Lowepro bags from China.. fakes?

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studioworks

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About to buy either a Lowepro flipside 300 or 400 and was looking on ebay and from China their just over £30 compared to 2-3 times that from here. What I was hoping to know is has anyone come across the bags being faked? As if their genuine at that price it'd be worth the shipping wait but don't want to wait just to find out its something that'll fall apart in a week.
 
Hi Mark, I've got one of those, the Flipside 400 and I can't fault it for the money.

As for it being fake, of course it is but it does the job for me.
 
Irishman said:
Hi Mark, I've got one of those, the Flipside 400 and I can't fault it for the money.

As for it being fake, of course it is but it does the job for me.
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I have a Flipside 400 and Passport Sling, both (assumed) fakes from China - cheap and do the job although the Flipside is showing signs of wear and tear with that much of a battering - I would hope the original would stand up to a lot more use
 
Jon.P.73 said:
I have a Flipside 400 and Passport Sling, both (assumed) fakes from China - cheap and do the job although the Flipside is showing signs of wear and tear with that much of a battering - I would hope the original would stand up to a lot more use
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I guess that one of the issues with cheap fakes
 
Lets be brutally honest about this, even the chinese fakes as good as they simply arent worth the money, in reality all you get with all camera bags regardless of cost and supposed quality is, a bag with some shonky padding and a few straps and buckles which costs about £10 to produce
 
If your not in a hurry, I would keep an eye on camera price buster prices fluctuate weekly.

Today £79.90 27 Sep 2015 Castle Cameras
Last 30 Days £75.60 31 Aug 2015 Wex Photographic
Last 90 Days £71.10 13 Aug 2015 Wex Photographic
Last 365 Days £67.49 11 Jan 2015 Wilkinson Cameras
Best Ever £49.27 12 Sep 2013 Jessops.com
 
I'd guess would be fake for that kind of money. I think is worth it a few quid more just to make sure you get one to last. lowepro mini trekker could also be a good choice.
 
I think I'm going to give it a shot, as even at its cheapest for the last year on camera price buster that's more than double the price. Be interesting to see just how well they are made as their are a lot of people saying how hard it is to tell them from the genuine ones and as it'll be more a bag to store gear in and move from house to car etc with slingshot used when out and about I shouldn't have to worry about too much wear and tear. Hopefully I'll have a good report to tell in 3 weeks.
 
I have a Slingshot from China and it's been fine on long trips to China(!) and the Arctic with a heavy 5D3 and Sigma 160-600 Sport inside.
 
I got one( Flipside 400) from eBay a while back. Bar a couple of minor points you wouldn't really be able to tell. Been used quite a bit and showing no sign of wear. Funny thing is I hadn't realised until the thread linked above that it would be a fake and I lost the front clips but lowepro replaced them foc lol. Would happily buy another as well.
 
Well got one slowly making its way over so with the mixed reviews guess time will tell. More a bag to store all the kits though so hoping it'll be good for that even if not quite as hard wearing as the genuine.
 
Only just remembered to update this, it's arrived 23 days later, on the very last day of it's expected delivery dates. I'm guessing as well it was sent over in a bulk order and then someone split them up as arrived to me by royal mail 48.
As for the bag, no idea to its authenticity but had all the logos, the cardboard sign/info hanging off the front and even a lowepro branded clear bag. Seems very well made and certainly no different to British bought lowepro bags I've had in the past. So either way impressed for the money and considering a 50% if not more saving would definitely recommend.

Unfortunately in the month I've been waiting I was offered my old tamrac bag back so the flipside is getting sold straight on but about to order a lowepro nova from the same seller.
 
mark you have p.m
 
studioworks said:
Only just remembered to update this, it's arrived 23 days later, on the very last day of it's expected delivery dates. I'm guessing as well it was sent over in a bulk order and then someone split them up as arrived to me by royal mail 48.
As for the bag, no idea to its authenticity but had all the logos, the cardboard sign/info hanging off the front and even a lowepro branded clear bag. Seems very well made and certainly no different to British bought lowepro bags I've had in the past. So either way impressed for the money and considering a 50% if not more saving would definitely recommend.

Unfortunately in the month I've been waiting I was offered my old tamrac bag back so the flipside is getting sold straight on but about to order a lowepro nova from the same seller.
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Mine came with similar packaging hence why I wasn't sure about authenticity. I posted pics in another thread where some people were able to highlight the differences

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...n-ebay-are-these-genuine.570769/#post-6629959
 
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The reason these look so much like the original is that they're almost certainly made on the same assembly line. I know this happens in a lot of factories in the Far East because a friend of mine works for a company that makes trainers and she says it's widespread. Obviously the original company has stood all the investment for the R&D and design, the manufacturing factory just pinch the ideas and run them off after they've fulfilled the company orders. More often than not they're using cheaper materials and there's little quality control to keep the cost down. If you buy fakes, of course you are ripping off the original company. I won't get into the ethics of that: you pays your money and you takes your choice.
 
What I don't get is why don't Lowepro complain to Ebay etc take legal action. The bag had what looked to me t be original tags etc and just slight cosmetic differences to differentiate it from an "original"
 
They can complain all they like, doesn't mean anything will be done about it. Copyright protection doesn't seem to exist in China. I think it was BMW that took a Chinese car manufacturer to court for making a blatant copy of one of their cars. The Chinese authorities just claimed it was completely different and nothing happened.

UK customs can't check everything that's imported so fake stuff still gets through.
 
ok I bought a lowepro 400 on ebay from a so called uk seller, I already have a 400 from a well known uk outlet and on comparison the bags were similar in quality until you examine the interior ie quality of inserts stitching bag lining etc which on the fake was poor in comparison.I contacted the so called uk seller and was told that the guy he bought from in china assured him they were genuine, I claimed a refund, it seems a shame that lowepro are so plagued by fakes
 
I bought a 15L flipside sport from ebay and it was a fake. I have a genuine one to compare it with and it was a pretty good copy of the design but materials were nowhere near the same quality. I sent it back and got a full refund (including shipping) and bought a used one from Amazon and that was fake as well!
 
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