August 29, 2025 • 12 mins
Episode summary
If you shop at Amazon much, you've seen a lot of weird brands. I just searched for juggling balls, and here's a sample of the brands it showed: Duncan, Zeekio, POITOI, Schylling, GloFX, Elcoho, Leitee, GoSports, Lawei, URATOT, Cedilis, DSJUGGLING, speevers.
Have you ever wondered why? If not, now's the time to consider it, because the way Amazon does business has massive implications for every American.
The short version is this: Amazon actively recruits oversea sellers, particularly Chinese. Amazon incentivizes all sellers to participate in their Brand Registry program, which requires a trademark. Trademarks currently take 12-18 months to get, and picking random letters and smashing them together makes it faster because it's obvious there's no conflict with an existing trademark.
We will be discussing some of the implications of this system, and strategies for finding quality products in the crowded Amazon marketplace. In the meantime, take some time to ponder what all this means to you.
LinksAmazon Brand Registry Requirements
How Long to Register a Trademark
NY Times - How Amazon is causing us to drown in trademarks
Why Amazon Products Have Those Weird Names
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Super Simple Security Principles, where you learn how to think, not just what to do.
I'm Nick Jackson, here to learn along with you from my good buddy and master guardian, Makani Mason.
This is episode 78. What's up with all the strange brands on Amazon?
(00:25):
That is such a good question. We shop Amazon a lot, and I'm like, is this legit?
Yeah, it is. It's one of those weird things. Have you ever had any speculations about this?
(00:45):
Because I've talked to people about it, and it's always interesting.
So look, here's the reality. We buy a lot of baseball equipment, right? We go through a lot of it.
So we just go to Amazon now for most of it.
But they've got these weird Gonex, whatever, super weird brands that I've never heard of.
(01:11):
They're never in any major sports store.
Yep.
And the truth is, is I purchased a lot of them.
Some of them are legit and actually work really, really well, and sometimes they're crap.
Yep.
So there's my thoughts.
(01:31):
Yep. And we'll talk more about the implications of the brands and stuff in some future episodes, too.
So the focus for today is pretty narrow, like we're doing in general today, and not all the implications or whatever.
Really, I just want to talk about, because I'm sure there's multiple reasons for some of the funky brands.
Right.
But there's a big one that's not obvious.
Like some could be from foreign languages or whatever. I don't know.
(01:54):
But the majority of them, from what I can tell, is this one specific one that's not obvious, right?
So obviously, you're familiar, and I'm guessing most people who shop on Amazon are very familiar.
But I wanted to share one example, just in case anybody's not.
I searched for some juggling balls recently.
Okay.
(02:15):
So just to give you a sample of the ones I found on there, there's Duncan, which is a well-known toy brand.
That's the one in the whole list that's not funky.
Right.
But then I had Zikio, Poitoy, Poiters, you know, I'm obviously a cos, I had no idea on the pronunciation of these.
And that one's all caps.
(02:35):
Schilling, GlowFX, Alcohol, Liti, GoSports, that one at least sounds reasonable.
Lawai, Uratot, again, in all caps, and so on.
And, right.
So anyway, that's what we're talking about.
Was there a Schillings one in there?
Well, yeah, S-C-H-Y-L-I-N-G.
(02:57):
Is that a legit one?
Right.
Not the, oh, right, you were talking about the, I know the one you mean, right.
Right.
That's actually a legit, normal, recognizable brand.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm just curious, but no, I haven't heard of that.
Okay.
Yeah.
Here.
(03:18):
So, here's part one.
Amazon, starting around 2015, they started actively recruiting overseas sellers, especially
the Chinese, because there's a ton of them.
And they wanted to expand their marketplace, beat out the competition, which clearly they've
(03:41):
managed very, very well.
Right.
Right.
Okay.
So, that's part one.
Part two is they, is a trademark requirement.
Okay.
So, Amazon built such a thriving marketplace.
They also attracted a lot of fraudsters, right?
(04:01):
And they, so they built this, this system, this tool for their sellers that they call a
brand registry.
And it's to help the sellers protect themselves from the fraudsters and things.
And you don't have to pay Amazon to use their brand registry, but you do have to have a U.S.
trademark.
(04:25):
Okay.
So, that's part, that's piece number two.
The final piece, number three, is, and then we'll combine them, of course, but is the time
it takes to get a trademark approved.
