..this might be a "dumb" question, but if anyone has a SOTX racquet, how can we tell if it's a fake or not. I know for Yonex we can tell by the weight, grip size, distribution no., colors, logo. I know SOTX is not a major brand, but you know how easily people can produce a clone racquet. Appreciate any input on this..
Not a dumb question at all! Unfortunately spotting a fake SOTX is not easy at all, especially not if it's an online source. You can really only tell by the feeling of it, comparing a real SOTX with a fake one that is. There is a serial numbering system, but it's not quite the same as Yonex's... Some things that an authentic brand new SOTX should have though are the warranty card and the holographic seal with the 'scratch and show' serial number. Though both are duplicable, again because SOTX isn't yet a famous brand the holographic seal is usually the distinguisher. Although, if people really wanted to go through the trouble, they could conceivably forge that too. But it's not nearly as big a problem as with Yonex, because simply, SOTXes are generally relatively inexpensive as it is, and as you mentioned it's not as large a brand. Forgers can make significantly more money forging Yonexes at the moment, just because of the brand name. If someone wanted to forge SOTXes, they'd have to do double work-- not just make the actual forgery, but do the marketting to make people want SOTXes in the first place. Yonexes rather 'speak for themselves', because the name carries so much weight. The best way to avoid buying a turkey is to buy a real one from the source-- If you're looking at buying one, there is a relatively tightly knit group of resellers in North America, so as long as you stick with the official guys, you'll be fine. If you're looking at buying one online or something, PM me and I can help you find an official dealer.
Thanks for your reply..Yes, I've already met a local SOTX dealer here in the U.S.-went to their official website and saw the dealers..But I was just wondering about that topic..I'll remember those 2 items you mention.. Also, when you say "we can really only tell by the feeling of it", how can we tell, unless we have tried it before??.. BTW, I assume you own a SOTX racquet??..If so, which model and which model would you refer??..thx-
Own crapload of SOTX rackets. Power Boss Woven 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11, Titanium 16a and STB-8080+. As far as the feel goes, yep... you'll only know that after having previously used one. Which usually means it's too late, if you bought it online! Out of the rackets that I've tried, I especially like the Woven 8, Woven 2 and STB-8080+, although many will disagree with my choices-- SOTX has a lot of different models with very slight configuration differences (length, balance point, stiffness, etc.) so my choices reflect my personal preferences. Woven 8 is my weapon of choice, it's my primary racket and I swear by it (people must be getting tired of me saying that), it's a lot like my CAB30ms, however, I like the 8 because it's overal heavier. Woven 2 is my 'heavy hitter', i use it mostly for singles as it's a bit head heavy compared to the Woven 8. STB-8080+ was recommended to me by LB, and it quickly became my favorite 'tactical' racket... it's the lightest of the rackets and i use it only for some of my doubles games. Many people might not like the diea of having 3 rackets with them of different specs, but I play with a lot of beginners so i like to have some variety sometimes.
No such things as dumb questions only dumb answers I have not heard of any fake SOTX but that is not to say that there aren't any. If you have contacted a local authorized dealer, then your chances of buying a fake SOTX is pretty low. As Jinryu indicated, SOTX (the newer models) have a holographic sticker and a serial number but the older models do not. All of these including the warranty card are easily duplicated but the popularity and profit returns are not there as compared to Yonex. The Woven series are popular with Woven 7 being one of their best sellers (at least that was what I was told by SOTX China). The price ranges from US$50 up to US$300!
you have to understand the economics of making a fake though. with all due respects, but the demand of SOTX rackets are much much lower than the demand for Yonex. there simply isn't enough demand for a fake manufacturer to make fake SOTX's.
What about it? If you mean how to detect a fake, it would be same methods as with any other SOTX racket, essentially.
my friend's parents have bought a sotx woven 16 for me from china. and it only costs 200 RMB. i havent received it yet. but what are the chances that its fake?
Close to 100%. There is no way a Woven 16 would sell for only ~$25USD. In the U.S. it costs $300+USD!
i would leave 1% out for the possibility that his frd's parents might have connection(s) w/ the company... 200RMD might be the cost of a lunch or something that is, better chance than winning a lottery ticket
okay. its confirmed. its fake. even though i remember reading a thread that said there are no fake sotx racquets. luckily, my friend's parents didnt purchase it. but they are getting a sotx woven 12 and woven 10 both at 800 RMB each after haggling. this should be genuine right?
~$100 USD sounds much more reasonable. However, no one can confirm the authenticity of the rackets in question with examing them physically.
SOTX lovers beware! I have revived this thread just to alert members that there are indeed fake SOTX rackets in the markets. Unlike Yonex where there are enough and easily available genuine models around to make comparison and also enough advises and tell-tale signs for visual check, there are not enough knowledge or experience for SOTX rackets. So be very careful for buying SOTX from unknown source especially if it is unrealistically cheap. See also attached thread. I did ask Surge to post some photos on his fake SOTX so that we can see how close the details from the genuine one, but unfortunately he has not had the chance to do so. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34508
hi, indeed i have bought a sotx woven 16 in china recently...at about US$20. bought it cos i only knew woven 16 as it cost about US$300 in singapore and when i saw it in china, thought buy for the fun of it. there are a lot of other sotx models but i didnt look thru them as i am not familiar w other models. as for the racket, i have brought it to a sotx racket dealer in singapore and he was rather surprised by it. the racket has the wording power boss, woven 16 , DE and even serial no on the cone. the dealer told me he could only tell the groumet and the groove where the groumets are are different. the only thing that looks fake is the sotx logo at the end of the racket. it dropped off and i glued it back. of all the clones there, the stox was really good. others like mp99 clone, the words are usually slanted to one side that tells you straight its a lousy paint job. i will pm the buyer of my sotx racket see if he is kind enough to take some pics to share
Are there fake SOTX rackets? How to tell if one is real? So I got my SOTX Berlin Passion STB-5072 today and I was wondering if there is any possibility that it could be fake. I didn't buy it from any stores...I bought it from a local online seller who claimed that he bought the racket from HK... Now the racket looks real and there's a "Certificate of Quality", but the information tag is very very very poorly translated (from Chinese to English) and I can see very blatant mistakes (poor punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc.). Should I be worried?
It is common that many Chinese local products have poor translation work as many just simply use software to do the translation. Often the software can only recognise single word or phrases and translate them as they are without consideration of sentence, context or specialised terms, therefore glaring mistakes are made and many of them are laughable. By that alone, you cannot really say it is a fake.