You Just Got Ripped Off! – Is Your New Club A Fake?

What Would You Do?

Imagine this for a second…there are tens of thousands of people across the globe accessing your bank account and stealing $0.01 from you every day.  Would you notice?  Of course you would..your talking hundreds of dollars a day being wiped from your bank account.  Not only is that directly impacting your life it’s impacting your wife and kids life as well.

Question is what would you do to stop them?  Enforcing laws across borders is not an option.  And what if your bank branch manager couldn’t stop the thieves either.  Would you stop there or would you continue to be vigilant about stopping it from ever happening again?

Golf Companies Losing Millions To Counterfeiters!

I give you that example because golf companies are losing millions of dollars in profits each and every year due to counterfeit golf equipment purchases.  There are basically thousands of thieves across the globe every day stealing money from their bank accounts.

So…what is the group doing to get rid of these thieves and counterfeiting in golf?  Well in my opinion NOT ENOUGH.

The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Counterfeiting Group which was formed in 2004 just launched a website they hope will eradicate this action and not only protect them but consumers as well.

So What’s Their Plan To Defeat Counterfeiting?

So what is their plan?  Well…they say two things:

• Education
• Enforcement

But here is the problem(s):

• ENFORCEMENT WON’T WORK! – Well at least what the group is doing so far won’t work.  They employ a similar system that our current drug enforcement uses (Education & Enforcement). This all sounds great but it’s all about how you mobilize that education & enforcement.  And if you’ve watched even the smallest amount of TV lately I am sure you would agree that this “drug war” plan hasn’t worked out so well for us.  Not only has there not been a reduction in the amount of meth labs or drug wars going on in and around our country…they’ve increased dramatically.SAY NO TO DRUGS! – FAILED! (and so will)  SAY NO TO COUNTERFEITS!In 2010 the group says they seized 25,000 of the estimated 2,000,000 counterfeit golf clubs produced that year.  The seized clubs were valued at more then $1 million dollars.  Problem is that leaves 1,975,000 counterfeit golf clubs still in the marketplace and that’s just a rough estimate.  So…you’ve stopped the equivalent of a few days worth of production for these guys.  And like they state that doesn’t even include items like: fake balls, bags, gloves, etc.

• EDUCATION – this is great if your actually able to reach the masses to do so…but even if you do…what is your message going to be?  What are you going to educate them about?  Just telling golfers that it’s a problem is simply not enough.  This group was formed in 2004 and the prevalence of counterfeiting has only gotten worse.

Golf Manufacturers Counterfeiting Group – Launches Website

While I will say that their new website is a start I will also say it is a MAJOR disappointment in my view.  Not only is it lacking when it comes to distribution as of now but it also lacks information.  In a matter of a single day a year or so ago I was able to write an article with more tips on how to avoid buying a “fake” then this group has produced in its 7 years of existence…which by the way their site totals all of 4 tips.

And you could have 50 tips on their new site and it still would not be nearly enough to make a dent in the problem.  Listen I am well aware that you will never be able to 100% fully eradicate golf club counterfeiting but they could do some things to make it much tougher for those producing counterfeit golf equipment to want to stay in business.

How To Stop The Thieves!

Now…by no means is this an all encompassing list or full proof ways to eliminate golf club counterfeiting…but if they really want to get serious about this…in my opinion these might be better options then launching a website with 4 tips to help consumers avoid buying fakes.

• Updated List of Counterfeit Sites & Sellers – At a minimum this list could be listed on their new website.  This list would need to be updated weekly since the counterfeiters websites are often taken down but can re-appear under another name in a matter of days.

• Advertise It! – This group is made up of 5 of the most well known golf companies in the world…they have the money.  This group says they came together to “Protect the integrity of the game and to protect the consumers.”  So if they are sincerely interested in doing this…do some advertising both through online and offline media outlets.  On the TV they could educate and on the web they could have ads on popular sites with links to the list of the current known counterfeiters.

• Get Verified! – Similar to Twitter…have all popular authorized retailer/dealers publicly have to apply to be able to display that they are a “Verified Retailer/Dealer”.  This would be prominently promoted both in their brick and mortar shops and online stores as well…further getting the word out about the prevalence of the issue.

• Partnership with eBay – sites like eBay are a major source of counterfeit sales for the golf equipment industry.  The majority of shoppers on these types of sites are looking for a deal and counterfeiters know this.  You are much less likely to question a new club purchase at a reduced rate from an eBay seller vs. a retail shop selling it much lower than expected.  And therefore many people end up receiving fake goods through eBay.  So, why not partner with them to publicize a list of known offending eBay account names known to sell fake golf goods.

• Empower The Consumer! – This is the most important…consumers are the final decision makers when making golf equipment purchases, but up until now they have not had a way to 100% verify their equipments authenticity.  And no…holograms and ultra-violet sensitive labels will not work…they are too easily reproduced by the counterfeiters.  Counterfeiters will always be able to out match law enforcement. Although, millions of watchdog consumers could crush them.  So how you solve this is by having a unique code that is placed on the club after manufacturing (avoid overseas counterfeiting of the code) and only by the golf company itself.  This code could then be texted by the consumer to a phone number that will instantly give you a response back whether or not it is “authentic”.  This code could only be verified once after that the message would come back “error”.  This code could solve the problem for all new club purchases at “Verified Retailer/Dealer” locations.

NO PROFIT = NO COUNTERFEITERS

Now you might be saying this doesn’t solve the re-sale issue regarding counterfeit sales…and you have a point to some degree.  But counterfeiters goal is to make a profit just like anyone else in business.  And by almost eliminating them getting their retail costs for their counterfeits (still low cost to you) it will majorly impact their bottom line.  And by further educating the masses vs. launching a website you once again put a major dent in their profitability.  Promotion of  the “Verified Retailer/Dealer” program would also make the consumer more aware of the issue.  In the end what this does is reduce the amount of counterfeiters willing to get in the business…greatly reducing the amount of counterfeit products in the market place.

Just look at what is going in the world today…empowering the consumers can be a powerful thing.

Your Thoughts & Your Help!

Help spread the word about golf club counterfeiting…share this article or others like it with your golfing friends.  Have thoughts about this article or maybe you have your own ideas on how they could reduce the amount of counterfeit golf clubs sales.  I want to hear them and I am sure the U.S. Golf Counterfeiting Group would as well.  So speak up…have your voice heard and remember…”if it’s too good of a deal…most of the time it’s a fake!”