So, as I was preparing for this, I went to the trademark website.
And at least as of this recording, it says it takes about 12 to 18 months to get a trademark.
(04:51):
Okay.
Now, I have no idea, I didn't look historically back in 2015 and since then, what it was.
I'm guessing that it's probably a lot slower now, because from what I could find online,
there are a lot of the trademarks that get processed every year are from these Amazon sellers.
So, they've overloaded the trademark office with these things.
(05:17):
Gotcha.
Right, but, so if we take these pieces together, though, we have a ton of sellers who are actively
recruited, anxious to sell on Amazon, but require a trademark to most effectively be sellers
on there.
And the fastest and easiest way to get started is to pick a trademark that won't conflict
(05:38):
with any existing trademarks, which is, you use basically a bunch of random nonsense letters.
Actually, I forgot this when we're talking about part three, right?
Is, you want to just pick something that, because when they do their searching and make sure there's
no conflicts or whatever.
If you just make a total gibberish that looks like nobody else's, then apparently it speeds
(06:02):
up the process.
It seems like from a computer, you know, programming perspective, there should be a better system
that it shouldn't really be necessary.
So, it only sort of makes sense to my brain, right?
But you can conceive with government efficiency that maybe having total nonsense makes it easier
for the lawyers and whoever to be sure that there's no conflict.
(06:22):
Like, it seems weird to me.
But anyway, based on all the stories, and I've found a number, and I include a bunch
of links in the show notes about this, New York Times did a big piece on it, a couple
other places, and they seem to corroborate all this, this theory.
Like, this isn't straight from Amazon.
This is somewhat speculative, right?
(06:43):
Putting all the pieces together.
But there's, anyway, so the trademark thing is the weirdest part about it to me is that
why do random letters really make it faster?
I don't know.
I mean, I kind of get it, but I kind of shake my head at it as well, right?
Fair point.
(07:05):
So, the other thing, though, that I wanted to talk about, a couple other things, actually,
is the brand irrelevance that this kind of introduces.
And I wonder, though, is it kind of more cause or effect because it feels kind of cyclical
(07:26):
where, like you said, you buy a lot of things, you know, you buy a lot of baseball equipment,
and mostly, you're not worried about the brand.
Right.
Right?
For certain things, for certain baseball things.
Yeah, exactly.
Right.
And, yeah, and like I said, we'll talk about that more in an upcoming episode.
(07:48):
But I just, I wonder if the seller system that Amazon has created kind of created this brand
irrelevance, kind of spawned it, but then, like it was partly because it wasn't relevant
(08:08):
for certain products because of the online, I don't know, I'm not sure.
It's just kind of an interesting aspect of the system that grows out of this mass amounts of brands.
Does that make sense?
Yep.
And I think it's important to recognize that, like, there's a lot of implications for every American
(08:30):
because Amazon is just so big of this kind of all the funky brands, the brand irrelevance,
the Chinese sellers, and just so many implications from this.
Yeah.
And what we won't talk about today, but the biggest question that this all raises for me
(08:51):
is, and we've kind of alluded to this several times, but is how do we pick quality products to buy?
Right.
Because in the past, the primary method would be, like, brand or, you know, seller or whatever,
and this diminishes that in a lot of ways, right?
Right.
And even though Amazon is really good in a lot of ways, it's still very easy, as you know,
(09:15):
to end up buying junk from Amazon.
Yeah.
So we're going to be looking at some questions in future episodes on how to try to help mitigate that.
But anyway, that's where I want to end for today.
Awesome.
(09:35):
Awesome.
So what's your takeaway for today, Nick?
Okay.
So all these strange brands that you're seeing.
Yeah.
You know, there's implications to using Amazon and all the resources there.
(09:58):
That's what I'll say.
Now understanding a little bit about some of these strange brands, the registrations, the
trademarks, and what's, what goes on.
I might consider, you know, some other options, especially when looking for some baseball equipment,
you know, but again, it's making yourself aware.
(10:23):
So, so for me, this was an awareness that I needed to know what's really, what's, what's up with all these weird brands.
So, again, if you're wanting to know, I would re-listen to this episode and give it a listen again.
(10:44):
Good job.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Well, and the way I'll sum up my thoughts is this, that this, if you depend on a system
like Amazon, you see strange things in that system, like these funky brands, take time to investigate
because there's going to be a reason and it's going to be impactful and the scope of that impact.
