rob aylestone
Moderator
I've noticed in the first batch of stats on my videos that the ones that get watched the most are where I have included products that are not genuine. Over the years I've seen the unpleasant results of any discussion on counterfeit goods, particularly when they're Chinese in origin, but clearly many people are buying them for various reasons.
I suppose what I'm saying is that there are varying standards of being upset/angry/disappointed. If somebody saw a genuine big name product on sale that was a grand new, but being sold for 800, it would be a great buy because it was a real good deal - until you discover it was a counterfeit. Legal action against the seller would then be top of pretty well everybody's list. Keeping it, using it and then selling it as a genuine item then makes you criminal too!
What happens if you know it's a counterfeit, but you want to have it because it's really nice and you can live with the fake, for the benefits?
What happens if you know it's a counterfeit, but you just can't afford the original's price?
What happens if you know it's a counterfeit, but you are going to use it on stage, possibly destroy it, or at the very least cover it in dings and dents.
I'll confess to one of these. I saw a really stunning 'Gibson' Les Paul. A truly gorgeous guitar. I bought it in full knowledge that it's not genuine, but it has lived on a wall hanger, under a spotlight for 10 years. I'll never sell it.
I'm a grown up, I know I bought a counterfeit, but I like it. There was a guy on youtube who started a channel being very positive about chinese guitars, but then it sort of turned around and he suddenly became an indignant citizen complaining about them. Pressure I expect applied from a source. Many people who want to record audio have very tight budgets - they need the very low cost software/free software, with old computers and second hand interfaces etc - Is a Chinese copy of a Neumann at 30USD, that works and sounds ok, really bad? It's not going to do Neumann any harm, because apart from the shape, there's little in common, but cheap electrets never sound horrible, and do make usable recordings. I'm thinking about ordering some 100% fake products to review, because some of them could be really useful - but how bad do people think this could be? It's about ethics and morals I suppose. If you want a mic to clip on your snare, is it acceptable to actually buy a mic knowing it's fake? Or, should I do videos from the point of view that you should not be buying them and try to find reasons in a side by side test? What happens if a fake product is actually really good?
If you buy a mic, guitar, radio or other piece of electronics to sell and rip people off, I think that's a criminal thing to do. I already have bought products with the intention of selling them, then discovered they're probably dodgy - and I just put them on the shelf, or use them myself. My ethics and morals won't let me rip people off. I do have some mics that I think are not genuine, but they sound the same. Do I tell people they exist, but not promote the source, letting them do the searching, or what?
Do I show people some of the guitars I bought and do a comparison of one mic against another? Like the guitar fella on youtube, I would be saying loudly DO NOT BUY THIS XXXX, but hoping people would say to themselves, "I'd rather like one of those".
Clearly from the stats, lots of people want to buy these products, but are a bit worried that they will be absolutely awful.
Do I even attempt to touch counterfeits? Most will be clearly not as good as the originals, but what happens if they are? I suspect some 'counterfeits' are actually originals just distributed outside the normal chain, via a manufacturer. Maybe I should just not touch it, but people are asking.
What do you think? Useful/not useful? I don't want to promote buying dodgy products, but people do buy them, and maybe some guidance would be good. This is really tricky. Maybe I could just show the items, do the comparisons and not make any recommendations at all - like the chinese guitar guy does - just saying it as I see it on each item? If people think it a really bad idea then I'll not do it?
I suppose what I'm saying is that there are varying standards of being upset/angry/disappointed. If somebody saw a genuine big name product on sale that was a grand new, but being sold for 800, it would be a great buy because it was a real good deal - until you discover it was a counterfeit. Legal action against the seller would then be top of pretty well everybody's list. Keeping it, using it and then selling it as a genuine item then makes you criminal too!
What happens if you know it's a counterfeit, but you want to have it because it's really nice and you can live with the fake, for the benefits?
What happens if you know it's a counterfeit, but you just can't afford the original's price?
What happens if you know it's a counterfeit, but you are going to use it on stage, possibly destroy it, or at the very least cover it in dings and dents.
I'll confess to one of these. I saw a really stunning 'Gibson' Les Paul. A truly gorgeous guitar. I bought it in full knowledge that it's not genuine, but it has lived on a wall hanger, under a spotlight for 10 years. I'll never sell it.
I'm a grown up, I know I bought a counterfeit, but I like it. There was a guy on youtube who started a channel being very positive about chinese guitars, but then it sort of turned around and he suddenly became an indignant citizen complaining about them. Pressure I expect applied from a source. Many people who want to record audio have very tight budgets - they need the very low cost software/free software, with old computers and second hand interfaces etc - Is a Chinese copy of a Neumann at 30USD, that works and sounds ok, really bad? It's not going to do Neumann any harm, because apart from the shape, there's little in common, but cheap electrets never sound horrible, and do make usable recordings. I'm thinking about ordering some 100% fake products to review, because some of them could be really useful - but how bad do people think this could be? It's about ethics and morals I suppose. If you want a mic to clip on your snare, is it acceptable to actually buy a mic knowing it's fake? Or, should I do videos from the point of view that you should not be buying them and try to find reasons in a side by side test? What happens if a fake product is actually really good?
If you buy a mic, guitar, radio or other piece of electronics to sell and rip people off, I think that's a criminal thing to do. I already have bought products with the intention of selling them, then discovered they're probably dodgy - and I just put them on the shelf, or use them myself. My ethics and morals won't let me rip people off. I do have some mics that I think are not genuine, but they sound the same. Do I tell people they exist, but not promote the source, letting them do the searching, or what?
Do I show people some of the guitars I bought and do a comparison of one mic against another? Like the guitar fella on youtube, I would be saying loudly DO NOT BUY THIS XXXX, but hoping people would say to themselves, "I'd rather like one of those".
Clearly from the stats, lots of people want to buy these products, but are a bit worried that they will be absolutely awful.
Do I even attempt to touch counterfeits? Most will be clearly not as good as the originals, but what happens if they are? I suspect some 'counterfeits' are actually originals just distributed outside the normal chain, via a manufacturer. Maybe I should just not touch it, but people are asking.
What do you think? Useful/not useful? I don't want to promote buying dodgy products, but people do buy them, and maybe some guidance would be good. This is really tricky. Maybe I could just show the items, do the comparisons and not make any recommendations at all - like the chinese guitar guy does - just saying it as I see it on each item? If people think it a really bad idea then I'll not do it?