We had no problems buying any of this merchandise, and the vendors had no problem selling it. We were told that sometimes the markets get raided by authorities, and punishments are carried out for the eyes of world, and then when the cameras and news media go away, all returns to normal. I think that is hilarious.

The vendors in these Chinese markets (indoor and outdoor) all seem to have a similar style in the way they haggle and sell their knock-off goods. Some of the male vendors can be quite aggressive, and once and awhile the women can be too, but generally the young female vendors are demure and sweet. You’ll see just what I mean if you watch the video at the bottom of this piece. The questions the producers asked were very leading, so I would take all that with a grain of salt. You should check out more videos on Youtube to get more of a feel for what to expect when you hit the markets.

Chinese Market English

The market vendors don’t know much English, but they have some memorized phrases that they use over and over and over. Listed below are some of these over-used English phrases:

• “cheaper price for you”
• “friend price for you”
• “cheap price OK OK OK American Joe”
• “A quality”
• “final price”
• “OK OK OK OK OK!”
• “I make no money!”
• “you good looking”
• “very pretty”

When you first step into their booth they will usually say “friend price for you” (with a steep accent). If you’re walking by their booth they’ll yell, “cheaper price for you”, or “cheaper price for you American Joe”, to try and entice you to check out their goods.

When you are finally in their tent or booth they’ll smile and pour on the charm. They’ll give you compliments as you look around – like “you very pretty woman”, “you handsome man”. They’ve got it down cold – pander to our Anglo European and American egos and we start to warm up to them……..and that warmth radiates down to the wallet in your pants my friend.

If you start to walk out of their tent or booth area without offering money for a product they’ll start grabbing items and bring to you. Not in a rude way, because these folks are sweet, but definitely forceful. If you keep walking they’ll ramp it up and start offering prices as they wave the goods in an even more animated fashion. If you keep walking they may raise their voice and rapidly fire off, “OK OK OK OK OK friend price for you – cheaper price for you American Joe”. They’ll tell you that their quality is top notch and they’ll say, “A QUALITY”.

If you do haggle price with them they’ll stick to their guns and haggle you hard. Remember that if they sell you the item(s) for half of what they originally ask, they are very happy with that price. They’ll make it sound like you got an amazing deal, and right before you haggle them down one last time, they’ll say, “but I MAKE NO MONEY”. Don’t feel guilty and don’t feel bad – they’re making money.

The Knock-Offs – A Quality and B Quality

Not much. The knock-off products are made in Korea, China, Vietnam, and sometimes Thailand. The A quality and B quality is a factual consideration. Like the knock-off handbags I mentioned above, there are differences you need to be aware of. Best thing to do is just look around for the first day, and start actually buying the next day. This will take self control because you’ll be VERY tempted to get your beak wet on some very attractive products.

Asked a dealer (or vendor) who knew better English then most, what the difference once between A quality and B quality. He told me it usually depends on where he (and the other vendors) have to buy their wholesale goods from. Some countries and/or manufacturers charge a little more for their goods, so that is why they tag them as A quality. The truth usually is that the quality is all very much comparable. You just have to look around. Look, walk, ask, touch, smell, etc. Ask others what they think of the goods they have bought and ask if there are better products and deal to be had in other markets around the city.

Why Knock-Offs Don’t Hurt Anyone – Only Help

Haggling is a blast and often after I’ve made the deal I give the vendors what they wanted just before I leave. My wife always gets annoyed when I do that because all that haggling is for not. Truth is – I don’t need the few bucks as much as they do. One time in a restaurant just off the market corridors I saw a young man in his early twenties sitting in a chair by himself. He really stuck out of the crowd because he had no arms. I decided to give him $10 dollars and tried to put the money in his pocket, but be insisted on putting the money in his mouth – dirty way to do it but that is what he wanted.

So why I think the knock-off marketing does not hurt anyone is this. Allot of this stuff is crap folks. The Chinese knock-off purses are the best bang for your buck. The quality is astounding.Now, there are exceptions – you have to look inside the purse to feel and touch the lining.

The cheaper handbags have a rough plain material inside, whereas the better Korean knock-offs have a silky soft material (actually I think the Prada knock-off handbags my wife bought were silken linings.) Ok, so I’m a scatter-brain a bit here I suppose because I contradicted myself big time. Ok – the handbags are Ok American Joe.

The golf clubs are pure crap. Mostly Taylormade and Callaway were there in all their knock-off glory. Pretty funny seeing the shafts of these clubs because they’re all marked as stiff and medium etc., but they’re all the same stiffness.

I bought a full set of knock-off Callaways with a big Callaway bag, a travel bag, head covers and a wonderful piece-o-crap putter thrown in for good measure. The woods were driver, 3 wood, and 5 wood. The irons were sand to 3. The total cost for all of this was $220 USD. Sounds like a real steal does it not? Not.

After I got home, I noticed that the finish on the irons and woods was nothing like the real deal Callaways, and bag didn’t seem very secure. After about 6 months I was hitting a fairway shot and the head of my five iron went for a flight down the patch. Got that iron repaired (which wasn’t easy because most golf shops won’t repair knock-offs). Next the 9 iron flew off the shaft and went for swim in the water hazard, then the 7 iron, and then the sand wedge. I let a friend hit my 3 wood and it snapped in half at the hozzle. The nice looking bag began to fall apart at the zipper and the linings fell apart soon after. Funny I think American Joe – No?

The watches were another story all together, but the ending was basically the same, I bought 14 or 15 watches that were all Korean or Chinese knock-offs. They all looked great and were all cheap cheap cheap. They all worked too – self winding models produced with great care to make them look like the real thing. Breitling, Rolex, Omega, and all the great Swiss watch models were there. All cheap and looking great.

When I got home each one of these knock-off wristwatches began to fail one at a time. None of them except for one made it through a few months of normal use. Quite embarrassing considering I gave them to all my friends and family members. The only knock-off watch that worked was a battery powered model. So words to the wise my faithful Zazbot shopper – if you’re going to buy a watch in Chinese market make sure it’s a battery powered model.

Knock-off perfumes made my wife and daughter very happy with the perfumes. A bottle of perfume that runs you $80 to $100 dollars in the United States will cost you $3-7$ ($3 if you’re a local and $7 if you’re an American Joe. These items are worthy of you dollars and cents. We made many of our friends and families very happy with these gifts.

Why Chinese Knock-Offs Do No Harm

I don’t believe that the Chinese knock-off market cause any global economic harm. In my case I loved my knock-off Callaways, and ended up buying real Callaways. The knock-offs acted as a doorway purchase. Now I want to buy even more Callaway product to get the real deal and the lifetime warranty.

Same with the purses/handbags. My wife will be buying a real Prada for sure, now that she has tasted the idea of having a Prada.

So it’s similar to the free mp3 music download argument. Much of the music we download for free from the web, we end up buying anyway because we want the full album, with the artwork, and highest quality possible.

So the knock-off markets in South East Asia employ millions of people and make thousands of people rich. Meanwhile we in the richer countries get a taste for products we want to buy “for real”.

Comment Below and Tell Us What You Think

So tell me what you think. Make a comment below (it’s easy) and tell me what you think about knock-offs and the way these cheapo replicas affect the world markets and economies. Don’t be shy……we’re all a nice bunch here at Zazbot.com