Discussion
Recently I've been getting a load of adverts on Facebook for some place having a "close out sale" on helmets, or words to that affect.
Normally the ads on FB don't get my interest but the ad had a shark helmet with a ridiculously low price. The site had loads of brands at 50%+ off. What's the likelihood these are fakes/copies of the real things?
Normally the ads on FB don't get my interest but the ad had a shark helmet with a ridiculously low price. The site had loads of brands at 50%+ off. What's the likelihood these are fakes/copies of the real things?
nunpuncher said:
Recently I've been getting a load of adverts on Facebook for some place having a "close out sale" on helmets, or words to that affect.
Normally the ads on FB don't get my interest but the ad had a shark helmet with a ridiculously low price. The site had loads of brands at 50%+ off. What's the likelihood these are fakes/copies of the real things?
If it's the one I saw on a facebook group then the domain name for the company had been registered a few days earlier in China. Normally the ads on FB don't get my interest but the ad had a shark helmet with a ridiculously low price. The site had loads of brands at 50%+ off. What's the likelihood these are fakes/copies of the real things?
I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
MTB on here sent me a link to some Italian shop for my Shoei and it was less than half price in a flouro colour. I just paid on my credit card and thought I'd see what arrived and make a claim as required. Sure enough, I've had the GT-Air for about three years now. It is most definitely real.
I'm sure most links are to fake lids, but you do get the odd bargain.
(It could be b
ks, but I'm told shops are told to sell about about 100% mark up, so you can get some good deals if they go rogue and defy their suppliers).
I'm sure most links are to fake lids, but you do get the odd bargain.
(It could be b
ks, but I'm told shops are told to sell about about 100% mark up, so you can get some good deals if they go rogue and defy their suppliers).Anything over here is on average 40% margin so you don’t usually see much in the UK over that unless it’s not current any more and they want to clear it. Anything current then usually dealers over here won’t do specific discounts because then all the other dealers kick off about it. The other side to that is that there’s not much the manufacturers and distributors can say to the dealers that discount current stock due to competition and price fixing laws. It’s a big fine if you are caught and it has happened before.
The retailers like FC Moto etc then to be able to do stuff cheaper because they buy in much bigger numbers compared to dealers over here and they pay up front too so the discounts are bigger.
The retailers like FC Moto etc then to be able to do stuff cheaper because they buy in much bigger numbers compared to dealers over here and they pay up front too so the discounts are bigger.
MotorsportTom said:
If it's the one I saw on a facebook group then the domain name for the company had been registered a few days earlier in China.
I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
An example of the type of thing on this site is the Shoei GT air mentioned above, in plain gloss light silver it is £95.61. Most places seem to sell that helmet for £350 - £400. I'm not up with the latest and greatest graphics so I have no idea whether any of the helmets they are selling are current.I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
Just as being new to bikes I was curious to know if "cheap knockoffs" (an unfortunate term to use with regard to helmets) was a pretty widespread thing. If it's not that common, and it does seem they have a large range that would require a lot of effort to fake the moulds for then I can only assume they are batches of past season QC rejects or similar.
I can't see QC failed helmets entering supply personally. I would think a premium company that manufactures safety gear would have very robust processes to dispose of products which did not meet safety driven standards. Perhaps cosmetic.
As for my half price GT air, I still bought my lid from a feasible price (if as Tom says there's a ~40% margin at work here, a ~50% discount is feasible), and then I bought from a registered company in Italy, with my credit card company taking the risk. I'd just look to do the same if I wanted a bargain helmet, none of this £90 for a £400 lid from an unregistered company crap, it's obviously fake.
As for my half price GT air, I still bought my lid from a feasible price (if as Tom says there's a ~40% margin at work here, a ~50% discount is feasible), and then I bought from a registered company in Italy, with my credit card company taking the risk. I'd just look to do the same if I wanted a bargain helmet, none of this £90 for a £400 lid from an unregistered company crap, it's obviously fake.
Prof Prolapse said:
I can't see QC failed helmets entering supply personally. I would think a premium company that manufactures safety gear would have very robust processes to dispose of products which did not meet safety driven standards. Perhaps cosmetic.
Perhaps like selling them to a company in China for recycling? 
nunpuncher said:
MotorsportTom said:
If it's the one I saw on a facebook group then the domain name for the company had been registered a few days earlier in China.
I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
An example of the type of thing on this site is the Shoei GT air mentioned above, in plain gloss light silver it is £95.61. Most places seem to sell that helmet for £350 - £400. I'm not up with the latest and greatest graphics so I have no idea whether any of the helmets they are selling are current.I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
Just as being new to bikes I was curious to know if "cheap knockoffs" (an unfortunate term to use with regard to helmets) was a pretty widespread thing. If it's not that common, and it does seem they have a large range that would require a lot of effort to fake the moulds for then I can only assume they are batches of past season QC rejects or similar.
nunpuncher said:
MotorsportTom said:
If it's the one I saw on a facebook group then the domain name for the company had been registered a few days earlier in China.
I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
An example of the type of thing on this site is the Shoei GT air mentioned above, in plain gloss light silver it is £95.61. Most places seem to sell that helmet for £350 - £400. I'm not up with the latest and greatest graphics so I have no idea whether any of the helmets they are selling are current.I'm not sure how to do that check but I bet you could google to find out.
Likelihood is you won't often get a recent helmet at a silly price. If anything you may get some end of line deals and so on but I haven't seen one at 50% off, more like 20-30%
Just as being new to bikes I was curious to know if "cheap knockoffs" (an unfortunate term to use with regard to helmets) was a pretty widespread thing. If it's not that common, and it does seem they have a large range that would require a lot of effort to fake the moulds for then I can only assume they are batches of past season QC rejects or similar.
I don't think the issue hear is fake helmets, the issue is nothing arriving let alone a fake . A friend of mine rang me a month back to tell me about this fantastic web site offering helmets ridiculously cheap 
lets just say his helmet never arrived, in fact from the moment I tried to click on the link the idiot had given me my anti virus software said " Danger you idiot do you really wont to go there " .
The jammy got his money back from the credit card company but personally I would have found it more rewarding to hear about his loss
lets just say his helmet never arrived, in fact from the moment I tried to click on the link the idiot had given me my anti virus software said " Danger you idiot do you really wont to go there " .
The jammy
got his money back from the credit card company but personally I would have found it more rewarding to hear about his lossGassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff