50 Painful Examples Of People Getting Absolutely Ripped Off

The internet has also become a convenient space to rip people off. An investigation by Which? has found that Etsy, a global marketplace for unique and creative goods, included product listings with fake handmade products that could be purchased for a fraction of the price from retailers like Amazon and Asda. They also analyzed the first page of items on Etsy and found that 23 out of 192 handmade items were actually mass-produced and were seven times the price. One seller has made nearly 9,000 sales in “custom made” clothing that could be found on Amazon and eBay. In its annual report, Etsy said that it removed 1.9 million listings for violating its policies in 2022.

Furthermore, you can also accidentally purchase counterfeits, lookalikes, unsafe for use, banned, or mislabeled items on Amazon. CNBC found it has shipped expired foods—including baby formula—to customers, pointing to the lack of capacity to monitor expiration dates. The growth of counterfeit goods and Amazon's unwillingness to help fight them made brands like Birkenstock and Nike pull out of selling on this site. Smaller vendors with fake products now have access to millions of customers online, putting many people at risk of buying counterfeit and unsafe items. In fact, individuals have been burned by using a cheaper fake “Ove’ Glove” alternative.

Many of us aren’t really safe from the mind games and tricks of businesses. We don’t read the fine print when we should, and companies act illegally when they shouldn’t. To encourage awareness about brands ripping people off, we ask you, our dear Pandas, what’s the most bizarre thing you wasted your hard-earned money on and regretted it instantly?