(11:07):
And if it's good or bad or all those things, that's a much, much bigger question on this
how it's going to encompass, but just make time to understand the systems that matter to you,
that impact your life.
And Amazon is one of those for, for most of us, for good or bad.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
(11:27):
I like it.
Are you ready to take action and wondering where to start?
Get my Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit for free.
The seven most vital layers of protection everyone needs.
I'll send you one step at a time and help you if you get stuck.
(11:49):
Just go to bulletproofmyid.com and enter your name and email and I will send you the first step.
Again, that's bulletproofmyid.com.
Welcome to Super Simple Security Principles, where you learn how to think, not just what to do.
I'm Nick Jackson, here to learn along with you from my good buddy and master guardian, Makani Mason.
This is episode 78. What's up with all the strange brands on Amazon?
(00:25):
That is such a good question. We shop Amazon a lot, and I'm like, is this legit?
Yeah, it is. It's one of those weird things. Have you ever had any speculations about this?
(00:45):
Because I've talked to people about it, and it's always interesting.
So look, here's the reality. We buy a lot of baseball equipment, right? We go through a lot of it.
So we just go to Amazon now for most of it.
But they've got these weird Gonex, whatever, super weird brands that I've never heard of.
(01:11):
They're never in any major sports store.
Yep.
And the truth is, is I purchased a lot of them.
Some of them are legit and actually work really, really well, and sometimes they're crap.
Yep.
So there's my thoughts.
(01:31):
Yep. And we'll talk more about the implications of the brands and stuff in some future episodes, too.
So the focus for today is pretty narrow, like we're doing in general today, and not all the implications or whatever.
Really, I just want to talk about, because I'm sure there's multiple reasons for some of the funky brands.
Right.
But there's a big one that's not obvious.
Like some could be from foreign languages or whatever. I don't know.
(01:54):
But the majority of them, from what I can tell, is this one specific one that's not obvious, right?
So obviously, you're familiar, and I'm guessing most people who shop on Amazon are very familiar.
But I wanted to share one example, just in case anybody's not.
I searched for some juggling balls recently.
Okay.
(02:15):
So just to give you a sample of the ones I found on there, there's Duncan, which is a well-known toy brand.
That's the one in the whole list that's not funky.
Right.
But then I had Zikio, Poitoy, Poiters, you know, I'm obviously a cos, I had no idea on the pronunciation of these.
And that one's all caps.
(02:35):
Schilling, GlowFX, Alcohol, Liti, GoSports, that one at least sounds reasonable.
Lawai, Uratot, again, in all caps, and so on.
And, right.
So anyway, that's what we're talking about.
Was there a Schillings one in there?
Well, yeah, S-C-H-Y-L-I-N-G.
(02:57):
Is that a legit one?
Right.
Not the, oh, right, you were talking about the, I know the one you mean, right.
Right.
That's actually a legit, normal, recognizable brand.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm just curious, but no, I haven't heard of that.
Okay.
Yeah.
Here.
(03:18):
So, here's part one.
Amazon, starting around 2015, they started actively recruiting overseas sellers, especially
the Chinese, because there's a ton of them.
And they wanted to expand their marketplace, beat out the competition, which clearly they've
(03:41):
managed very, very well.
Right.
Right.
Okay.
So, that's part one.
Part two is they, is a trademark requirement.
Okay.
So, Amazon built such a thriving marketplace.
They also attracted a lot of fraudsters, right?
(04:01):
And they, so they built this, this system, this tool for their sellers that they call a
brand registry.
And it's to help the sellers protect themselves from the fraudsters and things.
And you don't have to pay Amazon to use their brand registry, but you do have to have a U.S.
trademark.
(04:25):
Okay.
So, that's part, that's piece number two.
The final piece, number three, is, and then we'll combine them, of course, but is the time
it takes to get a trademark approved.
So, as I was preparing for this, I went to the trademark website.
And at least as of this recording, it says it takes about 12 to 18 months to get a trademark.
(04:51):
Okay.
Now, I have no idea, I didn't look historically back in 2015 and since then, what it was.
I'm guessing that it's probably a lot slower now, because from what I could find online,
there are a lot of the trademarks that get processed every year are from these Amazon sellers.
So, they've overloaded the trademark office with these things.
(05:17):
Gotcha.
Right, but, so if we take these pieces together, though, we have a ton of sellers who are actively
recruited, anxious to sell on Amazon, but require a trademark to most effectively be sellers
on there.
