“Channel 4 documentary that I was asked to be in but I didn’t have the time” FLEX JAMES FLEX

I’m literally afraid of even buying things on Amazon anymore. These 3rd party sellers are relentless. Style Korean and Olive Young are the only sellers I trust for k-beauty!

One of the other problems with Amazon is “fulfilled by Amazon”. Since they mix in “brand x spf50 gel” from different sellers into the same pick bin even if the seller you choose had genuine product you could still end up with counterfeit product because one of the other sellers of the product sent in dodgy goods that end up getting picked for your order.

the way i clicked so fast for this video :") i'm too anxious to buy skincare online cause i have trust issues for getting fake products

It's really sad that walmart has gone the way of hosting 3rd party sellers too. Now its harder to see what items are actually in store amongst the noise.

I totally agree TikTok shop is just Temu

The third party sellers on big box stores are frustrating if you’re looking to see if your local store has something. If I'm looking at Walmart to see if they have my favorite shampoo (saves a trip if it’s out of stock) I don’t care that Fleebleflop has and will ship it to me.

I don't buy from Amazon anymore for skincare or haircare because of the fakeness

Thank you for covering this! This is such a big problem on Amazon and TikTok. I can’t unsee it after hearing you previously discuss it on your channel. I’m a more informed consumer because of it. They can also be potentially stolen goods from other retailers.

Not only fake products, but USED products, as well. I've stopped buying products on Amazon if I really care that they're brand new, and that they are what they're claimed to be. That started a few years ago, when I bought what was clearly a used (sold as "new") Revlon blow dryer. It had water spots on it, and the cord was wrapped sloppily around the handle. I thought it was a one-off, but since then I've bought MANY obviously used (sold as "new") products from Amazon - including skincare, sheets, shoes, etc. If it goes on my skin, will be touching my body in any significant way, or will be eaten, I do not buy it from Amazon. I only buy things like storage containers, planners, and curtains from them. For skin care products, I only buy from websites that also have brick & mortar stores, and don't utilize 3rd party sellers. Almost all of my skincare comes from Sephora, Ulta, Walgreens, and CVS. For those worried about prices, Walgreens, CVS, and Target make store brand dupes of popular brands and products. Walgreens is getting really good with this. They even have Paula's Choice dupes now.

I have seen a lot of amazon workers recommend not to buy any cosmetics off amazon

As someone who sells on amazon (not cosmetics, my own products) I can confirm noone at Amazon has ever, ever looked at my products. They really do not care :')

I use to buy more on Amazon years ago but just like you said to check what else is being sold by the seller. I recently looked at a makeup brand that typically sells a lip product for $26 usd and saw it for $5 on Amazon. It wasn’t being sold by the brand itself. That in itself is a red flag. I prefer to pay more and be a legit product. It is rather sad when you can’t trust or have to second guess yourself. Thanks for bringing up such an important topic. Especially items going on our face or bodies.

This is why buying K Beauty on line makes me so nervous. My daughter is in Japan right now with a list - lol.

I went to buy The Ordinary Glycolic Acid Toner, and the Amazon Sponsored and the Amazon Pick versions were both fakes. I had to look for The Ordinary's page in order to find the right one. Definitely falling out of trust with Amazon, that's for sure. Yesstyle takes far too long to ship to the US, so idk what I'm going to do!

In the Netherlands we also have a big marketplace with 3rd party sellers but we're still protected because they're still responsable. Ruturns and refunds are easy due to regulations. I know i sound ancient now but i rarely buy off Amazon

If I get K-Beauty it's from Yesstyle or Marshalls. I use to work at Amazon and I would never buy anything you put on your skin or in your mouth from Amazon. Trust me 🙏🏾

I would never buy skincare or makeup off Amazon, and never bought anything off Temu thanks to videos like yours, James, who raises awareness so eloquently. I am concerned about Boots becoming a third party retailer though. I buy many of my products online at Boots since my local doesn’t have a huge selection of products in store. This is very worrying 🤔💜

