Is there anything Knife fans can do about fake knives?

jlauffer said:
Pardon my ignorance, but do other companies like Spyderco, Benchmade, etc, post pics of fakes on their website like Cold Steel does? Think that would help a lot in the education dept. But of course people would have to look.
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Don't know about their websites, but both have a dedicated sticky thread in their respective forums here to share pics of fakes.
 
Easiest thing as everyone else has said, is simply not to buy them.

I’ll occasionally send an email to the manufacturer calling them out as thieves but only if what they’re selling is an obvious copy with fake markings and is being advertising as the real thing.
 
It's easy to say "don't buy them" but some Spyderco fakes are so good, you need a magnifying glass and calipers to tell the difference.

Most ZT fakes are more obvious. Kershaw fakes are almost indistinguishable from the real thing (I think because they are sold by the same mfgs who are hired by Kershaw to make them) but the fakes ALWAYS come in a fake Kershaw box without proper bar code, make & model markings printed on them.

Bought a Yojimbo on EB and was warned by the SELLER that it might be a fake. He was told by someone else and fave me to option to cancel the sale. Did some research and after some really minute comparisons determined it was a fake based on Net videos. Seller refunded my $. Bought a "real" from a well known and reputable EB dealer.

Nothing that really can be done about it, except caveat emptor.

People talk a lot of trash about EB a lot but most sellers there are honest and, if you are sold something as "real" when it is actually a fake, EB will give you your $ back. Been there/done that too.

Most fakes sold are for current popular models. Vintage knives are less affected but you need to be careful regardless.
 
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If enough people by the clones advertised as real then dispute with eBay or credit cards then they
May start loosing money
 
Do not buy any knife ,much more cheap than normal,take care the spyderco and benchmad from China.Get a trustworthy seller.
 
I don't buy fakes and won't buy any knife from a manufacturer who is known to deal in fakes or clones. My advice is to buy from authorized retailers even if it has to be at MAP. With fakes so prevalent and getting so accurate it just isn't worth the time and effort to sort it out. I spent way too much time researching to verify a Sebenza and a titanium Military I bought from sketchy sources for low (but not too low) prices.
 
fakes continue to be sold because they are inexpensive... the bf people are generally NOT the people buying them, because we actually do some research and learn from bf

when a bf member needs a cheap knife, they get a mora, or opinel or kershaw folder (or a bunch of other brands known for quality & low price)

so, the real long term solution is educating the masses, either by getting them onto bf (which might be difficult) or by having these wisdom nuggets spread on instagram/youtube/fb... you know, where the masses go for info
 
but the point is true, just because he didn't go into a treatise about the reality of the situation doesn't mean his point is wrong or that he fails to understand
 
Give your opinion on the topic.
Do not give your opinion of other posters.
Opinions on other posters belong in Whine and Cheese.
 
Pteronarcyd said:
Uh ... yes. US law puts the onus on the manufacturer to defend his brand.
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Not sure how widely that applies to intellectual property like a knife design, but as far a "brand" goes, you are correct.

Its why "I am stuck on BandAids, ..." changed to "I am stuck on BandAid Brand, ..."

Dont protect a brand and anyone can take it.
 
As I recall it, Spyderco started their Byrd line at least partly to combat knockoffs. Sal has also mentioned that going after the makers of every single knockoff is extremely difficult. It's a lot easier said than done.

I haven't read the entire thread, so I'm certain it's already been mentioned, but to be sure what you're buying is the real deal, only purchase from legitimate knife dealers and stay away from sites like eBay when purchasing knives.

Jim
 
91bravo said:
Yep, don't buy them. That's the only way to battle it. Good luck reporting fake stuff on the bay, you got your work cut out for you.
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I believe there's actually a button or menu option to report a particular item as fake. I've done it before, but it's been a while, so I don't remember exactly how I did it.
 
Report what you find, make threads in manufacturer subs here when you find knives that seem to be fake. No one of us will solve it all, but the more people filing reports, making it harder for sellers to keep good feedback scores, the better the situation gets. The selling platform sites do care about fakes, because it hurts their reputation as well. In a couple years when the Bay starts using its own payment processor then they will have incentive to care again, because they can then be more liable for those sales as an intermediary. Laws change over time, as do company policies. Fakes are a problem in every industry and so companies do want to combat it. What would happen if a company like Nike decided to pull all its products from the big river, and make a public ad campaign about authorized sellers and online sales. That would have an impact that would be noticed.
 
Unfortunately , we are such a minority and the cheap price and good looks of some of these clones make for a lot of sales from non knife afficianodos.Just don't buy them,and report them when you can ….
 
I hope eBay eventually does with knives what they’ve done with some other collectibles, which is to offer a third party opinion. For a small fee, a service will render an opinion on the validity of the item. The service can’t guarantee authenticity because they are working from photos, but having a knowledgeable set of eyes has the potential to weed out a lot of fake listings.
 
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