# Buying on Amazon.com voids warranty??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354 "2011-05-18T18:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/41 "2011-05-19T21:36:32Z")
So for those of us playing along at home, are items labeled _Ships from and sold by **[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)**_ ones where we can expect the warranty to be honored? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/42 "2011-05-19T21:51:53Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > They explicitly said they would not honor the warranty again. They told me directly and clearly not to contact them with another problem. > > But kudos to Amazon for making it right. I would have taken that to mean, “Don’t buy another of our products from Amazon and expect a warranty.” In this case, THEY sent you a product that failed very quickly. I would scream until I was blue that Amazon has nothing to do with this as the product that THEY sent is now the problem at hand. Sure, maybe the first one can be blamed on Amazon’s handling practices or whatever, but the one you have now came directly from them. Amazon was not involved in that at all. Amazon actually bailed them and you both out. It sounds like they sell a garbage product. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/43 "2011-05-19T22:07:02Z")
I’m still trying to wrap my head around why the OP was upset with Amazon at all. I’d be upset with the manufacturer. The manufacturer refused to stand up for the reliability of their product. I don’t care what their printed warranty is. Hiding behind a clause like that when something fails after less than a year is shitty behavior. And, then, the replacement breaks again shortly after. It’s pretty clear they’ve got both shoddy products _and_ shoddy customer service. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/44 "2011-05-19T22:08:44Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > So for those of us playing along at home, are items labeled _Ships from and sold by **[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)**_ ones where we can expect the warranty to be honored? With “_Ships from and sold by **[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)**_”, there’s a better chance that it comes with a standard manufacturer’s warranty but it’s not a sure thing. In my experience, amazon is an authorized dealer for most items they sell. For concrete examples of my earlier references to Canon and Cartier brands… > **[Amazon.com : Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L is USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon...](https://www.amazon.com/Canon-100-400mm-4-5-5-6L-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00007GQLS)** > > Product Description Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras.What's in the box: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Autofocus Lens, E-77U 77mm Snap-On Lens Cap,Lens Dust Cap E (Rear), ET-83C Lens... As of today, that link shows “_Ships from and sold by **[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)**_” and amazon happens to be a real authorized dealor for Canon photographic equipment. But the brand name isn’t enough to determine this. To narrow it down further, amazon is not authorized dealer for Canon’s large capacity business copiers that cost $10,000. Canon consumer photo gear – yes … but Canon business copiers – no. Here’s a Cartier watch example: [http://www.amazon.com/Cartier-Womens-W69010Z4-Ballon-Stainless/dp/B001TRF3G4](http://www.amazon.com/Cartier-Womens-W69010Z4-Ballon-Stainless/dp/B001TRF3G4) Amazon is not an authorized dealer for Cartier. If you buy the watch from them, you can’t take a broken watch to a Cartier store at the mall and expect them to fix it under warranty. However, if you scroll amazon’s web page, you’ll see the verbage: _“Warranty Offer: All Cartier watches purchased Direct from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) are covered by a limited two-year warranty at no additional cost (see details). Applies only to products sold by [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). …”_ Amazon therefore contracts its warranty service to some 3rd party. Is the substitute warranty as good as Cartier’s warranty? No, but for some folks, it’s worth the 15% discount. The two examples above are consistent with common sense expectations of price and value. The Canon photo lens from [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) comes with the standard USA warranty but at the same time, any price comparison will show that amazon doesn’t really sell it for less than their competitors. On the other hand, the Cartier watch sells for less than the one at the mall. Therefore, there should be some consumer instinct telling you that _something_ must be different about that watch. Maybe it doesn’t come with a gilded gift box, or lifetime of replacement batteries, or a free lunch with Cartier’s CEO?! It turns out that difference is the warranty. ([amazon.com](http://amazon.com) constantly updates their product web pages so they may no longer say “_Ships from and sold by **[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)**_” but they did at the time I wrote this post.) ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/45 "2011-05-20T13:39:54Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I’m still trying to wrap my head around why the OP was upset with Amazon at all. I wasn’t upset with Amazon. Didn’t mean for the OP to sound that way. I was upset and surprised that buying from Amazon would somehow void the warranty, but I never saw it as Amazon’s fault. I did get a little frustrated at the thought that Amazon might know this and not tell its customers, but after this discussion I can see it’s really just crappy product from a crappy company with crappy customer service. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/46 "2011-05-23T14:21:55Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > So Amazon came through and took care of their customer. Unlike Danner Manufacturing. Actually, correct me if I am wrong here…but Amazon just did the same thing as Danner, they gave you a one shot exception. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/47 "2011-05-23T14:27:13Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Actually, correct me if I am wrong here…but Amazon just did the same thing as Danner, they gave you a one shot exception. Well, I guess that’s right as far as the exception goes. But they gave me cold hard American cash, as opposed to shipping me another crappy product that failed and telling me not to bother them again. Danner = left me with a piece of junk that I can throw in the trash. Amazon = left me with cash that made me whole and I can spend elsewhere. My vote still goes with Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Lastmanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@Lastmanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lastmanjack)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/48 "2014-03-21T04:43:52Z")
