RODE Amazon disclaimer.... might be a "need to know".

This is posted on top of the RODE home page:
 
Important information about purchasing from Amazon in the US.
RØDE Microphones does not authorize Fulfilled By Amazon. We have purchased counterfeit RØDE products using Fulfilled by Amazon and highly recommend that you only purchase RØDE products from authorized dealers.
If you purchase any RØDE microphone from an unauthorized dealer via Fulfilled By Amazon you will not receive any US warranty or technical support.
You can view a full list of authorized US dealers here.
 
 
Interesting. I bet this happens with the iPhone 6 and other microphones too. I remember reading a story just after the iPhone 6 came out about a city in China where you could buy a fake iP6 most anywhere that looks identical but is slow and just not very good. I've never been burned on Amazon but if I bought a RODE... and didn't have experience with the mic, how would I know if it was a fake. I would just assume that I didn't like it as much as others. Big Red Flag here I think.
 
http://www.rode.com/microphones/all
 
J

Fulfilled by Amazon is not the same thing as Sold by Amazon. The former (and the problem area) are the third party vendors in the Amazon market. All I can say is "caveat emptor." To myself, even.
 
I routinely check the marketplace vendors for pricing. Fulfilled by Amazon is nice because I still get the product quickly without having to pay sales tax.
 
So this is a good heads-up for ANY use of the Amazon marketplace. Thanks!
 

bitflipper
Interesting. Ironically the fake Rødes come from Shanghai, just like the real ones.
 
 
 
$1.97

YIKES...

ampfixer
A good friend just spent a small fortune getting a 1950's Rolex rebuilt. When he picked it up the repair people told him that they don't give back any old parts that were replaced. It seems Rolex forgers buy up these old parts and use them to make fake vintage watches. It seems all Rolex repairs go through a small number of locations and all the parts are heavily guarded. It never would have occurred to me.

That is a sad commentary on this world. I never see a thief coming. Rose colored glasses and all...

Paul P

bitflipper
Interesting. Ironically the fake Rødes come from Shanghai, just like the real ones.

And may have been made in the same factory.

When I went to buy a monitor ~1995 in Moscow, friendly manager advised me to get one of two model: "This Viewsonic is with logo, and this Viewsonic has no logo. They are absolutely the same otherwise. The second one is 2 times cheaper..."
 

bitflipper
Interesting. Ironically the fake Rødes come from Shanghai, just like the real ones.
 
$1.97

As someone who has visited the Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, this was enough concern that I raised the issue with higher powers, but let me give the crux of this "situation" on why it triggered my reaction.
 
Interviews with the authorities there basically said "We can get your product into production within 10 days"... This brought a semi-gasp from everyone present as this is pretty much unheard of. The FTZ is set up to do manufacturing "tariff-free" where companies ship in raw supplies, manufacture, and export. The FTZ even provides not only manpower but engineering oversight to this production. The "cost" of this is that this engineering oversight has access to most (if not all) tech-specs and proprietary information for production... so when they leave work, they go provide the same oversight on a similar, if not identical product, in a factory outside the FTZ. There were no controls to prevent this, and at the time also the #2 counterfeiter in the world. Some of these counterfeits are, in fact, carbon copies of the actual products because of this, but is not clear how many realize they are "giving their IP away" utilizing these manufacturing methods.