Knock off Shimano reels?

[frogfins]

Hi all,
Like many of you, I check my local ads for bargains on high end gear. I've even bought a few rods over the years. Recently there have been a couple of people selling Shimano reels at such a good price, that it's hard to believe. They claim to be new in box, and the pictures make them look legit from what I can tell, but I'm still skeptical.

Wondering if any of you have any experience with spotting knock offs. What should I be looking for? Anything specific on both the spinning and baitcasting reels that stands out?

Obviously when you see new 2016 Vanquishes for CAD$440 and the 2019 Stradic FL for CAD$220, new in box, you have to ask what's up.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

-Mike

[frogfins]

Wow.

I don't think in my 10 years of reading this board have I ever seen any post in this part of the forum with ZERO replies

Is this a taboo subject or does nobody actually have any input?

[Cal]

My guess is just no input.

[Aquaftm45]

Obviously when you see new 2016 Vanquishes for CAD$440 and the 2019 Stradic FL for CAD$220, new in box, you have to ask what's up.

-Mike

It's possible that your seeing a scam website, instead of a scam reel.

[Bantam1]

I've never seen a knock off/counterfeit Shimano reel. Have I seen copies, or dare I say poor attempts at copies? Yes.

We have seen counterfeit G.Loomis rods but they went away fairly quickly.

There is counterfeit Power Pro line out there and people continue to fall for it. Sometimes if a price is too good to be true it's for a reason.

I suggest buying from a local dealer or well known dealer. This way you know are getting the actual product. You will also have warranty protection. Our policy does require a dated sales receipt for any warranty claims.

[frogfins]

Thank you all for the replies.

And thanks Bantam1. This originally started with a post on Kijiji (a classifieds website up in Canada) where two different people were listing Shimano reels for sale and knocking the quality of each other's product and saying they were counterfeit or Chinese refurbs with bad parts. Everything about the products in the pictures seemed legit, including the packaging, so I was curious if there were indeed counterfeits in circulation outside of the "Shishamo" obvious knock-off.

Think I'll go pick up a couple and see for myself. But I agree with Bantam1 that it's always best to buy anything from an authorized retailer, especially where a warranty is concerned.

Thanks again everyone.