Counterfeiting in electronic components sold through Amazon is apparently out of control. I just avoid Amazon as much as possible.

a lot of korean skincare have a qr code that identifies and qualifies the quality and realness of the product! 💜🖤

I definitely always check the seller on Amazon , but even that is getting to be a problem. I appreciate your work James. Here in the United States, it’s not as regulated. Definitely a thank you on the tip to check the website for official retailers. I do that, but we have to even be careful here with counterfeit websites. Please don’t think this is only an online problem (though easier). I have been in legitimate stores and found counterfeit items. Especially TJ Maxx, Dollar Tree and several other “discounted” physical places that sell “Coach” purses, designer clothing etc. At malls! It’s always been “buyer beware” here with the onus on the buyer and not the seller.

I don't even trust genuine products from third party sellers. I don't trust them not to sell stolen or returned products as if they were new and legitimate.

I remember when the gurunanda oil pulling got popular on TikTok and I went to buy it on Amazon. The first one I bought was fake. Didn’t even realize fake products were sold on Amazon but it makes sense. This is great information. ❤

It's the stolen goods and returns sold as new I worry about.

I am loving these new reveal videos. An educated consumer is the only way to combat all these issues. Thank you James ♥️☮️🖤

Thank you for spreading the word about this! It happens with haircare products too 😭

I've also seen Walmart customer reviews complaining about fake Beauty of Joseon products on Walmart's website.

This is why buy from the official shop also i never buy any skincare from temu mostly because it feel so shady of a website

I shop around the 3-4 major, legitimate Asian stores because their prices can vary widely. They always have sales & discounts & you can find really good deals.

At least we can trust on James. His opinions are real, nothing fake on him. Thank you James💜

Oh Amazon stresses me tf with this

The fact that Amazon don’t check this stuff is frustrating, I ordered an Estée Lauder eye cream a few months ago (I’ve got it from there loads before) however when the place I used to get it from was out of stock so I had to go elsewhere and despite their listing (and photos) being the same as the other 🙄 luckily because I’ve had it before I knew it was fake so I was able to send it back and report it to Amazon but I did patch test it and ended up with a flare of my eczema where it was not saying this product was actually dangerous though because I have sensitive skin that is so hard to find decent skin care that doesn’t flare it up but it definitely wasn’t Estée Lauder that’s for sure 🙄

Ahh this makes my skin crawl thinking about all the 'branded' makeu-up I used to buy, 10 years ago, from AliExpress 😭

I feel like amazon has got so much worse for counterfeit stuff over the past few years, maybe I'm just noticing it more though 😕

Ihate the third party seller shit. Target does it and I hate having to filter it out on the app when I'm literally using it to make an in store shopping list that I can quickly reference aisle numbers on.

Haru Haru is my new fave. I’m glad you like it too. I’ll be extra careful next time I buy from Amazon.

That Haru Haru sunscreen is my HOLY GRAIL. Definitely on my subscribe and save on Amazon

Thank you for talking about this. I used to work on a buying/selling app called Mercari. I worked Moderation and a lot of my job was identifying counterfeits. A lot of the bad ones will have very obvious spelling and grammar errors. Many will also just be different from the original box/packaging. But there's SO MANY. Also please never buy electronics like earbuds especially from anyone but the original retailer.

Heyyyy!!! This topic really worries me. I’ve been only shopping in YesStyle to just be safe. Hopefully that’s authentic

Finally you try to sell me something I use daily 😆 yay! Haruharu Wonder 🎉

I love Haruharu wonder spf and I also love their face wash. I’ve gone through 2 bottles of it. I live in Las Vegas and use this spf everyday. I buy mine from Stylevana. Haruharu is amazing ❤

The biggest electronics chain in Denmark started having 3rd party sellers on there as well. It’s been there for a long time, over a year at least, probably more. It has made me lose all desire to shop there, because filtering through low quality listings will be so tedious. I want to be able to trust a store.

