A MUST READ article:
http://www.fish-as-pets.com/2018/03/buying-aquarium-products-via-amazon.htmlHere is an excerpt:
"Amazon will use whatever listing is first made to represent all future sales of a given product.
This means, no matter how inaccurate, misleading, or simply lacking
proper information to better educate the future buyer, the information
WILL NOT BE CHANGED!
A good example is the AAP Wonder Shell originally made by Weco. The
information published by the manufacturer is incorrect as per use
resulting in those following this information using this product
incorrectly and/or for the wrong reason (such as for alkalinity).
Referenced from:
Purchasing Aquarium & Pond Equipment via Amazon
Once I am gone and others like me, who will then answer these questions????
I know that I constantly have to correct Amazon misinformation via
email, social media, etc. or answer as to why their cheap UV Sterilizer
did not perform as they expected.
Sadly discussions I have had in social media show that people 9 times out of 10 do not understand this.
I recently had a person in Facebook argue with me that why should he
spend $150 for a UV Sterilizer when he could get one on Amazon for $40
that is 80% as good. Problem is this 80% is not even close to the truth.
First these UVs on Amazon utilize medium pressure UV lamps that are
just 25% of the UVC output of the low pressure HO UV lamps.
Reference:
High Output UVC Emission from a UV Bulb/Lamp; Aquarium or Pond
Then you have design and dwell time and in the end you are lucky of you get 10% of the effectiveness for the same wattage UV.
Then throw in a 1-2 year lifespan versus 7-10 year lifespan for an AAP
Vecton/Advantage UV and your $40 UV from Amazon which is not even a True
UV Sterilizer ends up being pure crap!
The other dark side to this inability to change a listing
coupled with Amazon's return policy
is that often the consumer is not properly educated in use of a
product, so they damage the product and Amazon forces full refunds from
the seller. A good case in point is the
"Ancient Marine Aquarium Cleaning Machine" which was an awesome product that was destroyed by just such policies resulting in the companies demise.
So in the end this "Great Return Policy" might seem like another
positive for consumers, long term it is not if one desires innovation
from start up companies."