• halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Are these actually counterfeit, or just the extra produced past what is contractually required at the original factory?

    Many Chinese factories will be contracted for say 18 hours of production, but stay open for 24 hours, and the extra is sold on the grey market. Or the product that doesn’t make it through contracted quality control will be sent to the grey market.

    I can’t believe the actual market for these is large enough to actually justify a second factory spitting out duplicates when the original factory can just make extra beyond what’s contracted. More likely the original factory made like 5,000 pairs instead of the 1,000 Trump sold officially, and those are on the grey market as “counterfeits” despite being exactly the same, just not official.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Engineering/Courses/En100/IP/ThirdShift_Fortune06.htm

      They’re not exactly the same. Since they’re being produced outside the contract, they don’t have to meet quality standards, so they can use cheaper materials and skip QC entirely. This means that they can look almost like the genuine article, because they’re using the same plans and methods, but in reality they can be significantly inferior.

    • no banana@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I mean, I can see that if you’re unaware and maybe from another country you can see them as looking pretty cool at first glance. Maybe? But as actual Trump merch I feel that they’re of limited demand.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I mean, I can see that if you’re unaware and maybe from another country you can see them as looking pretty cool at first glance

        Only if you’re Mr T, Liberace, or a French king. Those things are gaudy as fuck 😄

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        That’s why I’m thinking the factory that made the official 1000 of them just made a bunch more to sell to the grey market and those are making their way out as “counterfeit” despite being exactly the same product from the same factory.

        • rayyy@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          No doubt the Chinese company made more profit by selling them at a massive discount because you know the orange felon screwed them.

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      That’s exactly how most Chinese counterfeits are made. By patent definition, a counterfeit is an illegal copy of an original. Any similar or identical items produced outside of contract are infringements, and considered counterfeits.

      Also, not all grey market counterfeits are exactly the same as originals. The manufacturers no longer care about brand representation, so they tend to have far lower quality control standards, and often use lower-quality materials to increase profits.