I was literally so skingnorant a couple weeks ago and would have totes bought fake shit online by accident. Tanks Ja'es

This happened to me just recently!!! I usually get my I'm From Rice Toner from YesStyle but was placing a small order on Amazon and needed some so ordered my toner there. I thought I was getting it from the official I'm From Amazon shop but I'm pretty sure it's a fake. The first thing that I noticed was that the cap was slightly different in size and material, but everything else literally seemed the exact same -- until I realized that the toner was not separating like it normally does, it's staying solid white and has a different texture in my hand, and it smells like paint. I've used it a few times just hoping that they changed the formula and it isn't a fake but I'm pretty sure now that it's just mystery liquid with white dye in it. The packaging is so similar though, I don't know how they replicated it so well! Luckily I haven't had any reaction to it and I have one from YesStyle on the way now, but what a waste of $20!

James I think this is actually horrifying 😮tbh! & it really scares me as I’m Dyslexic but I also have ADHD amongst other stuff & the 2 mixed together really make searching through shopping sites & noticing things really difficult for me… it’s not that I’m un aware that it’s happening & getting worse & more wide spread but it’s the fact that it’s making me feel vulnerable to something that I can control less & less as it gets more wide spread. Also I think it really shows the integrity of a company if they are willing to allow 3rd party sellers to mix their fake beauty products in with their own real products without verifying each & every one as Superdrug is seeming to do! Does anyone else feel this way? Or is it just me 😂? Thanks James as always for another amazing & important upload… ❤❤❤ Love Tia xxx 😊😊😊

Thank you James, we all need to know this information. Love your channel, love your skin❤

I almost got tricked the an Ordinary ripoff. It seemed so real I thought The Ordinary changed their name but then remembered James just mentioned them a week prior and probably would have mentioned a name change. 😂

Great advice in this video! We always need more voices to help people with media literacy to help them surf safely. I can only imagine the pain and scarring if people get scammed by fake products and companies online. That’s so scary when it comes to SKIN care. Your skin is so delicate, really. We take it for granted.

Mr J - your skin - looks soooo amazing - really! Thank you for all that you do here.

Thank you haru haru for sponsoring James!! (I didnt know what to comment)

I just talked about this with my dad a few minutes ago before you posted 😭 ceazy

Your skin is looking incredibly fresh, dewy and overall healthy ❤ seriously I’m a little jealous!!!! 🔥

I'm so glad you brought up b&q be sure they have recently messed me around so much 😤

I just put on the Haru Haru Wonder sunscreen for the first time today and love it already.

Walmart here in the US does the third party thing. It's so incredibly annoying to have to sift through all of the fakes and the junk.

Years ago, I accidentally bought FAKE Vaseline Rosy lip products and knew right as I saw the delivered products 😅 lesson learned, so I always do research before buying on 3rd party sites including Amazon and tiktok

I was suspecting this...such an eye opener. Thanks.

I always make sure anything I buy from Amazon is listed as “Brand” lists the brand I’m buying. Also, I try to make sure they are shipped by them or by Amazon. Just look at the examples you gave us. The Round Lab product’s brand is “generic”

I'm sorry I've been away for more than a year, I come before you kneeling. I've missed everything about your content from your voice to your advice. I will be watching all your videos

🙏🏿🙏🏼🙏🏾Thank You James, you always look out for your audience😇😎

Side note James you are absolutely glowing!!

It’s pretty scary, I had no idea about b&q too! The dispatches documentary on Temu was great, looking forward to your deep dive 😊

As a person who works in a medium sized beauty company and used to sell on Amazon, it’s really difficult to sell even though all our products come straight from the main supplier. They block a lot of sales and products constantly. And sometimes block sales completely if you don’t resolve their complaints. In addition, a lot of products we need to give them an authentic distribution rights and contract with the main supplier.

