so i was in Shenzhen yesterday (SZ is a city in China right across the border from Hong Kong). we went to this local shopping area where there are a lot of clothing stores (guess who was doing the shopping??) While we were walking (and i was bored out of my mind) through the mall, a few familiar shaped objects caught my eyes: badminton rackets! almost immediately i guessed that those are not real racket despite big signs at the mall deploring such acts. 95% of the "foreign" products sold at that mall are fake anyway. so i went and have a look, lo and behold, those are some really cheap and poor quality fakes. selling at around US$20-30 each. the part that was interesting is that they have fake of almost all model, from the top end Sabers to 9000X, Ti-10 to Carbonex6 (!?), AT700 to NCTUFF. this is the case despite our former belief that only top end models have fakes. the quality is pretty low as mentioned, the racket bear signs of the low quality fake we have seen. logos are not perfect copies, handle cap don't have the correct texture, font and color. serial numbers are engraved (but with what looks like the correct font!) i was hoping to see some better fakes but ah well. too bad i wasn't brave enough to take some photos. probably best for my safety's sake.
So do knock-offs follow the same relative pricing gradations of their genuine counterparts? Was the $30 for an NS9000 with the lower end models costing only $20? After all, the counterfeiter needs to be compensated for the extra overhead involved in buying an NS9000 on which to base the copy.
Aww man, Kwun you should have taken some pics !, I'm going to SZ this summer maybe i'll see those rackets
you could've like gotten a couple and have an impromptu fake racket fencing match right then and there.
kwun, how do you know that is low quality fakes? since you may bargain and get it cheaper...... buy few of them, back home, string them, then try them out. maybe the playability of the rackets are good........
when I was in Guangdong recently in a fairly small town I found a sports store which sold badminton rackets. What was interesting was, the owner said to me, "these are the fakes [pointing to 95% of them]...and these are genuine". The fakes ranged from 25-200RMB (the NS were 'top of the range') and the genuine ones from 500-800RMB. BTW the 'geniune' ones were mostly Yonex Isometric rackets.
i am sure they are all over the place. i just happen to drop by a local mall and there were 2 to 3 racket stores there. these stores must be in many shopping malls.
as we have always said. rackets are like clothing. it maybe some cheap stuff look nice on somebody. so i cannot say whether they play well or not, it is too dependent on the person. what i mean by low quality is that they are poor imitation cosmetically. it is not difficult at all to tell that they are fake from the fonts, paint and general appearance.
I tried a fake NS8000 (150RMB). You could bend the shaft about 30-35 degrees. It was really difficult to impart force to or control the shuttle when you hit it because of the racket's extreme 'flexibility'.
Original Duplicate Earlier this year, I chanced on what looked like a Yonex Armortec 800 (Offensive) in a sports goods store in Kathmandu, Nepal. Seeing that I knew my badminton, the storekeeper didn't try to pass it off as a genuine Yonex racquet. Instead, he told me upfront that it was a fake ("original duplicate" is the term he used) and asked if I were interested. He quoted USD 20. I simply laughed it off... but he was mighty insistent. To say that I was amazed by the workmanship would be an understatement. It was near perfect in every aspect of appearance... and perhaps the only giveaway was the slightly smaller Yonex logo. It was stringed at around 17-19 lbs (that's the range they use in cold, cold Nepal) and he offered to let me try it out if I would join him at the British Army Club, some distance away from the city centre, where they had laid two badminton courts inside the wood-floored gymnasium. He was a regular there... and the game session began at an unearthly 5am. I joined him the next morning... surprisingly, it felt good to play at 4 degrees Celsius (bolstered by unending cups of steaming strong coffee). The man had brought two AT 800s - one was genuine and the other was the fake he'd shown me earlier. I spent over a quarter of an hour switching racquets and testing them with Yonex AS40 shuttles. Perhaps it was the cold, or perhaps I'm a great length away from Sir Dink... but, to me, it was almost impossible to tell them apart . Of course, I bought it off him (for USD 15, though ) He also told me that these fakes are smuggled across the Nepal - China border into Kathmandu, from where it is 'exported' to the Middle East, India and Thailand. I still have the original duplicate... and, so far, not one of my partners or friends have guessed or realised it to be a fake. And, usually, when I tell them, they simply refuse to believe me PS: The serial number on the shaft is 3748033... and the code number on the cone begins with 27 (the rest is masked by a holographic sticker which I haven't had the heart to take off) . Maybe, just maybe, the storekeeper made a mistake... and it's a genuine AT 800 after all
I had a feeling.. ..you would try to find one of those stores, kwun..I mean, was kwun really looking & shopping for clothings??.....
