Agreed. A few bucks is good enough to counterfeit for someone in China. Buy locally or trusted sources (Rock Auto, online car dealer).
Lots of counterfeit stuff lately.
- Thread starter Chris142
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Everything is China is subsidized. Its not about profit, its about keeping people employed. If they can make a few bucks shipping crappy $1 spark plugs to the USA, fine with them.
You can't think like a westerner and have it make any sense.
That's another reason to only own corded tools.
A friend of mine works as a purchasing agent in a large aerospace company. He says that they have a serious issue with counterfeit parts, right down to the smallest o-rings.
If one is concerned staying away for 3rd party sellers is pretty simple.
Stay with big box stores, Home Improvement Stores Ace, Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Big box auto stores are examples.
There are some incorrect assumptions with Amazon and Walmart/ It is easy to avoid third party sellers, the product page you are looking at tells you who the seller is. If you dont want a third party, just order when Amazon or Walmart is the seller.
Personally I think to much of it is overblown, being careful is prudent but I hate to single out independent business people making a living and favor big box stores when it is not called for. Walmart and Amazon warehouses ships for independent sellers. I hate to make big corporations favored over small business based on hysteria and all things are equal. Corporations are not your friend, their responsibility is to its shareholders.
Stay with big box stores, Home Improvement Stores Ace, Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Big box auto stores are examples.
There are some incorrect assumptions with Amazon and Walmart/ It is easy to avoid third party sellers, the product page you are looking at tells you who the seller is. If you dont want a third party, just order when Amazon or Walmart is the seller.
Personally I think to much of it is overblown, being careful is prudent but I hate to single out independent business people making a living and favor big box stores when it is not called for. Walmart and Amazon warehouses ships for independent sellers. I hate to make big corporations favored over small business based on hysteria and all things are equal. Corporations are not your friend, their responsibility is to its shareholders.
It’s very profitable to counterfeit items in poor countries because these, cheap to us, brand name items are very expensive over there.
But since it’s so easy now to sell as a third party seller on reputable sites like Amazon or Walmart without any vetting, these fakes are making their way to us as well.
But since it’s so easy now to sell as a third party seller on reputable sites like Amazon or Walmart without any vetting, these fakes are making their way to us as well.
A co worker was talking to another co worker about how he just installed spark plugs in his 4 Runner and it has been running rough. I chimed in and asked him if he bought the plugs from Ebay or Amazon. He said Ebay, I told him the plugs were fake. He told me he didn’t want to pay the dealer price for the Denso iridium ones and found them cheaper on Ebay.
Amazon co-mingles parts. So parts sourced by Amazon or a 3rd party reside in the same bin and you get whichever, irrelevant of whom you placed your order with.
Walmart I don't know - I think third parties do the shipping in that case so I assume walmart is OK.
No, I assume you are correct.
Both of them sell their own items and ship the products for third parties.
I do think but not sure, as far as co-mingling you would be correct but I would assume both Walmart and Amazon would be buying from a reputable supplier, for one reason only. They have to be careful because it's horrible press when Walmart or Amazon gets caught as a supplier of counterfeit products. We all know it makes national news.
Meaning I dont know that the 3rd party actually supplies the product, it might be made available to Amazon but not sure. I just assume of the product can be in writing that the supplier is Amazon and Walmart even with co-mingling that these two companies actually obtained the product.
I have been buying most of Toyota OE parts directly from stealership.
My experience was buying a rear wheel hub for venza for fwd, I tried getting brand name reputable aftermarket (2 to be exact).
Both of them have bad speed sensor found after installation.
So, I ended up buying from stealership, first one has a broken electrical connector.
Finally, after replacement from them, I got a good one.
So, I am not sure what is going on with the integrated aftermarket sensor.
So, the expensive part on the OE is a real working speed sensor.
My experience was buying a rear wheel hub for venza for fwd, I tried getting brand name reputable aftermarket (2 to be exact).
Both of them have bad speed sensor found after installation.
So, I ended up buying from stealership, first one has a broken electrical connector.
Finally, after replacement from them, I got a good one.
So, I am not sure what is going on with the integrated aftermarket sensor.
So, the expensive part on the OE is a real working speed sensor.
