Supporting Innovation Vs Buying Cheap China Clones

aong152 on 13/12/2016 - 17:23
Last edited 13/12/2016 - 17:51 by 1 other user

So in the past few weeks I've noticed that the time before a Chinese clone of a kickstarter is rapidly decreasing.

Would you buy an expensive original product, or the cheap knockoff?

Here are my three things I noticed:

1) USB magnetic cables - An Australian company is claiming to have the first magnetic cable adapter. However, all they are doing is rebadging an already existing product and adding a stronger magnet. They are charging $20+ whereas you can get the cheap China versions (which are ACTUALLY the originals) for around $3-4

Australia Vs China

2) Bike Saddle - The original costs $80 and is basically a super light weight/flexible plastic bike seat, called the Tioga Spyder.
The rip-off is around $6.
Tioga Vs Rip Off

3) Bicycle bell - A kickstarter made a really nice, handcrafted bell. China clone made within 6 months. $50+ vs $15
Spurcycle vs Rockcycle

4) Bicycle bell 2 - Oi Knog, an Australian minimalist bell that was just released. $40 vs $6 knockoff. The Chinese cloned it WITHIN days of the kickstarter campaign started, and shipped before Knog could. Wow!

Knog Vs Knogoff

Opinion:
After thinking about it for a while, these are the points I thought about:

1) Quality vs Price. The original is almost always higher quality. However I wouldn't pay 1000% extra for a 10-20% increase in perceivable quality

2) Time after release. If a product has been released for 2-3 years and there is a Chinese rip for 10% of the price, I am happy to get the rip. But if the rip is BLATANT and released 2 months after the original product, I feel bad for the innovation that the original company did.

3) Fake innovation- When a company blatantly copies an existing product and claims that they are the first (i.e. x-connect cable) and then charges a PREMIUM for being "first to market" this really pisses me off. Yes the x-connect cables have stronger magnets, but this is actually a BAD thing.(the magnet is so strong that it pulls the adapter out of the phone. So you actually have to "snap" to unplug) Also they are not first to market and are charging 300-400% more than the pre-existing product.

Poll Options

• 2
  Always buy the original
• 4
  Buy original unless huge price difference
• 0
  Buy original until time difference has elapsed
• 0
  Buy the cheapest
• 18
  Buy best bang for buck

• 

  whooah1979 on 13/12/2016 - 17:34

  +1

  Buy the cheapest
  Buy best bang for buck

  Are these not the same?

  • 

    Kangal on 13/12/2016 - 18:38

    Not really.
    One is about absolute cheapest price.
    Whereas the other is about a comparison in value.

    I can see how it might be confusing though.

    Let's say there's a Samsung Galaxy S7 64GB for $600.
    And let's say there's a very comparable albeit down-graded device (like a OnePlus 3) and its a blatant copy.
    If the copy device is $400, that would be the cheapest.
    However, if the copy device is only 16GB storage and has a smaller battery (2,300 vs 3,000mAh).
    And say everything else is identical quality/comparison.
    Then you can say the S7 is more "bang for buck" value, because the battery life would make a drastic improvement and the excess storage would allow you to do high-end stuff (rather than fumble with microSD storage).

    • 

      whooah1979 on 13/12/2016 - 19:00

      got it.

      bang for buck then. or is it bucks for bang.

      • 

        bdl on 13/12/2016 - 20:04

        +3

        Note 7 is/was bucks for bang

• 

  Clear on 13/12/2016 - 17:47

  I purchased a clone fidget cube. Appearance wise it's exactly the same but a few of the functions don't work properly.

• 

  Diji1 on 13/12/2016 - 19:55

  If the cheap knock off is comparable I'm buying it. Free market baby.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 13/12/2016 - 22:59

  I know some guys who bought fake Rapha.
  Looks so fake but they've never tried real Rapha to know hahA

• 

  firstworldproblems on 14/12/2016 - 20:40

  +2

  Would you buy an expensive original product, or the cheap knockoff?

  it varies.
  the interesting thing is the more "peer pressure" i perceive with respect to a particular brand, i always go out of my way to not obtain it. sitting in a room where every single person is on an iphone makes me want to not own one even more as a symbol that i will not submit to the expectations of others.

  But if the rip is BLATANT and released 2 months after the original product, I feel bad for the innovation that the original company did.

  what do you think of the factory licensed to make the OEM product by the innovator but also making some from the same factory mainly for the domestic market? in fact, i consider such diversion to be a type of compensation for exploiting the labour force. everything you buy is made from the exploitation of another human being, and alight i might "like" a product or brand, i reserve empathy for carbon-based organisms, not legal entities.

  1. pharmaceuticals. always generic and i look down upon those who demand brand names
  2. with electronics, i tend to stay away from knockoffs
  3. precision equipment, i gravitate towards german, swiss
  4. innovation, particularly new polymers, compounds, material-design, i have a pro-american bias.
  5. watches, good quality fakes, unfortunately :(
• 

  joeno on 15/12/2016 - 08:16

  +1

  Dear OP. China is the 2nd most innovative nation based on newly granted patents.

  Keep ringing that same bell. Cheap copied Chinese products. Blah blah.

  Why not India? Why not Philippines? Show me their innovation, their amazingly made cheap goods.

• 

  iridiumstem on 15/12/2016 - 08:41

  Depends. If I am given nothing to go on, I'd usually assume original model is better than the knock-offs. So whether I buy the original model really depends on uncertainty in quality, importance of quality and price.

  Something like knife sharpener system (Edge Pro Apex), I couldn't afford the original model and I've heard praises of the Chinese knock-offs from Aliexpress. I did buy the whetstone of the original model because I think that's the essential part of the device. I guess in this case it's, if I can get something that's crucial to the operation replaced with the original model's part, I'd get a knock-off model instead.

  Original model for anything that relies heavily on software, as knock-off ones would likely to have bad software and they would probably not get any updates.

  I do think Kickstarters inherently have that problem, they have to expose their idea before actual sales. Unless it's something that no one other than you can make, if it's from a simple idea and if it can easily be replicated, not expecting that to happen is a wishful thinking in my opinion.

• 

  Doctor thrift on 02/04/2017 - 10:24

  Its not just the product but the seller too. I ordered a fidget cube from fidgetcubes.com.au over 3 months ago. No delivery. No response to queries. Total scam. I looked them up and many cases exactly the same.