In another case study in unethical behavior and theft, people in China and possibly elsewhere are making cheap, substandard copies of Darrel Ralph Designs Gunhammer. They have been seen on eBay and in some shops in Afghanistan.
A knock-off of DDR's Gunhammer. Be aware they're out there.
DDR says, “We’ve been trying to get these people to stop [but] they don’t care about intellectual property theft and they won’t respond to any communication. We filled out their [eBay’s] ridiculous forms and submitted them, but it was just a waste of time.”
Though the knives look and feel cheap, unless you know what to look for you might be gulled into putting money into one of these thieves’ pockets. First of all, no DDR knife is going to be sold for $10. Second, they look and feel cheaply made (they are typically much lighter than the real thing) and third, there are some cosmetic differences (including the placement of the name and initials). They know some of them are being made in China (having traced the first fakes to one ordered by a customer in Singapore) and possibly also Pakistan.
A beautiful example of a real DDR gunhammer.
DDR went on, “Unfortunately, there is not a thing we can do about it except flip them the bird. The cost of stopping them is extreme [and even then it wouldn’t be a permanent resolution]…there is no protection at all.”
DDR’s genuine work is on his website and Facebook page. Oh, and if you’re interested, DDR now has a knife blog.
-DR
Tags: DDR Knives
The other problem with fakes is they can damage the reputation of the real maker. There will always be some dumbarse who cannot figure out they’ve got a fake, and when it fails, they assume it’s the real manufacturers fault.
I doubt there is anything that can be done to fix this problem, other than getting the word out.
Unfortunately, agreed. Of course, there are lots of consumers who will come up with any justification possible to rationalize buying straight up knockoffs.
The real problem is that there’s a market for knockoffs, good or bad, cheap or closely priced. Too bad that someone decided to copy, but guess what, there are people who’ll gladly buy ’em
HEY HOO
Capitalism bites back with it’s own medicine! Someone will sell a cheaper one of what you did cuz they can and there’s plenty of buyers who either don’t care or in the cases that are more problematic, don’t know, but in such cases of “buying cheaper” may just not see the value to pay premium price, maybe you’re overcharging? Then it fails them and they get up set at everyone… and everyone loses
The problem is that the American consumer wants big box prices, at the cost of his neighbor’s (and sometimes his own) job. Plus, lots of guys want to look special but won’t work for it.
F.T.C.
What does one of the gunhammer’s by DDR cost?
We filled out their [eBay’s] ridiculous forms and submitted them, but it was just a waste of time.â€
Evilbay will continue to do nothing until business is affected. They have no economic incentive to reform or police their vendors – or customers.
Thousands who have been ripped off thru that site simply concluded it was no longer an option. That’s what you do when ethics and character are more important than a sweet deal on some junk.
The problem with the knockoffs isn’t the jobs in the US, its the people buying them thinking they are getting the real thing…Now mind you real operators would know better than the prices they are finding on these things you would hope
What if a supply guy thought he was getting a great deal? That is a realistic issue. Most ‘real operators’ get their gear from supply.
And, seriously, you’d think it was a big deal getting knocked off it was YOUR business they were doing this to.