I’ve got no fancy pictures today or cool review on some new club. Instead I am going to write about counterfeit golf clubs.
Fake golf clubs have always been a problem and with the growth of the internet over the last decade, that problem has grown right along with the web. I’ve especially noticed this because in the last year or so, I’ve had more and more emails contacting me asking me to verify serials, look at pictures of clubs people purchased elsewhere and simply emails telling me that they purchased from some other site and got ripped off.
We also get questions from potential customers who aren’t familiar with TSG or the Japanese golf market about pricing and why they should buy from TSG. (besides the facts that we have been in business over 12 years and serve over 17000 hardcore golf enthusiasts worldwide as of summer 2013.)
What I tell customers is they must do their own due diligence when it comes to purchasing online and this goes for anything not just golf clubs. I do not expect anyone to simply throw down their hard earned money without doing some research and getting all their questions answered. Purchasing the right golf clubs is not easy. Buying the wrong clubs can be tough to deal with but buying fake clubs can turn out to be a nightmare of the worst kind.
A lot of it comes down to pricing. People are obviously attracted by the rock bottom costs of fake golf clubs but that should be the first warning sign. I attribute this also to the lack of understanding or knowledge about Japanese pricing and the Japanese market. I am sure many people look at the TSG site and freak out over the prices. I am not surprised at this reaction at all and as a matter of a fact I even get emails directed at TSG saying “HOW DARE YOU PRICE YOUR CLUBS SO HIGH?!?”
To clarify, our pricing is based on Japanese retail prices and our MSRP is the suggested retail of Japanese manufacturers (we don’t set the prices, they do). Japan and the US are very different markets. Golfers in Japan on average spend 5-6 times more on gear than their American friends, in part to more selection AND higher pricing. Our pricing also has to do with the strong yen which has at one point appreciated by nearly 15% over the last 2 years (edit as of 2012 it has appreciated nearly 25%). Still with all these factors we actually price below the manufacturers suggested prices and try not to increase prices even though exchange rates swing so wildly.
In Japan a $700-800 driver is the norm (I’m talking US dollars here). Higher end drivers easily cost over $1000.00 and this is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s like a Big Mac from McDonald’s. In some parts of the world it may be $2.00 yet in another part of the world it may be $7.00. Except we’re not just talking about the same Big Mac here. We’re talking also about unique and premium Japanese golf clubs many of which are only for the Japanese market. Premium materials, top quality workmanship and a very demanding consumer base all create the environment for higher pricing. It is because of this that Japan is the only country in the world that get’s all the global golf club models PLUS their own JAPAN models.
So are the clubs worth their price tags? That’s very subjective. Without a doubt there are those willing to pay for something unique and different and what is perceived by many as premium or higher quality materials and workmanship. Japanese market clubs aren’t for everyone but there are many golf enthusiasts who think otherwise. Many are willing to pay for Made in Japan (yes many brands still are) or the hand made workmanship and cool designs and great performance that many JDM (Japan Domestic Market) clubs offer.
So back to fake and counterfeit clubs…
Hint number 1 that a buyer should pick up is that the price is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. This has to be the biggest give away for a fake club. Many of these so called golf shops online sell drivers and irons for 15% – 20% of the suggested manufacturers retail price. TSG deals with all the biggest manufacturers in Japan and I can tell you as you probably already know, retailer and even distributor costs are MUCH higher than that. So you have these stores saying they can sell you Japanese market golf clubs for far less than the cost for a top distributor or retailer. Sounds impossible? That’s because it is.
Hint number 2 is the lack of information or expertise on the products from these stores. I had one customer email me last year and say one other company (not located in Japan) was selling the Japan market R9 Forged for 185.00 for 5-PW. At this time last year, the R9 Forged had not even been announced in Japan yet. I went to the site in question and they were indeed claiming what looked like the standard cast R9 model as being forged. They even had pictures of the sand wedge and on the sole it had BOTH 58* AND SW marked… first time I had ever seen that. So not only was this site selling fake R9’s they were passing them off as forged. These retailers have no knowledge of materials, design, manufacturing processes. The problem with this is that many of theses questionable retailers have gone as far as using all our product descriptions (which I should note I usually translate from Japanese to English) and even use the pictures we take.
Hint number 3 is where are these clubs coming from? One emailer just bought a set of R9 irons from a store that claimed it sold Japan market products and even claimed to be a Japanese shop… however when he received the clubs, they shipped to him from China and were indeed fakes. TSG sells Japan market products so all our products ship to you from Japan, not China, not Hong Kong, not Vietnam or Thailand. Don’t get me wrong, I love these countries and have visited them all but the truth is none of these countries can get Japan market golf gear for less than 20% of the price that we or any other Japan retailer can get.
I’ve contemplated writing about this for a long time and I hesitated as I wasn’t sure if this was opening a can of worms. I’m not saying don’t buy from anyone else but TSG , as a very avid golf club enthusiast I’ve just simply had enough of seeing people get ripped off. The worst part of it is that there are probably many many people out there who don’t even realize that the 99.00 2010 Japan market driver they bought is a fake. Counterfeits and fakes hurt everyone, the manufacturers, the customers, the retailers.
As I noted above all I say is people need to use their common sense and do their due diligence and that includes shopping from TSG. I’m always answering questions about our guarantees and the authenticity of the products we carry and I have no problems doing this as this means that potential customer is doing his homework by asking me questions and checking out TSG’s rep online through other big golf sites or talking with peers and fellow golf enthusiasts. For someone who has a doubt… this is the way it should be.