The larger issue here is that every retailer is trying to follow in Amazon's footsteps with regard to third-party sellers so they can have their own little fiefdoms, collecting from buyers *and* from sellers. As long as there is no legal requirement for them to vet third-party sellers, or verify that they're authorized retailers, of course they're not going to bother.

Thanks james for this important information !!!!! Donna😊

I am very careful when I purchase K beauty on Amazon but I made a mistake buying Round Lab's Birch Juice Sunscreen. I don't think it was a fake but it definitely was expired. It was very misleading because they linked Round Labs' storefront to the item. I have Lupus and I don't use my sunscreen when I'm out in the sun I can get a really rash that looks like a severe sunburn even after only 10 to 20 minutes. I definitely got burned really bad the day I used it.

Omg. Thank you so so so much for this video. I have wondered this for awhile but thought it was just my imagination. I just orgered skin care products and did see the page of multiple items pop up. I will be returning it when it arrives. I also did not know Temu was doing it. Now I understand why the products on all of the platforms can be so cheap. Ebay must really be a hot spot for this. I bought Kerestase recently and due to the box supposidly damage they sold me in small bottles in a plastic bag. It was obviously not Kerestase. But I am not puting it on my hair. Thank you so very much. Please let us know of anymore of these type of buying problems.

Your start on this video..Robert's impression was spot on!!! 🤣🤣🤣 xxxxx

I got kicked from an Argentinian Makeup Facebook Page administrators for exposing someone overpricing something they imported... that someone was selling originals and "replicas" (and the costing was way off for what it is actually should be: they were adding flight and hotel costing and food costing into the products, when that's not how you do that). Basically: they go to US, buy some things and return and sell them (and they don't pay any taxes of any kind as they are not a legit brand or anything). And all the page was "replicas" loaded. They even argued that they are coming from a Chinese AAA lab... (invented by them, of course). I wrote to the Administrators and told them they are part of the problem, that they allow people to sell counterfeit makeup instead of promoting the good works. That page sicked me.

What talks bothers me outside an item being a fake. Is that you can't always leave a review. Amazon is the biggest issue I have right now

What a wonderful video with great information! I thoroughly enjoy your videos! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for doing these videos James, I find them so informative and educational!

Very important info! I avoid third party sellers in general just because I have trust issues lol. The counterfeit market for clothes, purses, and shoes is also MASSIVE on Depop, Mercari, and eBay these days. At least on Poshmark if you get a fake, you just open a dispute and get a full refund. But I won't be buying any designer from any of the other sites personally as their refund policies are atrocious considering how many fakes there are.

I started using Korean skin care in the last year which I mostly buy on Amazon but I make sure it’s from the brand’s legitimate Amazon store. I’ve def noticed some of the bogus products.

I was about to do my skincare, now I can do my skincare AND watch James’ new video 💜

Man I do not miss having an Amazon 😅

Many moons ago, I bought Vera Wang perfume from Amazon. I straight up got a vial of glitter water. I was so confused and angry because I paid $60 for that mess. I’ve steered clear ever since. It’s infuriating that Amazon does nothing about this.

I have those Haruharu Wonder products, and the bakuchiol eye cream. I have very oily skin and they work so well, I love them. Thank you for the recommendations! 🖤💜🖤💜

Excellent content! Thank you. 😊

Walmart has SO many third-party sellers now. I only need something from that retailer from time-to-time, but their website is now full of random unrelated stuff when I do a search for a particular item. I need a brand that's only sold there or is on super-sale, so I hate being overwhelmed by so much other crap and avoid it even more than I used to.

Haruharu!!!!!! I love their toner!!!!!

