Ali Express sells grey market Vortex

[ATRS Shaun]

So, the thing is... this stuff is often NOT counterfit. Not exactly.

A frequent occurrence is that these actually ARE the things they say they are... but exemplars that were destined for the trash due to QC. Ali, Temu, but also depressingly often Amazon, sell factory rejects or after-hours product runs under various names (Virtex, Adibas and Rolix come to mind). Why let good profits go to waste, the thinking goes.

Oh, I have super strong suspicions on the source of the 'so fuggin close to legitimate parts' and how they come to be on there... but the diopter ring was of the pst gen II variety, not the razor gen II variety. The battery cap was off a very small niche run of razor gen II's but not II-e's. The length was off, the color was slightly off... None of it was enough to catch it at a glance. If I didn't already OWN a razor gen IIe 1-6 to literally set it beside on the bench and compare the shape of the knurling/grip on the diopter, I don't know I would have been confident enough to bring it to Vortex and risk looking like an idiot. Trust me, I'm on the fence about even admitting it right now lol.

Of course... Vortex confirmed it as counterfeit in less than a second due to the laser engraving on the bottom. "Made in USA"

The glass on it was actually surprisingly good, but everything just felt 'off' to me, hence the scrutiny.

 

[scianna54]

Waste of money. I just checked them out on ali and as one buyer says "don't get fooled, they are replicas, still cheap for what you get".

The problem is that some of them pop up in the second hand market and unsuspected buyers get scammed.

 

[Raton57]

Really sort of weird Chinese clones of cheap Chinese scopes sold cheaper but no warranty.

 

[84wh1]

Yeah I think that kinda describes the whole business model right there

100% agree. However some people are simple enough that because it looks real and has a manufacturers name printed on it, that it’s legit. No matter how much you try to convince them

 

[legi0n]

pretty much everything on those websites is fake
they even have Sig Sauer optics (especially the Romeo5) with perfectly accurate repro boxes and manuals.
soon I won't be able to tell a fake from the original

 

[Snider shooter]

pretty much everything on those websites is fake
they even have Sig Sauer optics (especially the Romeo5) with perfectly accurate repro boxes and manuals.
soon I won't be able to tell a fake from the original

A lot of times you can’t tell a fake unless a real one is beside it or you can’t tell at all. I seen a fake Leupold that looked perfect. Guy run the serial number through Leupold. He got his money back. Fellow he bought it from said it came with the rifle when he bought it. It appeared on GP advertised as a fake Leupold
If people can fake something and make money they will do it.

 

[Hunter7]

I am seeing this on Amazon.ca. Leupold and Swarovski scopes selling far below what they are worth. First thing that comes to mind is that they are counterfeit. As tempting as it is to order one I’m sure they are fake.

 

[sillymike]

One should just assume that anything bought from Ali Express, WISH, DHGate etc are 100% knock off products....despite how convincing they might actually look.

Well, yes and no...

Pretty much anyone who has products manufactured in China, can (or will) see some of their production ending up for sale without them collecting their royalties (if you can call it that).

Some it it might be "rejects" that didn't pass the QC inspections, some of it might be "extra" production that the initial buyer didn't take, and some of it might just be the actual shop that decided that eh! they could make some extra $$... Like some USO scopes and Discovery scopes coming out of the same factories...

 

[OC-3]

In this video Demo Ranch believed the Vortex was real.

They are sponsored by Vortex, and am sure they have pretty high access inside Vortex to determine if it's a fake. Fun video Though!

Around 16 mins I the video...

 

[SilentKnight]

Just save up and buy the real deal. You will be far happier in the long run, after working hard and buying a high quality item that lasts you, usually backed by a good warranty too, opposed to saving yourself a couple of bucks to get a fake version with no warranty and of varying quality and control.

 

[mikeyb]

Just save up and buy the real deal. You will be far happier in the long run, after working hard and buying a high quality item that lasts you, usually backed by a good warranty too, opposed to saving yourself a couple of bucks to get a fake version with no warranty and of varying quality and control.

I agree with this and would always run a high end scope serial number past the manufacturer before buying secondhand.

I'm mostly surprised that they are doing this with the midrange models like the PST instead of the Razor line. They've even got Venom and Diamondback knock-offs, the margin on those scopes are low enough as it is. On the other hand it probably draws less scrutiny that way.