So for everyone out there interested not only in Japanese market golf clubs but in buying any golf clubs online, do us all a favor, use your common sense, don’t hesitate to ask questions and do all the research you can. It’s your hard earned money after all.
Thanks for this post. I guess one of the problems is everyone wants the best clubs but people aren’t willing to pay for them. You pay for what you get… If they think they are getting a premium Japan driver at 100.00 new they they haven’t done their due diligence as you said.
Could you give me your opinion on this site please. it is http://www.golfstaring.com/
regards
ollie
Hi Ollie,
Look at their R9 Japan model iron for example. They give the option of steel or graphite. They don’t say what steel shaft even though they list NS Pro WHITE steel (which I have never heard of) and DG. They also list PX which is an expensive upgrade from TM Japan. Also graphite and steel are the same price whereas TM Japan lists graphite as an upgrade. The set is 9 irons 3-PW + SW, what happened to the AW? 9 irons at 404.00 USD = 44.00 an iron and that includes shipping. That is FAR below cost for a Taylormade Japan retail account IN JAPAN! And surprise surprise… they use a photo from our site when we first spotted the R9 iron… http://www.tourspecgolf.com/blog/2009/07/taylormade-r9-irons-spotted/ You can see on the top left edge of the image where they carelessly cropped out the bottom of our watermark. Check out their descriptions for a lot of the Japan market products… all copied from our site. I wonder where they ship from…
Thanks for the post. When i first got into Japanese golf clubs i didnt know much and got ripped off with some Taylormade fakes. News flash: real taylormades don’t come head only!!
When a friend has a set of what he called Callaway clubs that he bought for a really good deal over the net, I inspected them closely. They were nothing like a Callaway and you needed a trained eye to see that or atleast look at the poor craftsmanship.
I really wonder if every manufacture has been counter fitted?
Counterfeit Clubs are everywhere on the Internet and especially on the leading Auction site. Now the Counterfeiter’s are printing “Shaft labels” for the top selling Iron Shafts and putting those labels on “pure crap” Shafts….I’ve seen this first hand at the Doc’s Place and the Counterfeit Shafts don’t even weigh the same and the Flex isn’t even consistent within a set.
I know Crooks have always been around but it hurts me when they take advantage of someone who is so passionate about their Golf. So sad!!
A timely posting, thanks, “T”!!!
@Golf Instruction Guy.com:
I bought these Callaways and thought it was a killer deal. Too good to be true i guess. I got ripped off and had no idea they werer fakes until i went to get them reshafted.
Your Message@lostintherough:
I got scamed on a pair of irons that I thought were real!4 years later they still play great!Oh well,whatever,they work for me”
Great Post!Whats worse about counterfeit clubs,is to play against a good player using them, and shoots 72 on you all day!..)-:
On 8 July 2010, I wrote to Callaway Golf, asking about GolfWholeSaleSelller.com. Here was Callaway’s reply:
“Dear Mr. Murphy,
I would like to thank you for your interest in Callaway Golf products and for taking the time to write to us regarding http://www.golfwholesaleseller.com . I can confirm that we are aware of this site and that the clubs they distribute are counterfeit. Unfortunately because they are based in China it’s a little more difficult to go after them. However, we do work with the Chinese government on a regular basis to pursue the people involved in this activity. Although this is a slow process and the penalties generally don’t fit the crime we will continue to do what we can.
For your future reference on Internet sites selling our products you might want to refer to the link below which will take you to a list of authorized sites.
http://locator.callawaygolf.com/Global/en-US/Callaway/CallawayAuthorizedOnlineRetailers.html
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Thanks again for writing.
Sincerely,
Michael Dow
Callaway Golf
Investigator “
Rich that’s definitely a problem as many of the counterfeiters are located in China… actually probably all of them are making it difficult to go after them. This is why I noted to be careful of where the clubs are shipping from. The information you provided though is very useful. Thanks for that.
I bought a counterfeit Taylor Made Superfast Driver from golfwholesaleseller.com. I have the club sitting in the box it was shipped in. while my credit card account has assured that I will not be charged for this, I want to report it to someone at Taylor Made who cares. (the local rep could not care less.) I see that Callaway has Golf Investigators. Are there similar people at Taylor Made and if so how do I contact them.
These fake sites exist because there are a lot of golfers who want the prestige of having the name brand club in there bag but don’t want to pay the price sowhy are we surprised these sites are out there. I never understood why so many mid to high handicap player’s who play once or twice a week would justify paying the outrageous price that is being charged for these club. I know because we have these guys in my league. They pay $500 for a driver, $1000 for a set of irons, $200 a piece for the woods or hybrid…we are looking at $2000 for a name brand set (and proudly wave them around to the ohs and ahs of others) and in the end they are hitting the same scores as me with my clones (not knockoffs). If the name brand companies would just charge a reasonable price for their goods than the knockoffs and clones would not exist but that’s another story. I know I will hear all about the R&D blah blah but in the end all this technology doesn’t make up for the fact that the problem would be better addressed by paying $500 for clubs, $500 for lessons and $1000 on golfing more. So those of you worried that you may get ripped off by one of these sites need to take a step back and ask yourself, do I really need the name brand if I can only afford to pay the $500 these sites are charging and if so you must realize you usually get what you pay for so. If you can only afford $500 (and IMHO that’s all most average golfers should spend) find yourself a nice clone maker who will back their product with a warranty and you will not have to worry if your getting ripped off. The only loss you will suffer is you wont be able to wave that ‘name brand’ club around for all to see.