Spyderco Forums

I constantly watch Sypderco knives for sale on ebay. I have noticed over the past few months that there are literally hundreds of fake Spydercos for sale from China. They are clearly fake by their appearance and very low prices. Why isn't ebay doing anything about this? Its doesn't look like many of them sell, but no doubt people have been duped. It's real annoying to sort through them all looking for real knives for sale. Anybody else notice this disgusting trend?

It’s too bad Spyderco can’t sue eBay for millions. I know I have personally reported a dozen fakes but they quickly come back saying they are fine, case closed. If that’s not liability and knowledge of I don’t know what is. As far as damage, it’s damage to Spyderco sales of real knives and brand/reputation damage for as people think they are buying something real but it’s junk.

The same for butterfly-stamped knives with sale pricing and sellers from the USA.

jmj3esq wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 5:54 am

They are clearly fake by their appearance and very low prices.

That’s clear to Spyderco enthusiasts. There’s fakes of everything on eBay. If you worked for eBay could you spot the fake Nikes? Fender guitars? Name brand purses? Niche hiking gear?

We have a whole subforum for this. I managed to get a few auctions pulled, but that was before they trained their AI to accept fakes as real and put it in charge of complaints. For all I know, Spyderco's legal department could be building a case against eBay right now. Post links to the auctions and tag Tazkristi so she can turn them over to legal

It is a horrible, evil practice. I and many others have complained to them and told them this is criminal.
Not only is it theft from Spyderco and all those who pour their life work into designing and producing the knives and everyone involved, but, by purchasing these stolen designs people are funding terrorists, criminal gangs, and others who commit a wide range of crimes.
Not a single response from Ebay was received. As if they do not care.

All the above is my experience as well. Tons of fakes, some decent looking, some horrible, some that would convince an avg shopper for sure.

Reported, and most determinations are that there is no issue with the auction.

I find the notion that they're easy to spot to be preposterous. Half the time you see someone asking if one is a fake, someone will come in saying, "That's the most obvious fake I have ever seen! Look at the Spyderco logo, it's tilted half a degree too far to the left, how could you not tell it's a fake?!" This for a knife company that's known to practice "CQI" where differences from one manufacturing iteration to the next are to be expected.

I bought a counterfeit just to be able to see the differences between a fake and what I was reasonably sure was a genuine article, and the differences were not only incredibly minute, but when I told people one was fake and one was real and asked them to tell which was which, most people thought the fake was the genuine article.

So I kind of take issue with the notion that the fakes are obviously fake because I know how many people I know personally that would be fooled, and wonder how quickly someone would insist it's their fault.

zhyla wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:21 am

jmj3esq wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 5:54 am

They are clearly fake by their appearance and very low prices.

That’s clear to Spyderco enthusiasts. There’s fakes of everything on eBay. If you worked for eBay could you spot the fake Nikes? Fender guitars? Name brand purses? Niche hiking gear?

Great point. It is scary how to the untrained eye some fakes look very real.
What are some of the motives people have to buy these? They want what looks real but at a lower price and don't care if it breaks faster?

I once read an online post where an American woman bragged to her friends that she got a fake Prada bag for low price.

But it will likely fall apart in months?

Mage7 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 1:22 pm

I find the notion that they're easy to spot to be preposterous. Half the time you see someone asking if one is a fake, someone will come in saying, "That's the most obvious fake I have ever seen! Look at the Spyderco logo, it's tilted half a degree too far to the left, how could you not tell it's a fake?!" This for a knife company that's known to practice "CQI" where differences from one manufacturing iteration to the next are to be expected.

I bought a counterfeit just to be able to see the differences between a fake and what I was reasonably sure was a genuine article, and the differences were not only incredibly minute, but when I told people one was fake and one was real and asked them to tell which was which, most people thought the fake was the genuine article.

So I kind of take issue with the notion that the fakes are obviously fake because I know how many people I know personally that would be fooled, and wonder how quickly someone would insist it's their fault.

Good points. A guy I work with told me that he ordered 2 Benchmade Osborne knives for $30 each! He said he would bring them in when they were delivered. He also knew that they were fake!

I didn’t have high hopes for them, but when he showed them to me I was horrified by the apparent quality of them! Everything looked perfect and the lockup, action, blade centering etc… was also perfect!

He said that the steel was noticeably softer than his genuine Benchmades, but that was the only way he could tell!

So yeah, some are obviously fake, but others look like the real deal and the average person would not be able to tell the difference!

Could you imagine getting a Spyderco as a gift and always wondering if it was a fake because they copied it so well then sold it for $30 instead of $230 and the gift giver just thought they got a great deal? Scary stuff!

Aladinsane wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 3:03 pm

Could you imagine getting a Spyderco as a gift and always wondering if it was a fake because they copied it so well then sold it for $30 instead of $230 and the gift giver just thought they got a great deal? Scary stuff!

Yup, and that's why I only say that I was "reasonably sure" that the one I made the comparison with was genuine. It just happened to be a 15V BBB Manix 2 from the sprint runs, and I bought it from a highly reputable dealer, so it's super unlikely it was fake but it had me wondering how many fakes might slip into the hands of people even when purchasing from reputable dealers.

