Amazon Secretly Sells Products Through a Collection of In-House Brands

The e-commerce giant is pushing items by brands the company owns.

August 8, 2017 2:55 pm
Amazon Secret Brands
Amazon-made products include more than just tech, but it's not apparent to consumers. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Looking to cut out the middle-man, Amazon is secretly making its own products to sell on the e-commerce site.

An examination of Amazon’s trademarks reveals the company owns 19 brands exclusively sold on its website without disclosing they are Amazon-made products.

Through AmazonBasics, the e-commerce company has sold a wide range of household items from batteries and TV cords to towels and bath mats. These have typically been items that don’t inspire brand loyalty in Amazon customers, who often pick the cheapest item with a decent rating. However, these secret brands fall way outside AmazonBasics’ scope.

According to Quartz, these brands include Arabella (lingerie), Beauty Bar (cosmetics), Denali (tools), Franklin & Freeman (men’s shoes), Happy Belly (fresh food),  Lark & Ro (women’s clothing), Mae (underwear), Mama Bear (baby products), Myhabit (consumer goods), North Eleven (women’s clothing), (tech accessories), and Small Parts (spare parts).

Some of these brands are marketed as “exclusively for Prime members,” while many others have no recognition they are Amazon brands. Goodthreads and Presto! are an example of Amazon house brands that are not listed as such on the e-commerce site. In fact, Quartz reports the company’s name doesn’t even appear on their trademark.

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