When it comes to fighting counterfeit products on its platform, Amazon is ahead of the game, with digital systems in play that ensure that Apple and Google products aren’t competing against a flood of cheap knock-offs.

But, as Bloomberg reports, smaller vendors are offered no such protection.

Amazon’s ‘brand-gating’ program requires sellers of various big-name products to get extra permissions to list them. This program is not publicised, therefore there is no way to know which products are afforded this layer of protection.

What is clear, is that it isn’t the mum and pop sellers. As Bloomberg reports: “Of the millions of products sold on Amazon, perhaps thousands are afforded this kind of protection.”

Lawmakers in Washington are considering new regulations to stamp this out, but until then, it’s still the wild west for sellers on Amazon.

“We protect all brands, regardless of size,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

“If we detect suspicious or abusive behavior, we investigate quickly and make improvements to better protect the brand.”