Quoted from DCFAN:The "ships and sold by Amazon" is important. If it states that then you often have free returns, an item actually sold by Amazon, and often 2-day shipping with Prime. If it does not say shipped by Amazon then it is not really Amazon to me and I am careful what I buy from those sellers.
The good news for buyers as a whole is that Amazon doesn't tolerate negative feedback on 3rd party sellers. You screw up and you're banned fast. It might not save the first buyer but should keep any seller from selling on Amazon and not being worthy of the "Amazon name"