Counterfeit/knockoff optics

[Slater]

Counterfeit products are, and have been, a fact of life. EOTech's website has a fairly detailed page on recognizing knockoffs, so they probably have a significant issue with it:

Counterfeit Alert: How to Spot a Fake | EOTECH (eotechinc.com)

Other optics manufacturers have similar notices. Sources such as EBay, Amazon, and gun shows have drawn complaints, but I'm not sure they filter all their products for fakes and that may be too time consuming in any case. With manufacturing technology getting better and better, the fakes are getting harder to spot.

Or do you think this issue is overblown and knockoffs aren't as prevalent as many make them out to be?

 

[webrx]

I think many people, myself included will buy a cheaper optic before spending big money on an EOTech. Or if they do they buy one good one and some cheaper ones.

And I suspect a lot of knockoffs are like the $20 Rolex I got in Pusan.

my guess is they are prevalent overseas and on eBay.

 

[Obturation]

Definitely fake eotech out there, my buddy got one. He bought it from Craigslist with a magnifier for $150, I told him it might be fake but he didn't think so as it looks pretty darn good. The dead giveaway was the batteries , that said, it works fine and he likes it.

 

[FL-NC]

I have seen fake EOtechs, aimpoints, and various Leupolds. It's a major problem when some unsuspecting victim gets screwed over and pays too much for something that doesn't even work that has been represented as something else. This happened to a friend of mine a few years ago who bought a fake eotech somewhere. He was having problems with it on his AR (he had no experience with an eotech) and asked me to have a look at it, so I just threw it on one of my AR's and took it to the range to troubleshoot it. This thing was so convincing (I DO have experience with eotechs) I didn't realize anything was wrong until after I had mounted the thing, powered it up, fired a group, and tried to adjust the sight. The sight adjustment wasn't clicking- it felt like I was turning a screw in a piece of wood. I then took one of my eotechs (same model this one was a copy of) and put them side by side and started noticing differences. When I popped the battery box off the fake and looked inside, I knew for sure he had got got.

 

[Riomouse911]

You gotta figure that just about everything of any real value is being faked in China. From watches to golf clubs, purses to optics; you can bet all the Yen you can carry in both arms that somewhere there is a factory (or three) cranking out knock offs of your favorite brands.

Buy smart, and stay safe.

 

[Ethan Verity]

I'm always worried about being duped when buying higher end gear. I first try to buy directly from the manufacturer, or a known reputable dealer (manufacturers usually list their distributors if they don't sell directly to the consumer). Unfortunately that means I have to put out full MSRP, but the peace of mind knowing it's genuine feels good.

When properly advertised as repros and sold accordingly, the fakes do have a valid market in the airsoft community.

 

[Deus Machina]

Not limited to expensive optics.
I ordered a set of MBUS sights. Bit cheaper than normal. Figured maybe I'll get lucky, maybe the seller just napped them on clearance and is flipping them. I've gotten that before. If not, no big deal.
Nope. Fake. And not even bad fakes.

 

[Mr. Hill]

Yeah, there’s so much counterfeit or other weird stuff sold on the internet that I try to order directly from the manufacturer, even if it means paying more.

 

[Howland937]

If there's any doubt whatsoever, just go to wish.com and check out their pages upon pages of knock-off stuff. Eotech, Aimpoint, Leupold, Apple, Samsung, Coach, Luis Vitton, Oakley, RayBan...you name it.

If money can be counterfeited, so can about anything worth spending it on.

 

[dh1633pm]

In the Networking world, fakes were a problem for a bit. There were two kinds, one was fully counterfeit. The second were overruns. Factory gets paid to make 10K of them and they make 20K. They sell the second 10K. They make or may not take shortcuts on the overruns. Then there is gray market, outside of normal supply and sale channels. Real stuff, who knows how it got from point a to point b or if its stolen. I would guess these things would be the same for any counterfeits including scopes.

 

[Speedo66]

Only use I had for knockoffs was replacing the band on my Rolex. Used to go to Chinatown in Manhattan and buy a $10 Submariner, band looked right and fit perfectly. Couldn't handle the $600 bill for the genuine watch band back then, now I think the band is closer to $2K.

Sad part was the cheapy quartz watches kept better time than the mechanical original.

I ordered a Swiss-Tech product off Amazon and it was either a knockoff or their quality had diminished substantially from the last one I had. I'd like to believe it was the former.

 

[Chuck R.]

I think many people, myself included will buy a cheaper optic before spending big money on an EOTech. Or if they do they buy one good one and some cheaper ones.

And I suspect a lot of knockoffs are like the $20 Rolex I got in Pusan.

my guess is they are prevalent overseas and on eBay.

I've been there and got that watch

The knock-offs are the reason I only buy optics new and from reliable merchants.