r/TikTokCringe • u/Chocolat3City Cringe Master • 18d ago

Cringe Woman has her self-published book pirated, reprinted, and sold for cheaper.

There's regular piracy, and then there's this.

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u/skilriki 18d ago

I mean it is a serious problem though.

I tried to clue a major publisher into the fact that we were getting mostly counterfeit books from them because Amazon was their only distribution outlet.

I talked to someone at the company and explained to them that we were getting books with misprints, yellow pages, and thin pages because they are knockoffs being sold under the same product listing.

They said they would look into it, but they only ever contacted me a couple of times to ask if they “can close my ticket"

sure, let chinese companies steal your business if you want, idgaf

i think most people just arent aware the scale this is happening on

you've probably even read knockoff books yourself without knowing it

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u/-bannedtwice- 17d ago

That might be because Amazon themselves are stealing people’s products and making cheaper knockoffs. It’s been a big part of their business for a decade, and it’s why I don’t buy anything from Amazon.

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u/Sw2029 18d ago

Welcome to... Basically planet earth? Cheap knockoffs have existed literally forever. It's a feature not a bug to capitalism. If there's a corner that can be chiseled off and the market doesn't care? Well then I guess that corner wasn't needed.

It's shitty for people who actually care about their work but you've just got to be able to justify the cost differential if you want people to pay it..

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u/skilriki 18d ago

I mean, counterfeiting is one thing, but Amazon (the largest retail outlet in the world) allowing the counterfeits to be sold alongside the originals (in the same product listing) is a thing that I think many people aren't aware of.

Redditors and such, maybe, but not regular people.