Counterfeits all over

[TXBiker]

Morning everyone.....Easing by this morning with a bolo on new hardware. I knowingly bought a nautilus mini clone from a trusted ebay seller for $19.50 shipped which screams I'm fake. He did refund people that thought they got authentic for that price but most people kept them so yes trusted seller for me. For that price I have probably one of the best mini clones in existence. Side by side comparison to the known authentic I have and it's almost impossible to tell. The first thing that I found was the packaging was wrong. The molded internal product holder was plastic and Aspire uses a compressed cardboard. The second was the scratch off label it was all wrong Aspire's is a holo or 3-d of sorts. The tank is a 100% accurate and quality reproduction they used quality o rings and good materials it's just that good all the way down to the logo's on the glass and coil. I'm not too sure that the bvc isn't authentic. There is absolutely no difference that I can see. This clone vapes exactly like the authentic that I gave $27.00 plus shipping for and For the price point if I damage it so what. Anyway back on topic after I got it I went to visit some friends at b&m's and found that 1 in 4 had clones on their shelves says a lot for the supplier not to be trusted for the one store. My friend pulled the product on the spot but has sold quite a few and has decided to let his customer base know. They will be offered either refunds or store credit. I have a feeling store credit is going to be popular like I said quality fakes. I don't have a problem with clones of certain things some are better than the authentic a few mechs and box mods come to mind and quite a few rda's jump up at me. If your one of those people that have to have authentic then look closely because you don't know where the fake will pop up. Aspire will tell you what to look for in their FAQ as I'm sure most do. Anymore it's buyer beware no matter where you decide to purchase you never really know.

 

[oplholik]

I haven't bought a clone in a long while. I don't have a problem with stores, or on line venders, selling clones, as long as they advertise it as such, so that you know what you are getting.
I have two local stores, one doesn't sell clones, the other one does. The one that does has the clones in a case on one side of the store, and the authentic on the other side.

 

[eratikmind]

For the most part, I avoid clones by buying direct or through the authorized dealers. For example, I only purchase GG items from esmokeguru; I only buy my Nemesis directly from Atmomixani or VapeRev, whom is one of their authorized dealers.

Having said that, clones have their place for many, as the authentic items may be quite costly.

 

[Vaslovik]

Yeah, clones everywhere. Our new Dyson vacuum cleaner turned out to be a clone made in Viet Nam....

 

[eratikmind]

Yeah, clones everywhere. Our new Dyson vacuum cleaner turned out to be a clone made in Viet Nam....

Ouch . . . Was it a clone or actual counterfeit?

 

[Wtfisthatkid]

Yeah I hate how stores sell clones as the real thing.
One of my local b&ms sells a few clones for full price..its ridiculous.
If its a clone, sell it as a clone and people will buy it anyways. If its not, then don't, or you'll lose some credibility.

 

[MoDmAnDaN]

I for one am really surprised this hasn't started a clone war as this topic usually does on Facebook.

I am in complete agreement that clones absolutely have their place. Some folks (me included), just don't have a huge bank account and make tons of money to be able afford the nicer authentics out there, so a cloning we will go. I do have a few authentic mods too, but that's a rare thing.

I also hate stores that pass off clones as the real deal and it's getting harder and harder to tell with 1:1 these days.

 

[SpyderBite]

fasttech has some really good quality kanger clones for 1/10th the price. However the price is countered by the long shipping wait time. But it seems manufacturers are even cloning the retail boxes now with the exception of the branded logos.

Reading reviews on many clones seems to suggest that most clones are of good quality. As for the OP, it wouldn't surprise me if the trusted ebay seller had purchased a bunch of clones from one of the chinese sites at $8.95 and is selling them at almost a 100% profit.

 

[xdragonx917]

I bought a fake nautilus and month a real one. Realized first was fake and thats why it leaked and gurgled. Won't trust b&m anymore I buy direct.

 

[TXBiker]

On the money spyder.....The seller I got it from emailed me last night and told me he hit a good deal. He did offer my money back though and refunded a few people too. I'm fine with it it's my out and about tank and if I break it oh well it was $20. My authentic stays at the house. The clone I got is working flawless and did good on the road too 300 mile round trip on the bike. Like I said side by side comparison reveals nothing to this untrained eye.

 

[dice57]

a Nautilus clone?? Really?? Whatever would inspire on to buy a clone of a changeable, the saving can't be that significant. Can they?? Sure a $35 clone of a $200 rba would be a decent gamble to get something close to an Authentic, but one is still going to get stung 3 out of 5 times, or something like that. Why risk it on something of such a low price level to begin with?? Just saying.

 

[GinnyTx]

Howdy TxBiker! I'm envious, we had rain most of the weekend here, so the ride/camping got cancelled some went and their FB pictures told the wet icky picture *lol*

some clones are "ok" some not so much, know what "authentic" means and when you don't get that, or they're trash, I got a fake vision spinner off a seller and honestly I just wanted to leave the bad feedback, but now he refunded and opened a case to do it, and now Iv'e got an "unpaid item" so the whole rating system on ebay's hogwash. Theyv'e all found the loopholes. so the ones that have TONS of bad feedback, it's kind of frightening. Amazon too, we had one that was just "floating money" on an MVP, he never had the product, but had our $ for two weeks.Amazon didn't like that...they're dealing with it.

one has to be careful, and there's NOTHING worse than getting on the bike and figuring out the gear's cr*p a hundred miles from home ...for all those selling bad vape gear out there..