And the fastest and easiest way to get started is to pick a trademark that won't conflict
(05:38):
with any existing trademarks, which is, you use basically a bunch of random nonsense letters.
Actually, I forgot this when we're talking about part three, right?
Is, you want to just pick something that, because when they do their searching and make sure there's
no conflicts or whatever.
If you just make a total gibberish that looks like nobody else's, then apparently it speeds
(06:02):
up the process.
It seems like from a computer, you know, programming perspective, there should be a better system
that it shouldn't really be necessary.
So, it only sort of makes sense to my brain, right?
But you can conceive with government efficiency that maybe having total nonsense makes it easier
for the lawyers and whoever to be sure that there's no conflict.
(06:22):
Like, it seems weird to me.
But anyway, based on all the stories, and I've found a number, and I include a bunch
of links in the show notes about this, New York Times did a big piece on it, a couple
other places, and they seem to corroborate all this, this theory.
Like, this isn't straight from Amazon.
This is somewhat speculative, right?
(06:43):
Putting all the pieces together.
But there's, anyway, so the trademark thing is the weirdest part about it to me is that
why do random letters really make it faster?
I don't know.
I mean, I kind of get it, but I kind of shake my head at it as well, right?
Fair point.
(07:05):
So, the other thing, though, that I wanted to talk about, a couple other things, actually,
is the brand irrelevance that this kind of introduces.
And I wonder, though, is it kind of more cause or effect because it feels kind of cyclical
(07:26):
where, like you said, you buy a lot of things, you know, you buy a lot of baseball equipment,
and mostly, you're not worried about the brand.
Right.
Right?
For certain things, for certain baseball things.
Yeah, exactly.
Right.
And, yeah, and like I said, we'll talk about that more in an upcoming episode.
(07:48):
But I just, I wonder if the seller system that Amazon has created kind of created this brand
irrelevance, kind of spawned it, but then, like it was partly because it wasn't relevant
(08:08):
for certain products because of the online, I don't know, I'm not sure.
It's just kind of an interesting aspect of the system that grows out of this mass amounts of brands.
Does that make sense?
Yep.
And I think it's important to recognize that, like, there's a lot of implications for every American
(08:30):
because Amazon is just so big of this kind of all the funky brands, the brand irrelevance,
the Chinese sellers, and just so many implications from this.
Yeah.
And what we won't talk about today, but the biggest question that this all raises for me
(08:51):
is, and we've kind of alluded to this several times, but is how do we pick quality products to buy?
Right.
Because in the past, the primary method would be, like, brand or, you know, seller or whatever,
and this diminishes that in a lot of ways, right?
Right.
And even though Amazon is really good in a lot of ways, it's still very easy, as you know,
(09:15):
to end up buying junk from Amazon.
Yeah.
So we're going to be looking at some questions in future episodes on how to try to help mitigate that.
But anyway, that's where I want to end for today.
Awesome.
(09:35):
Awesome.
So what's your takeaway for today, Nick?
Okay.
So all these strange brands that you're seeing.
Yeah.
You know, there's implications to using Amazon and all the resources there.
(09:58):
That's what I'll say.
Now understanding a little bit about some of these strange brands, the registrations, the
trademarks, and what's, what goes on.
I might consider, you know, some other options, especially when looking for some baseball equipment,
you know, but again, it's making yourself aware.
(10:23):
So, so for me, this was an awareness that I needed to know what's really, what's, what's up with all these weird brands.
So, again, if you're wanting to know, I would re-listen to this episode and give it a listen again.
(10:44):
Good job.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Well, and the way I'll sum up my thoughts is this, that this, if you depend on a system
like Amazon, you see strange things in that system, like these funky brands, take time to investigate
because there's going to be a reason and it's going to be impactful and the scope of that impact.
(11:07):
And if it's good or bad or all those things, that's a much, much bigger question on this
how it's going to encompass, but just make time to understand the systems that matter to you,
that impact your life.
And Amazon is one of those for, for most of us, for good or bad.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
(11:27):
I like it.
Are you ready to take action and wondering where to start?
Get my Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit for free.
The seven most vital layers of protection everyone needs.
I'll send you one step at a time and help you if you get stuck.
(11:49):
Just go to bulletproofmyid.com and enter your name and email and I will send you the first step.
Again, that's bulletproofmyid.com.
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