Do NOT buy Cold Steel products from the following site:
www.privest.com.cn
www.chinaknifes.com
www.chinakniveswholesale.com
www.dhgate.com
www.aliexpress.com
www.yknife.com
www.ioffer.com
www.xxxknife.com
www.bestknifeshop.com
With a recent rise in the number of counterfeit products being reported to us we
felt it incredibly important to once again urge our fans, customers and friends
to exercise caution when buying Cold Steel products.
By way of definition, a counterfeit Cold Steel product is a cheaply produced, poorly
manufactured copy that is being sold as the genuine article. These products are,
naturally, not covered by the Cold Steel warranty.
These are sub standard knock-offs and they damage Cold Steel's reputation immeasurably!
These products are not only illegal, but they are very dangerous! For example, when
you purchase a counterfeit backpack, it may fall to pieces because of shoddy workmanship
- leaving you, the consumer, footing the bill. However, if a knife fails because
of poor workmanship, you could end up being terribly injured or - at worse - dead,
if you were relying on it for self defense!
Be especially wary, because these items are being sold in fake Cold Steel boxes
and are stamped or etched with a fake Cold Steel brand logos.
As a Cold Steel customer you should know what to look for when you purchase
a Cold Steel product:
- If it seems like an offer that is too good to be true, it probably is. If an item
normally has a suggested retail price of $100 and it's being offered for $50 or
less, you can be pretty sure that you're being ripped off.
- Look at the fittings and the finish. Is the quality up to Cold Steel's standards?
Are the grind lines crisp and clean or are they blurry and indistinct? Is the blade
razor sharp? If you're buying a San Mai III knife, can you see the laminate line
where the different kinds of steel meet?
- If it is a fixed blade knife, look at the sheath that came with it. Is it a sturdy
quality piece, or something made of the cheapest materials available?
- If it is a folder, is the lock sturdy? Does the blade wobble? Is the locking mechanism
strong? Is it the same lock as advertised on our website?
Make sure you research what you're buying! Get a copy of our catalog; go to our
website and look up the item you plan to purchase from another vendor.
Check out our previous catalogs [here]
Does it look the same? Many of these fakes are easy to expose, simply because they
don't resemble anything Cold Steel sells. They just trade on the Cold Steel name.
Check out our Counterfeit Gallery [here]
Look at the fakes that we have already exposed.
Be aware of situations where this kind of commerce takes place. flea markets, swap
meets, garage sales, and street vendors are places where you're most likely to be
ripped off. Above all, use common sense, if a street vendor is trying to sell you
a Rolex watch for $10, for example, your common sense should tell you that it is
very likely a fake!
Also be on the lookout for disreputable websites that list only a phone number or
a P.O. box for contact information. We've even discovered some of this trash product
on Ebay!
(Ebay has been very cooperative with us and has removed fraudulent products when
we request them to do so, but this has not deterred counterfeiters from setting
up other accounts on the site).
Most of these fakes are being produced in Asia. Our representatives have informed
us that the fake knives are actually available from street vendors there! To protect
yourself from this kind of fraud, you should only buy from reputable dealers or
from Cold Steel directly.
The sayings that "you get what you pay for" and "if it sounds too good to be true,
it probably is" should be first and foremost in your mind when you think about purchasing
one of these knives.
If you have been ripped off by purchasing one of these fakes, or suspect something
being offered for sale is not authentic, please let us know the details. If you
were ripped off we would like to know who you bought the product from, when you
bought it and where, how much you paid, and why you think it is a fake. We are creating
a database of offenders and intend to take legal action against them as soon as
possible.
A message to the counterfeiters:
Cold Steel is dedicated to attacking counterfeiters by any available means! We have
had great success tracking down purveyors and suppliers of these illegal knock-offs
in the past. Just ask Bradley Willis McVey of Valley Forge Auction & Wholesale in
Elizabethton, TN, who faces felony charges for his sale of these counterfeit goods
and fines of up to $3,000 and two years in prison!
We will track you down through our global network of investigators - and we ensure
that you are punished to the maximum extent possible under the law!