22 replies to this topic

[Sponge]

Attached are pics taken from a Chinese wholesaler website. These are all FAKE AP2's and they are selling them in mass quantity...what are the tell-tale signs that they are fake?
Most of these have LEGITIMATE TITLEIST SERIAL NUMBERS on them!


I'm scared stiff to buy anything of the 'bay right now! HELP!

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Edited by Sponge, 21 March 2009 - 11:49 AM.

[TM golf guy]

Ask for sole pictures of the entire set. That is generally a dead give away. Usually the "tungsten" doesn't look right, or numbers aren't underlined that are supposed to be underlined.

[nas1021]

what website are these from?? ebay? they look pretty real to me.

[mikec222]

they are starting to make some unbeliveably close counterfits. I would never know how to tell.

[Sponge]

nas1021, on Mar 21 2009, 09:52 AM, said:

what website are these from?? ebay? they look pretty real to me.

http://www.dhgate.com

[nas1021]

http://www.dhgate.co...9c30a27c63.html

Am I seeing things or are these pro v1s $163 fo10 dozen.?!?! i might just buy these. and free shipping.

[harold baines]

nas1021, on Mar 21 2009, 12:38 PM, said:

http://www.dhgate.co...9c30a27c63.html

Am I seeing things or are these pro v1s $163 fo10 dozen.?!?! i might just buy these. and free shipping.

prov's are faked often as well

the fake proV's would be a strong indicator that the AP2's are fake too

any item that's faked so often (and so well) like the AP2's should only be bought from a reputable vendor like this site's sponsors or your local pro shop

it's just not worth saving $100 to risk getting stuck with garbage/hassle of returning them

[harold baines]

OK i just looked at that website, you're crazy to buy anything from them

they're in china, and sell all kinds of fake crap

stay FAR FAR away!

[High Handicap]

Yeah ebay def is not the place to shop for AP2's or any other popular high end clubs for that matter.  Check out my thread here

-nas you'd be crazy to buy those V1's and expect them to be legit!

[nas1021]

i know theyre fake and im not buying them, although it would be nice for $13/doxen pro v1s

[High Handicap]

nas1021, on Mar 21 2009, 10:26 PM, said:

i know theyre fake and im not buying them, although it would be nice for $13/doxen pro v1s

Yeah that is a great price.  As an aside maybe all this fake stuff will drive golfers to purchase stuff from their local pro shops that is if they still exist.

[sand wedge]

These posts are kinda funny to me.  If a seller was selling counterfeit goods, why would you think they would be honest enough to post pictures of the actual "fake" clubs?  They could post a pick of "real" AP2 and send you fake ones?  

"If in doubt, throw it out"

[iteachgolf]

No one cares to point of the Max COR sticker on an iron and the iron covers?

[robb01]

wow, these fakes are getting to be really well done

[jedimater]

The tell tale for me with AP2's is the Titleist logo should be a raised metal painted on top not on the sides of the raised logo and certainly should not be just painted on. Also the tunsten weight should not just be a satin finish it is infact a different metal altogether, should have heel to toe scratches indicating some grain tot he material.

[varsityhacker]

Wow those are scary.  I would stay away from EBay and only buy from a local golf shop or from someone in the golfwrx community.

[TheCapedAvenger]

1) The overall shape of those is wrong. They are too rounded on the sole heel to toe- AP2's are more square.

2) The "forged" stamping is all hookedy-crookedy, and not the right size compared to the shiny silver bar it's on.

3) They're a stock serial number with flighted project X shafts - never happen unless they were reshafted after the fact.

4) Titleist doesn't make iron covers

5) There has never been a sticker like that on the face of any legit AP2.


Just for starters.

[jay26783]

I was one of the dummies who bought a set of these on ebay, and fortunately I was able to spot that they were counterfeit, in large part thanks to the posts in this forum.

At first appearance, the clubs are very well matched in terms of appearance. However, as noted by others, the 6 and 9 clubs definitely have more curvature in the font than authentic clubs. But to me, the biggest giveaway is the shape of the tungsten weight when looking at it straight on from the toe in its upright position. Here is a link to how it SHOULD look from this angle (http://www.titleist...._iron08_toe.jpg)

The fake set that I have, the 'tungsten weight' portion does not have the curvature from the toe view that the authentic sets have, such as in the picture linked above. Instead, from the toe view on the counterfeit sets, the tungsten weight portion basically goes straight up to the left at a 45* angle, no curve at all. In fact, the entire shape from the toe view is off kilter with the counterfeit set when compared to the authentic sets. Lastly, so far as I can tell, all of the counterfeit sets have one or two more lines on the decorative cavity insert than the authentic sets have- both on the left and right sides of the Titleist logo.

Just thought I'd share as another means of identifying fakes.

[iKhanh]

That site is RIDICULOUSLY shady. 130USD for a set of x-22 irons lol. My goodness. Pro V1's for like 14/doz. I am definitely leary of anything coming from ebay at great discounts. You just never know. a Cameron newport SS for 84/ each?!?

Jay ^^ so what happened? did the seller give you a refund? argue they weren't fake? do tell.

[Cwing]

Are there known I mix fakes out there? They have an imix listed

[LBlack14]

Avoid dhgate.com

[jay26783]

iKhanh, on May 17 2009, 02:06 PM, said:

That site is RIDICULOUSLY shady. 130USD for a set of x-22 irons lol. My goodness. Pro V1's for like 14/doz. I am definitely leary of anything coming from ebay at great discounts. You just never know. a Cameron newport SS for 84/ each?!?

Jay ^^ so what happened? did the seller give you a refund? argue they weren't fake? do tell.

Well I use PayPal for any e-bay purchases I make, and when you use PayPal they have a buyer protection program for the full cost of the item, including in cases of counterfeiting. The first step- which is where I am in the process currently- is to open up a dispute through PayPal, which initially involves communication between buyer and seller only. Just opened that up yesterday, haven't received a response from the seller as yet. However, at any time, if the dispute does not get resolved (in this case, if the seller doesn't agree to refund my purchase price in whole), then you escalate the dispute to an actual claim, and PayPal steps in as arbitrator/judge/jury/executioner.

I have since purchased a new set of AP2's from TGW.com (I've purchased Titleist sets through them before, they are definitely legit) and so if this ebay seller doesn't refund me and I need to escalate to a claim, then I can compare the sets side by side in photos and I'm confident PayPal will find in my favor and refund my purchase price. From that point, the collection of the money back from the seller is up to PayPal...

[thayereightball]

I fell for a great price on AP2's.  When they were shipped from China, I didn't even take the shrink wrapping off and immediately asked for a refund.  I got the refund, but it cost me a pretty penny to ship the clubs back to China.

I was so enthralled playing a brand new rental set of AP2's that I was blinded to the fact that so many knockoffs were out there.  I took one of the clubs to my local golf pro, and at first blush, he could not tell the difference, even when holding it next to a real AP2.  I then did some more research into the telltale signs of fakes, and when I returned with the fake club to compare to real one, the differences became obvious.  There was not one thing about the club that was real...fake grips, fake shafts, fake stickers, fake wrapping, fake ferrules, fake heads.

Wowogolf.com was the website...stay far, far away.