Golfers warned of internet black market in counterfeit clubs
THOUSANDS of Scottish golfers who buy equipment through websites such as eBay have been warned of a growing multi-million pound black market in counterfeit clubs.
The global trade in all counterfeit goods, focused in China but now branching out elsewhere, is estimated to be worth £400 billion a year.
It is so damaging that several major golf manufacturers have hired private detectives to crack down on illegal vendors.
More than 100 counterfeit putters, as well as golf bags and clothing, were seized in a raid by police and trading standards chiefs at a house in Berkshire earlier this month.
Police only became aware when a local professional noticed an anomaly in a pupil's Odyssey-branded putter, bought at a discount rate on eBay.
Counterfeiting has been on the rise for about a decade, ever since United States-based golf companies began subcontracting club production to China. Of the major manufacturers, including Adams, Callaway, Cleveland, Cobra, Nike, TaylorMade and Titleist, only Ping still makes most of its clubs outside China's Pearl River Delta region.
Callaway alone took action against 618 internet auctions of counterfeit clubs in 2002. The manufacturer said the recent auction of Odyssey counterfeits was "particularly sinister".
A spokeswoman said: "Our main concern is for people under the impression they are getting an authentic product and then feel cheated when it turns out to be a low-quality fake.
"Callaway Golf's authorised retailers are not permitted to sell new Callaway golf clubs on eBay.com."
Online auctions of counterfeit golf clubs pose a moral dilemma for British consumers, according to Stuart Keith, who studied Chinese counterfeiting for his dissertation at the University of Edinburgh last year.
Counterfeits are often sold for as little as a tenth the price of authentic clubs. And it is not illegal to purchase counterfeits, only to sell them.
He said: "It is simply not true to say you can't buy quality counterfeit clubs. Sometimes, the clubs will be made in the same factories as the originals, as workers sneak in for off-the-books shifts.
"A lot of counterfeits are technically authentic products, made in the same factories by the same staff - the only difference is that you are buying it through illegal sales channels."
Chinese triads have long been suspected of using counterfeit products to fund operations, as the penalties are not nearly as severe as drug-running, prostitution or illegal gambling.
Perhaps of more immediate concern to British golfers, counterfeiting discourages innovation, a blow to handicappers waiting for breakthroughs in golf club technology.
"Sure, a lot of prices for major- brand golf clubs are inflated, but the companies have to be repaid for their innovation otherwise there is no incentive to continue to bring new and better products to the marketplace," Mr Keith said.
Last summer, the heralded Scottish club manufacturer John Letters, which provides clubs to Sean Connery and several professionals, was put into receivership before being purchased by an online superstore. The company cited counterfeits and cheap imports from Asia as the primary reason.
A spokeswoman for the R&A, golf's governing body, said: "The rules only dictate that clubs must conform to certain specifications. So while we cannot condone counterfeits, they are almost always acceptable within the rules of golf."
A spokeswoman for Callaway said: "A full set of authentic Callaway golf clubs [including woods] , depending on the models, will retail for £1,373 to £1,648 or more. If the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is."
A spokeswoman for the National Consumer Council said: "In most cases, consumers are aware what they are purchasing is counterfeit, so it's a deal that suits them.
"However, if products are dangerous it's obviously not in the interest of the consumer."