 

[TXBiker]

a Nautilus clone?? Really?? Whatever would inspire on to buy a clone of a changeable, the saving can't be that significant. Can they?? Sure a $35 clone of a $200 rba would be a decent gamble to get something close to an Authentic, but one is still going to get stung 3 out of 5 times, or something like that. Why risk it on something of such a low price level to begin with?? Just saying.

Ya clone. Sure authentic is cheap if you shop around, as low as $27 plus ship. I have one but wanted something I could ride with and if dropped at 75 mph so what the clone was $19.50 shipped. I'll be out $30 instead of $50 or god forbid $150 If I were to drop my IPV and big nauti.

 

[TXBiker]

Howdy TxBiker! I'm envious, we had rain most of the weekend here, so the ride/camping got cancelled some went and their FB pictures told the wet icky picture *lol*

some clones are "ok" some not so much, know what "authentic" means and when you don't get that, or they're trash, I got a fake vision spinner off a seller and honestly I just wanted to leave the bad feedback, but now he refunded and opened a case to do it, and now Iv'e got an "unpaid item" so the whole rating system on ebay's hogwash. Theyv'e all found the loopholes. so the ones that have TONS of bad feedback, it's kind of frightening. Amazon too, we had one that was just "floating money" on an MVP, he never had the product, but had our $ for two weeks.Amazon didn't like that...they're dealing with it.

one has to be careful, and there's NOTHING worse than getting on the bike and figuring out the gear's cr*p a hundred miles from home ...for all those selling bad vape gear out there..

I woulld have traded you some sun for alittle rain Haven't seen it here in centex for a month now. I've had good luck using ebay and most of the sellers I've used were easy to work with and we handled problems between us. The guy I got the mini clone from offered a refund but the two I got don't leak and perform as good as my genuine I'm happy and if I break it it's fine. The real sad part is some shops are selling clones believing they have an authentic product this includes online shops. You've really got to keep a close eye out anymore. I was reading some of my sellers feedback and the sheeple that bought from him really thought they were getting the real deal for $19.50 he refunded their money and didn't request the item returned. I local purchase my spinners for the bike I can get smok 1300mah winders for the same as online and have a few just for riding. Nothing says you can't have a good vape at a disposable price for riding purposes. Hell I've given $20 to high school car washes for cleaning the bike and rode through the rain 10 minutes later so $20 for something I use every day............

 

[tj99959]

My simple rule, if it works as intended ........ vape it, if it doesn't ........ return it.
The who made what wars have gotten completely out of hand.
If it's over priced, and I buy it ......... that's my fault.

It use to be that people like Keith at Empire, Cisco at Avid, Rob at Reo, Jason at ENS, etc. were our friends, and we conversed with them whenever we had a problem. Now it's become a 'take a number' kind of thing. There are so many manufacturers, suppliers, vendors, etc. that any sort of loyalty to anyone has gone out the window.

As far as original verses clone nonsense, designers design, then sell their design letting manufacturers manufacture if they have at least two brain cells to rub together.

 

[idle325]

I have seen sometimes clones can be better then the original although I would like to know what I am getting personally.

 

[Butt Kickers]

It's hard to tell these days, unfortunately. Generally, when I hear someone complain about BVC coils, or the new style kanger coils leaking, gurgling, or giving dry hits; I automatically assume they have clones. The real ones work perfectly.

No, that verified code on the box doesn't make it legit either. Somehow they've managed to replicate the authenticity codes as well

 

[ProV P3T3]

I do believe "clones" have their place and some are made high quality, with attention to detail. At least the option is there, if I ever choose to purchase one. The "clones" should also be stated that the are an actual clone and not the real product. As a cheaper alternative to the customer.

I purchased a supposed name brand mini tank from a local B & M store. It was a replacement for the same type I was already using which unfortunately broke. When I purchased item, they tried to give me one out of the display case. I told them I wanted one in a box. They stated that they had thrown out the boxes to display them or for space. Which is strange because they had the larger (non-mini) same brand tank in boxes. Obviously it wasn't about saving space or trying to display item.

When I got back home, I noticed quite a few differences between my authentic original and the clone I unknowingly purchased. Needles to say, I immediately returned to the store to complain and get my $ back. The store owner tried to argue asking why I think it's a fake. It was one of the worst clones ever. It actually had a plastic center tube instead of metal and used no rubber O-rings. The B & M stores only argument was it has the brand name/logo on it......it must be real. Long story but the point is I got my money back and make sure you purchase from trusted B & M stores. Since this is a fairly new industry these stores are popping up everywhere but don't always carry authentic products!

 

[francisthepig]

Ya clone. Sure authentic is cheap if you shop around, as low as $27 plus ship. I have one but wanted something I could ride with and if dropped at 75 mph so what the clone was $19.50 shipped. I'll be out $30 instead of $50 or god forbid $150 If I were to drop my IPV and big nauti.

TXBiker, do you vape while riding with your clone (stretching to keep on topic)?

 

[finelines]

My first mini was a clone. Ebay. My bad...didn't read the description close enough. No problem and still liked it so I looked for another. Next one is authentic and there is a slight difference from the clone. Better.
I can tell the clone cause the printing on the tank is wearing off.