use CTRL+F (Command+F on Mac) to search for the word “Amazon.com.” Sometimes you’ll see “Amazon Warehouse,” but that only sells used and refurbished items.
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