When you shop on Amazon, it pays off to pay attention to who you’re actually buying from. As we’ve discussed before, buying an item on Amazon.com doesn’t mean that you’re buying it from Amazon, even if it’s shipped to you from one of Amazon’s warehouses. The seller is another person or company who sent their stuff to Amazon’s warehouse. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can have some unintended effects. Like depriving you of piano lessons.

That isn’t a completely random example. A reader of Mouse Print bought a piano on Amazon, believing that he was part of a promotion where purchasers of pianos would receive three months of lessons with their new instruments.

He missed two pieces of fine print, though: the promo specified that the piano had to be purchased and shipped by Amazon, and his piano came from a third-party seller.

The difference between an item shipped by Amazon and an item sold and shipped by Amazon is subtle, but important in this case. It’s important to know when the actual seller is an authorized merchant, since buying from vendors who sell on Amazon can mean voiding your warranty.

The good news is that the company that was part of the lessons promotion, Skoove, stepped up and let the reader subscribe when he proved that he had bought a digital piano that otherwise conformed to Amazon’s promotion.

When is “Sold by Amazon” Not the Same as “Bought from Amazon”? [Mouse Print]

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