I ordered a Cosrx snail cream. One from Boots and one from Yesstyle and they were so different in the packaging 😳😳😳😳😳😳 problem is, I don’t know which is the legit one 🤷🏾‍♀️

So greatful for these videos during my lunch break haha

Similar to B&Q, Walmart's website is a marketplace seller as well. I work at a job where I help many people with printing--and a lot of them are folks printing return labels from something they got off Walmart's website--thinking they could return it to the store

The fake Glow Recipe on TikTok got me one time. The Photoshop was top notch. 🤦‍♀️

I usually buy on yesstyle or in my own countries known beauty websites. they did start to sell korean skincare

This upload is so real! It did nothing and some made my skin worse! Waste of money

The Haru Haru Black Rice is my HG!! I need to try the stick too, I don't have TT or IG so YT is my only way to watch y'all 🤠

I've gotten to a point where I no longer purchase ANY skincare on amazon, I've received so much fake skincare from them including fake glow recipe and fake paulas choice.

I hate buying anything from amazon, I avoid it as much as I can. I don’t buy anything other than $1 stuff from Temu, if anything at all. And TikTok shop, I don’t touch that at all.

I got scammed by fake K beauty online! I was wondering why the price was a bit cheaper than the one I bought in store - I believe it was the CosRx Centella Aqua Soothing Ampoule. It made me break out sooo bad :( the box looked a bit sketchy but the bottle and the way the product looked, smelled, and felt on the skinwas sooo similar. I'm a lot more meticulous in my online skincare shopping now

I've seen it before with some pages on Amazon where they've had low rated comments but they've been possibly deleted or the missing from the page and I normally are on the side of caution when I see that

That yellow sunscreen is my favorite of all time, they can have all my money!

Bought a nice sealed and very effective Dr Jart Sleep Ampoule Mask in Jan, reordered couple weeks back and received one with slightly different worded labed. Compromised seal on box and no foil cover once the lid is removed. No Dr Jart imprint on lid, like prev one. Product looks the same, but also looks like fake packaging or its been opened. Amazon dont do beauty returns i found out 😩

I work at Apple and we often have customer with counterfeit Airpods from amazon. And according to Amazing they check tech ! clearly not checking very well haha 😂

I am honestly disappointed at Boots for that. Always was my go-to for reliability, knowing nothing was going to be expired, etc. I chose it even when it wasn't the cheapest place because of the safety, but if that happens there will not be much of an incentive.

Walmart does that too. I like to know the aisle everything is in before I go so I look on the app. The amount of cheap unbranded things on there is infuriating. I just want quality goods

I work at Burlington coat factory. The cosmetics department is chaotic so many choices. I just cannot believe all of the labels are being truthful. This video I need to watch.

I wonder how many people have messed up their skin with buying "bargain price" K-Beauty products (on Amazon/TikTok/Temu etc) that don't usually come at bargain prices. Sometimes people will tell themselves that "It's just as good" even when at a lower price point. It's almost like a self-soothing method they tell themselves because deep down they hope it'll be ok when they know there's a chance it might not be, especially when it's not the norm on pricing. The root of it is, the counterfeiters prey on people who want the good stuff but lack funds to buy them. So they think hey, let's make some quick money of the suckers. It's why they try and trick people with a low price point and also with the imagery of the products and the brand visuals. Without the brand visuals, no one would be buying their products cos it'd be an "unknown". Why don't counterfeiters price their products the same as the real stuff? Less sales? Would it make people shop elsewhere since the prices are the same anyway? The thing is, (aside from the brand's official shops) there are genuine small businesses out there who work with the actual K-Beauty brands themselves and are supplied by them. I started my K-Beauty journey recently and I was doing my research and googling questions and then typing Reddit on the end to get the reddit posts on it. A lot of people had the same questions I did, and you can read through people's answers and their own experiences and recommendations into platforms and online shops they use that are genuine with the products. You can even find out what shops are in your country too (Indie shops), also some shops do also ship worldwide. Your precious skin is worth your protection and due diligence when it comes to finding the right places to buy skincare from. Avoid places like Amazon just cos it's cheap. Save up money if you have to! Remember if you wreck your skin too much (god knows what's in the fake products) you'll have to live with that for a long time.

Thank you so much for telling us about all these things to keep us all safe. You have taught me so much its crazy. My bf knows as soon as i watch one or youre videos hes getting info dumped on lol.