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Amazon is absolutely littered with products with unreadable, unrecognizable brand names.

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Uieosmuff, Weelux, and Kirkson.

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Believe it or not, it wasn't always like this. But where did they all come from?

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Are these names simply from some foreign language that doesn't translate well to English?

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The answer to the second question is actually no. Although many of these off the wall brands you see

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are from China, these brand names are just as fanciful

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and meaningless there as they are in the English speaking world.

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But before we get into why that is, let's take a step back and explain

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where these brands even come from. Although China is the largest country in the world

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by population, only a few very large companies dominate the online shopping landscape there.

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We're talking companies such as Taobao and T-Mall. And if you're a Chinese seller,

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it can be hard to sell on these platforms because there are already so many other folks

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trying to sell the same product you have. So it's unsurprising that Chinese sellers

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are looking to the American market instead. Amazon gave up on trying to operate

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a retail website in China as there was just too much competition,

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but Amazon does actively recruit Chinese sellers

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to pedal their wares on the US website. The company even holds huge conferences

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for folks in China interested in making money on Amazon,

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a practice that began circa 2015. Not only is it a big opportunity for the sellers,

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but it also gives Amazon another source of cheap goods they can use to undercut competitors

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like Walmart in the US. The reason these names are so random

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is that it makes it much easier for these brands to obtain a trademark,

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which is extremely important for selling on Amazon. You see, Amazon has a program called the Brand Registry,

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which provides sellers with important benefits such as reduced fees, cash back,

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a campaign asking customers to leave trusted reviews

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and notably help with marketing and advertising on the site.

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But to participate in the Brand Registry, a seller has to have a registered trademark

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as one of Amazon's goals in having a Brand Registry is to cut down on counterfeit goods.

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And it's usually very easy to get a trademark approved

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that's a nonsense word or just a string of random letters

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as it's unlikely that some other company is already using that trademark.

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This way they can avoid the arduous process of getting a trademark approved

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that's too similar to a different company's existing brand

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based on a word that makes sense. In fact, the US Patent and Trademark Office

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has complained of being flooded with more of these trademark applications

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than they can actually handle. And even though one of the main reasons

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companies typically register a trademark is so that they can build a strong identifiable brand

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that one can pronounce, that isn't really necessary

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for many product categories on Amazon. Sure, if you're looking for a stand mixer,

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you might think KitchenAid or you might trust Yeti

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if you're looking for an insulated bottle. But if you just need a pair of scissors,

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a garden hose or a bowl for your dog, these aren't items where a dominant brand

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has mind share with the public. Instead, good reviews will get the product pushed

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to the top of the Amazon results, which is what will drive sales far more

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than memorable branding. But even though buying from one of these brands

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might seem like a good idea to save money, please make sure you check to see that there are reviews

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that sound like they're from real people. Amazon hasn't had a very good track record

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of cracking down on fake reviews or ensuring that these products

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are properly labeled and meet US safety standards.

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Though Amazon claims that this is something they continue to work on.

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So try not to get sucked in just by a cool design

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and a good price, although I will say, the allure of this loomie loo unicorn fanny pack,

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it's hard to resist. Hey, thanks for watching that whole video, guys.

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Like it if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it. Check out our other videos,

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comment below with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe and follow,

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especially if you've got a wacky name that it's hard to pronounce.

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I wanna see those.