Like what i have posted many times before,about fakes,no doubt that china offers the most in quantity n variety.So,20 30USD was too much!Esp in shenzhen!They should have sell it much lower.Maybe they found out that Kwun is a foreigner,so they sell it much higher.In my place,a small city,the highest price for it is 17USD(130rmb),while the normal one is 14USD(100rmb).Ti10,Ti5,AT700,AT900T/P,NS9000S/X,wilson Ncode,MP100,etc..they still give an original BG65 n stringing,n a 5rmb grip. The cheapest i've found is in beijing,less than USD10.I bought a fake MP88 for 60rmb(8USD),can hold upto 23-24lbs.A steel racket costs around 20rmb.So,it's preety cheap for a graphite racket. The playability is simply more forgiving.I dont wanna sound encouraging ppl to buy one,but if one is still a beginner,this kind of racket is preety suitable for them.However,easier for ppl in china to engage in sport activity since it's cheap..n fakes r not really against the law.Unlike in western countries..
Guessed by the things u said,i may say that it is a fake..hehehe..anyway,most stores wont sell both fake n genuine stuff together in one place.It'll bring doubts to the buyer to shop in there.. They usually come specialized.Some specialized in selling cheap stuffs,n the most expensive of them r still on the middle class price.While the other specialized in selling branded stuffs,which usually the prices can go up to the highest class price. However,whether that's real or not,was not the most important.The most important thing is that u can get used to the racket.Make fully use or more from the price u've paid..15USD!
lolz may be off the topic, but are fake yonex shirts in the same illegal condition to rackets? because i've encountered fakes that i can't seem to tell apart, and yonex hasn't seem to post anything about it =\...maybe it's teh fact that i "think" it's fake...like i've been hearing fake strings?...now, i'm not at all means encouraging any of it, but i bought fakes of all of the above (shirts, strings, rackets) that i suspected to be fake, and the shirts are the ones i'm still suspicious about, but the strings are good...but my question is...how are we supposed to get rid of it? lolz..i mean, it's illegal to sell..and if you're in a situation where you have one? is it ever okay to just "throw away" a racket?! oh and the NS9K from Vietnam i got was straight from a factory my friend's girfriend's father's connection, and it was almost undetectable...except for the awful flex and fake grip so i suppose it's all over asia as well =\
In china,the market price of a BG65 is around 20-25rmb per 10m..so,yeah..u can do the rest of the calculation.. Oh yeah,btw,i know some places that sells 100 rmb for a fake yonex racket,n they give a bonus of any yonex string,even the most expensive NBG95..which i believe it's fake,judging by the printing on the string,n the package colour..which they said it's a TW.I bought that string once,n the result was awful.Oh yeah,btw,NBG95 that i saw was also available in black colour..,which means definitely a fake. So,u want cheap,..welcome to china..=)
Depends on what country u're in.In china or some other developing countries,fakes doesnt sound that bad afterall.It's cheap,n become an alternative for ppl.U may be able to judge correctly if one's real or not if u're already familiar with the real ones.For example shirts,u can judge them by the signs,stickers,prices,and also the most important,different fabrics. Strings,u can judge them by the package n the printing on the string..like the NBG65,etc..the genuine one's print wont be gone n will stay there as long as the string's lifespan. Why bother to get rid of it for now?U'll do so when u're getting better at this sport.When u reach a higher level,u'll have a higher standard/demand.U'll look for a better string,a better racket,a better shirt(better fabric) that suits u more.So,in the mean time,since u've already bought it..just enjoy it.