Are there fake bushnells coming out? (1 Viewer)

Just the past month, I have seen binocs clearly labeled and styled
"Bushnell" with weird performance claims on ebay.

Then, just today, I saw some "Bushnell"s (pouch AND body labeled that way)
at the shopgoodwill site. The alarming thing is, they had that
super-reflective "ruby" coating that often comes with dim binoculars
that have no achromats inside.

I find it hard to believe Bushnell would authorized really bad stuff.
If these are label-usurping knock-offs, they need to step on it now.
They aren't even slightly mis-spelled...

Example:
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Bushnell-8-x-32-Binoculars-wFanny-Pack-Case-14646291.html#des

Maybe there is some legitimate cause for a super-reflective coating..
bird-watching for the Phoenix in Hell or steel mills?? heh

I don't get it. Some people do demand "them amber coatings" they
saw on TV, but then some people buy 12x compacts for $20 at a
discount chain.

Either way, or both....something is not right.

No surprises there, Bushnell riflescopes have been faked for years and is possibly their biggest problem in terms of brand awareness in the UK.

Several main UK online retailers jumped at cheap knock-off stock from third party distributors in China and it hung around for a while.

There are still examples for sale from retailers who should know better but who do not have sufficient specialist knowledge.

The situation was so bad that one now advertises 'UK sourced stock' (they bought some bankrupt stock from one of Bushnell's authorised UK distributors in liquidation).

The challenge for the customer in buying genuine is to be sure of the country of manufacture. In terms of riflescopes originals were made in the Philippines and latterly in Korea, not China. The situation is exacerbated in that Bushnell own both Simmons and Tasco, customers for which generally look to the older Philippine models not the recent Chinese ones.

In a market awash with fakes it's worth paying attention.

Wow...that's awful. I'm not so much worried about country...most come from
China now. It's the designs. For now, the ridiculous claims and mirror-like
amber coating make it obvious. It's when the innards turn to mush that it gets tricky.

The last few Bushnells I got were tried at a physical store before I bought them.

Funny thing is, the major reason I have an elite and legend is because I also have a fake bushnell (knew it's a fake). When I wanted a high quality bino, bushnell is where I started looking because I've been "introduced" to the brand already.

Essentially bushnell made two sales in their high end lineup because of the fake.

Bird forum watchers should be alerted to "fake" Bushnells being sold of eBay. I recently purchased a so-called Bushnell wide angle binocular or the bay which the seller claimed was a rare 8x44. He claimed it was in mint condition and was functional.

Well....I trusted his description, and this is what I found. It was assembled out of bits and pieces of replacement pieces. The lens coatings were not the same. The diopter was reversed and jammed on. It was miscollimated.
There was not one mark on it where it was manufactured, contrary to any Bushnell binocular I have seen.

It was returned for a full refund, (not yet received), but I was stuck with the return postage. So beware when bidding on "rare" models with a Bushnell label.

John