I mean, things happen, and there's low-down people out there. I know it's happened in the past where knives have been stolen in transit, and so it wouldn't take much effort for someone to keep a fake Spyderco on them and wait until they get the chance pull a switcheroo with a real one, and the unwitting customer would never know and would.be absolutely sure it was real simply based on getting it from a reputable dealer. Then they might go on to sell it on the secondary market, and who would ever know if the person had a good reputation on the trading scene? I feel like it's super unlikely that there's not even very discerning knife enthusiasts out there with fakes in their collection without knowing it.

It's crazy to considering that the problem goes far beyond eBay. I mean, it's pretty easy to say that if you get it off of eBay for 1/10th the cost that it's likely fake, but what about if you get it for 25-30% off through Amazon? A lot of sellers on Amazon have a good reputation, but I know for a fact some people are buying genuine Spyderco models from Amazon, and then returning a fake. Meanwhile, what are the odds that even a reputable dealer is going to examine each return under a microscope and keep any of those from slipping through the cracks? We've all heard of horror stories of people buying "new" items from Amazon and receiving a clearly used item, so even if a person ordered through a reputable vendor on Amazon there's pretty good odds what they get will be a fake. In fact it's so likely now, that I have heard people suggesting that the people trying to run this scheme are likely just exchanging fakes for fakes.

It's severely deteriorated my confidence as a consumer. I hardly even trust the secondary market anymore either.

Let's drill down a bit. Counterfeits steal the design which is the most important part of the package. Most people that buy counterfeits, know they are fake. The logic goes like this; I'll buy the fake and if I like it, then I'll buy the real ting". I've heard it many many times. And they rarely buy the "Real Thing", because it's the design that they wish to experience. Yes it's theft, but when the Sheriff is corrupt, who do you tell"?

But it seem like as a country, we seem to be legalizing crime in many areas.

Unfortunately, I think it's just one of the growing problems in the USA.

sal
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=

"Loyalty before all else except Honor".

sal wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 5:55 pm

But it seem like as a country, we seem to be legalizing crime in many areas.

Unfortunately, I think it's just one of the growing problems in the USA.

sal

Could not agree more, very frustrating and challenging to keep your kids on the right path when they see it too. Hope it changes direction one day.

The problem with counterfeits is the factories have gotten so good. They used to be garbage but from what I hear there are some that are reasonably well made. Not the junk that was being pumped out years ago.

I don’t really get it. If I want a cheaper knife I’ll just buy some other brand. $75 goes a long way these days.

sal wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 5:55 pm

Let's drill down a bit. Counterfeits steal the design which is the most important part of the package. Most people that buy counterfeits, know they are fake. The logic goes like this; I'll buy the fake and if I like it, then I'll buy the real ting". I've heard it many many times. And they rarely buy the "Real Thing", because it's the design that they wish to experience. Yes it's theft, but when the Sheriff is corrupt, who do you tell"?

But it seem like as a country, we seem to be legalizing crime in many areas.

Unfortunately, I think it's just one of the growing problems in the USA.

sal
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=

"Loyalty before all else except Honor".

Right about observations, and we must never forget the Chinese are friends. Believe that then you might believe I have rights to sell Brooklyn Bridge, who wants to buy the Bridge?

Asia's steal our Idea, products with CopyWrites, & TradMarks, and intellectual property and do it without blinking an eye.

I've only bought older classics on eBay that are at least less likely to be faked. I got burned on a Hinderer and that's the last time I ever will, I got my money back but the hassle isn't worth it. Too many scumbags out there anymore.

Sal and all, are there any solutions to the problem on the material side of the knives? I tried to think of some.

1 Only buy from authorized Spyderco retailers or direct from your company headquarters.

2 Embed some device or rare material in the structure of the knife that is difficult to be replicated by the counterfeitters. The problem there is that they can counterfeit the anti fake device, too.

They have access to the same metals and minerals the legitimate manufacturers do.

sal wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 17, 2025 5:55 pm

Let's drill down a bit. Counterfeits steal the design which is the most important part of the package. Most people that buy counterfeits, know they are fake. The logic goes like this; I'll buy the fake and if I like it, then I'll buy the real ting". I've heard it many many times. And they rarely buy the "Real Thing", because it's the design that they wish to experience. Yes it's theft, but when the Sheriff is corrupt, who do you tell"?

But it seem like as a country, we seem to be legalizing crime in many areas.

Unfortunately, I think it's just one of the growing problems in the USA.

sal
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=

"Loyalty before all else except Honor".

Yes sir.

I've joined a non knife forum over the past few months, though there is a fairly active knife subforum. I've already seen a handful of knives that people are proud to say are counterfeit Mostly BM knives, haven't seen a "Spyderco" yet, but it still drives me crazy when they talk about how great their fake Bugout is.

I would never knowingly buy a counterfeit, even if the build quality is, or seems to be good, just out of principle. Not only that; even if a counterfeit seems to be great, I still wouldn't be able to trust it like the actual product. They could say that the fake one is such-and-such steel, and the hardware is such-and-such quality, but who knows if it really is? Any manufacturers who would counterfeit orhers' products are already dishonest to the core.

Jim