I just found this out myself & the Answer basically is, Large multi national companies want to protect the fact that they sell at different trade price to different countrys & want to protect that & stop you taking advantage of it so they invoke 2 ways to do it, 1 they quote that they consider any product bought through ebay/Amazon etc to be SECONHAND no matter how you bought it, & 2 if it came from abroad then it is “OUT OF REGION” it is a disgusting practice but legal, your only chance of warranty is with the company that actually sold it to you & chance is they bought a few cheap from abroad themselves prob China & made a profit & are now selling something else under another name, I have contacted Whatchdog on this, I suggest you all pass this around & make people aware, maybe if we create enough noise companys will honour the warranty, or no one will buy new items from ebay/Amazon till they do. > [@Dingbang](#): > > Is there any reason that a manufacturer would consider purchasing through [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) a less-than-legitimate method and void the warranty? > > I bought a pond light through Amazon in November 2010 and in February 2011 it stopped working. I had been quite satisfied with it up until then and thought it was a good value. I contacted Danner Manufacturing and they said I should send it to them for repair or replacement, with the receipt. I did that and within a couple of weeks they sent me a new one. Nice customer service, right? I was impressed until I read the packing slip that accompanied the replacement. > > It included a snarky note explaining that the company’s products are not covered by warranty when purchased through Amazon, Ebay, flea markets or other “non accredited vendors.” The product was being replaced as a “one time courtesy only.” Another note at the bottom told me that I should use an accredited vendor the next time I buy a Danner Mfg. product. All highlighted in yellow. > > Isn’t Amazon just like buying the product from any other legitimate retailer? I bought it as a new item through Amazon, not a used item. > > (The new light stopped working after another month. Since Danner made clear that they won’t honor the warranty, I had no recourse other than posting this info in a review on Amazon.) ---
**Author:** ![Lastmanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@Lastmanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lastmanjack)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/49 "2014-03-21T04:58:53Z")
My other point is, if a company makes & sells a product & gives a warranty, it should not matter were, when & how or by who, or whether you are the original purchaser or the 6th owner, if you have the original invoice & it is still in the warranty period it should be honoured without question, it says 12 months warranty, it doesn’t say if you buy this as a present & give it to someone else its not covered, its the product that is warranteed not the person, but it is a clause that they know they can squeeze out of thereby reducing their number of replacements & saving millions of £s, in future I will be questioning all warrantys on products I purchase & if they are not transferable in the timespan I wont purchase. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/50 "2014-03-21T05:03:48Z")
I think the warranty on this thread expired nearly two years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354/51 "2014-03-21T05:14:54Z")
I do suggest you go back and read my post [24](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13816946&postcount=24) above. It is true, (and a total pain) that manufactures protect their local distributors. This is typically part of the deal distributors cut with the manufacturer. And there are significant differences between countries when it comes to the wholesale price. Some of this comes about because of quantities. You get situations where a retailer is simply too small to be able to buy from a manufacturer, and then an intermediate wholesaler/distributor steps in, and they buy in sufficient numbers to get a manufacturer interested, and if you are lucky, in sufficient quantities that they might get volume discounts. These intermediaries are not going to do this for free, and sadly, in many markets, the price reflects this. In other markets, an individual retail chain may be big enough to both buy direct from the manufacturer, and buy in sufficient quantities that they get good bulk prices. In those markets the prices can be a lot lower. Freight matters too. A bulk buy can be defined as buying enough of something to fill a shipping container. Part of the deal, if you are a retailer/distributor, is that you cut a deal with the manufacturer that they won’t undercut you in the market. No direct sales into these markets is a typical deal. But, be clear, one way a big retail chain will get a really low price is to negotiate a deal where the manufacturer takes no risk on warranty claims. Warranty is simply a financial risk, and not a lot different to insurance. The manufacturer has a good idea of the failure rate, and what the failures will be. There is no such thing as a perfect manufacturing process, there will always be issues. But the cost of honouring warranty claims is probably more in the administration than the actual goods, and a manufacturer may be quite pleased to essentially on-sell the risk in the from of a deeper discount. From any moral or ethical point of view this is quite reasonable. So long as you, as final purchaser, are aware of this when you make your purchase. You can find fantastic deals on photographic gear, shipped from Honk Kong, and without a manufacturer’s warranty. The reseller provides a warranty, and if you want to claim, you ship it back to them at your cost (and hope they honour it.) The manufacturer sold the gear at a significant discount, and does not expect to have to worry about warranty claims. And nor should they. Caveat emptor. You get what you pay for. If you want full manufacturer support you should be prepared to pay for it. There are a lot of sellers on both eBay and Amazon who clearly list such a warranty, and do charge more than their opposition. You can’t expect to pay the rock bottom price and have the manufacturer carry the risk. Sellers who are not providing manufacturer’s warranty are the problem, and there should be moves to make sure they very clearly identify the nature of the warranty (if any) provided. Also, remember, the manufacturer of so many things is actually abroad (China, Korea, Japan etc) and the local company with their name is only a distributor, and may not actually even be owned by the manufacturer. When they say they are not required to honour the warranty they are right. They never had anything to do with the goods. The didn’t make them or sell them. All they did was buy the rights to sell stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-on-amazon-com-voids-warranty/582354.md?page=2)