Anyone had any experience with a dodgy site? or know how to tell if one is selling fake stuff? I'm seeing some ski gear that looks kinda too cheap. If a ski gear site isn't secure is that a dead giveaway?
A commercial site that's insecure, particularly if they are selling anything, and irrespective of what or who they are using for payment processing is to be AVOIDED.
That's the first sign. Second sign is who they are using for the payment gatway. Any site wanting to process your credit card directly themselves is a very big red flag.
I've seen quite a few adverts recently on Facebook for different seelers selling Spyder. but when I dug further they are all linking back to the same site and the address shown on the site is for a residential address somewhere in hicksville amurka
some friends of my brother were talking about the great cheap deals they got on North Face ski gear in Shenzhen I said ‘but isn’t it fake?’ blank looks
Simple way to check is north face wording is linked by stitch. Original letters are seperate not joined. Must say though, i bought fake jacket for waterproof moto riding(enduro) and it has been great.
I usually find the prices on the site to be the best indicator of genuineness. For example if the site is selling Arcteryx Alpha jackets for $200 then I go with my gut and call fake or scam. A back up google of the site name usually seals the deal.
Wife's uncle went on one of those shopping trips. Came home with a 2nd Gen IPad. Which was "Powered by Android"
I think most people buy fakes knowing that they’re fake it’s a funny thing - the fake has the status of the trademark but not the quality that might be associated with the brand who would want that?
Same discussion from 2006. That's when someone said they bought Spyder gear in China for AUD $230. About 10x the going rate. Likely that Chinese vendor tells a great story about the most amazing sales day he ever had. https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/spyder-gear-from-china.6526/
I looked at a lot of ski and outdoor gear in Chengdu & Xi'an, from what looked like legitimate stores, but none of it appealed. Difficult to say on the quality, some of it looked alright. Certainly from high-street stores prices were not particularly cheap. No photos of the ski stuff sadly but, I did take this one of a real mash-up: an AirMax & New Balance combo from the popular 'New Bunren' brand. Xi'an seems notable for the many variations on NB gear you see. These were the equivalent of about AUD$80 so I didn't bother, but I probably should have.
many years ago I purchased a Columbia jaket from a retail outlet in Queensland through , advertised as end of season stock So it was cheap, but not fake cheap. When it arrived it was a shockingly bad fake, so I called him up and arranged a full refund including Freight both ways. He was very apologetic and this had never happened before, being a reputable retiler etc Once the money was in my account I then contacted Columbia. M A week later they contacted me to advise they had been round and found more fakes and arranged for them to be confiscated
Some of the feedback I've seen on FB is that you order and pay for the discounted Arc'teryx jacket and a scarf turns up. When you complain, they blame warehouse error and claim they will fix before disappearing - rinse repeat.