China Knock-Offs

I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds of
knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown manufacturer
and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where the manufacturer of
the original simply makes more items that the order calls for and then sells
the remainder on the open market. The quality of these latter knock-offs is
supposedly of much better quality as they are made by the manufacturer of
the actual branded items, of better materials and higher construction
standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?

"rascal" wrote in message
news_djg.6546$f76.2664@dukeread06...
I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds of
knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown
manufacturer and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where the
manufacturer of the original simply makes more items that the order calls
for and then sells the remainder on the open market. The quality of these
latter knock-offs is supposedly of much better quality as they are made by
the manufacturer of the actual branded items, of better materials and
higher construction standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?


Thats what people say, but I think its a ruse to get folks to buy the
knockoff stuff. In any case, its hard to tell the difference; my experience
is that you think you have an original--it looks and feels like the real
deal, and matches the catalogues they invariably have on hand, but
inevitably within a few weeks the soles separate, the stitches come loose,
the handle falls off, or it stretches funny and doesn't fit. I've bought
dozens and dozens of things from Shenzhen, and to date NOT ONE has turned
out to be worth it. You may get three items at 1/3 price, but when two turn
out to be junk, you might as well have bought the third one retail from a
reputable dealer.

--riverman

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:05:32 +0800, "riverman"
wrote:


"rascal" wrote in message
news_djg.6546$f76.2664@dukeread06...
I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds of
knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown
manufacturer and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where the
manufacturer of the original simply makes more items that the order calls
for and then sells the remainder on the open market. The quality of these
latter knock-offs is supposedly of much better quality as they are made by
the manufacturer of the actual branded items, of better materials and
higher construction standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?


Thats what people say, but I think its a ruse to get folks to buy the
knockoff stuff. In any case, its hard to tell the difference; my experience
is that you think you have an original--it looks and feels like the real
deal, and matches the catalogues they invariably have on hand, but
inevitably within a few weeks the soles separate, the stitches come loose,
the handle falls off, or it stretches funny and doesn't fit. I've bought
dozens and dozens of things from Shenzhen, and to date NOT ONE has turned
out to be worth it. You may get three items at 1/3 price, but when two turn
out to be junk, you might as well have bought the third one retail from a
reputable dealer.

And what about buying the 'normal' stuff. Unbranded clothes in the
market are ridiculously cheap and the target audience seems to be
normal Chinese people. Do these fall apart after a few weeks?

Why spend 5 dollars on a fake brand when for the same money you can
buy an unbranded item that does the same job?

tim



--riverman

"tim(not at home)" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:05:32 +0800, "riverman"
wrote:


"rascal" wrote in message
news_djg.6546$f76.2664@dukeread06...
I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds
of
knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown
manufacturer and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where
the
manufacturer of the original simply makes more items that the order
calls
for and then sells the remainder on the open market. The quality of
these
latter knock-offs is supposedly of much better quality as they are made
by
the manufacturer of the actual branded items, of better materials and
higher construction standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?


Thats what people say, but I think its a ruse to get folks to buy the
knockoff stuff. In any case, its hard to tell the difference; my
experience
is that you think you have an original--it looks and feels like the real
deal, and matches the catalogues they invariably have on hand, but
inevitably within a few weeks the soles separate, the stitches come loose,
the handle falls off, or it stretches funny and doesn't fit. I've bought
dozens and dozens of things from Shenzhen, and to date NOT ONE has turned
out to be worth it. You may get three items at 1/3 price, but when two
turn
out to be junk, you might as well have bought the third one retail from a
reputable dealer.

And what about buying the 'normal' stuff. Unbranded clothes in the
market are ridiculously cheap and the target audience seems to be
normal Chinese people. Do these fall apart after a few weeks?

Why spend 5 dollars on a fake brand when for the same money you can
buy an unbranded item that does the same job?

tim

This region of China/HK is very status-conscious. People without the means
to spend HK$500 on a real designer item will gladly spend HK$200 on a
knockoff item of the same brand rather than $HK200 on an unbranded item. Or
even HK$100 on the unbranded item.

There isn't much of a market for unbranded stuff, but what there is, is
usually of rather poor quality. Even though stuff is 20x more pricey in the
US, I tend to bring a suitcase full of HK clothes when I fly home, wear it
while I'm there, then toss it and replace it with good quality US stuff
before I come back.

--riverman

"rascal" wrote in message
news_djg.6546$f76.2664@dukeread06...
I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds of
knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown
manufacturer and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where the
manufacturer of the original simply makes more items that the order calls
for and then sells the remainder on the open market. The quality of these
latter knock-offs is supposedly of much better quality as they are made by
the manufacturer of the actual branded items, of better materials and
higher construction standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?

This is true. However, the production overruns are not generally available
in the large markets that are accessible to tourists. We've been to
"unadvertised" places in Beijing, i.e. no signs out front, the places don't
look like markets or stores from the outside, etc., where overruns are sold.

Any suggestions on how to locate them and gain access?


"PTravel" wrote in message
...

"rascal" wrote in message
news_djg.6546$f76.2664@dukeread06...
I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds
of knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown
manufacturer and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where the
manufacturer of the original simply makes more items that the order calls
for and then sells the remainder on the open market. The quality of
these latter knock-offs is supposedly of much better quality as they are
made by the manufacturer of the actual branded items, of better materials
and higher construction standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?

This is true. However, the production overruns are not generally
available in the large markets that are accessible to tourists. We've
been to "unadvertised" places in Beijing, i.e. no signs out front, the
places don't look like markets or stores from the outside, etc., where
overruns are sold.

"rascal" wrote in message
newsdAkg.7686$f76.5294@dukeread06...
Any suggestions on how to locate them and gain access?

The ones we've been to have been shown to us by our friends who live in
Beijing. My wife is Chinese, but I'm not and neither speak nor read the
language so, I'm afraid, I can't help in locating them. As for gaining
access, it was simply a matter of walking in -- there's no secret handshake
or anything like that. My suggestion would be befriend a local and ask.



"PTravel" wrote in message
...

"rascal" wrote in message
news_djg.6546$f76.2664@dukeread06...
I've been told that in places like Beijing and Shenzhen there two kinds
of knock-offs. One is a simple copy of the original by an unknown
manufacturer and of dubious and varying quality. The second is where
the manufacturer of the original simply makes more items that the order
calls for and then sells the remainder on the open market. The quality
of these latter knock-offs is supposedly of much better quality as they
are made by the manufacturer of the actual branded items, of better
materials and higher construction standards.

Can anyone verify these claims?

This is true. However, the production overruns are not generally
available in the large markets that are accessible to tourists. We've
been to "unadvertised" places in Beijing, i.e. no signs out front, the
places don't look like markets or stores from the outside, etc., where
overruns are sold.