As with everything, some level of discernment is necessary. I just purchased a Standard (SMP) EGR solenoid from Amazon. Examples of applying common sense here could be:
1) Q:is anyone counterfeiting SMP parts?
A: meh, maybe but unlikely
2) Q: considering the price, what is worst case scenario?
A: for an EGR solenoid on a 2003 Ford, it fails prematurely and I'm out a few bucks
If it's a customer's vehicle, the calculations shift a little.
1) Q:is anyone counterfeiting SMP parts?
A: meh, maybe but unlikely
2) Q: considering the price, what is worst case scenario?
A: for an EGR solenoid on a 2003 Ford, it fails prematurely and I'm out a few bucks
If it's a customer's vehicle, the calculations shift a little.
You have to wonder if eventually it will be so bad they have to rethink the contract model and produce everything themselves?
Hebron, KY as well. That’s where the Cincinnati airport is actually located and there are a bunch of Amazon warehouses nearby. A lot of inventory from sellers in Hebron just came off a cargo plane that morning.
got some rayban sunglasses on ebay sure enough they were fake.
Got fake Motorcraft spark plugs on ebay.
I pretty much stopped dealing with them..
Got fake Motorcraft spark plugs on ebay.
I pretty much stopped dealing with them..
This is something that kinda bothers me lately. With stuff I know is Chinese, I'm not looking for fakes but just is it currently stocked in the US? This is about shipping time, not legitimacy of the product.
It seems lately they can say "ships from US" or even ships from KY or CA, but sometimes I think they just use that to hide that it's not actually on US soil yet.
Yes, I know you can look at projected arrival dates, but those don't REALLY mean anything. And if it must first travel internationally to a US distribution center, it just adds one more opportunity for delays or problems. I'll pay a little more to know something is dispatched from within the lower 48 TODAY
Someone somewhere I thought I read China is going to lose the near free USPS shipping to individuals
Maybe a pipe dream
Doan like searching on phone while watching silver hairs waiting at Costco endoscopy station
Maybe a pipe dream
Doan like searching on phone while watching silver hairs waiting at Costco endoscopy station
I find eBay sellers very accurate when it comes to shipping and arrival dates.
That would coincide with their star rating, and how people review them, they aren’t looking for bad reviews that is for sure.
Ships from US merchandise is sometimes more than if it is being shipped from China but if you’re not in a rush, China prices are much better most times and actually for some China merchandise it arrives fairly quickly. You know the minute it arrives if it’s coming from the USA of China, you just have to look at the package and the postage.
It is correct that the United States is closing a loophole which allowed packages to come to the United States cheaper if shipped individually avoiding customs charges.
Something along those lines, I read the story about a month ago.
Depending on how you look at it cracking down on products that we buy overseas to level the playing field in the United States means you’re going to pay more. I have no problem with that if the opposing country is doing the same thing to our products.
But I’m not so sure I agree if it is just a protectionist measure.
That would coincide with their star rating, and how people review them, they aren’t looking for bad reviews that is for sure.
Ships from US merchandise is sometimes more than if it is being shipped from China but if you’re not in a rush, China prices are much better most times and actually for some China merchandise it arrives fairly quickly. You know the minute it arrives if it’s coming from the USA of China, you just have to look at the package and the postage.
It is correct that the United States is closing a loophole which allowed packages to come to the United States cheaper if shipped individually avoiding customs charges.
Something along those lines, I read the story about a month ago.
Depending on how you look at it cracking down on products that we buy overseas to level the playing field in the United States means you’re going to pay more. I have no problem with that if the opposing country is doing the same thing to our products.
But I’m not so sure I agree if it is just a protectionist measure.
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I’m selling my last inventory on eBay from the bike business. Nothing phony. Pride myself in accurate descriptions. I have not made any shipping errors in two years but I did have a case with one customer assuming a universal fit 1/2” pitch gear was designed for 415 chain width. Of course won’t work with speed chain but ideal with 410 chain, but will work with the wider 415. I gave him his money back and made the description extra clear. I believe there are other sellers like me but I know it is getting rare.
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This cannot be overstated, however some ads can be confusing bordering on downright deceptive; "identical to OEM GM Part". That said, I consider eBay the wild wild west but it is good for that odd used part.
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