Where can you get an authentic Gibson Les Paul Supreme for $297? Or an ES-335 Dot Reissue for $346?
Nowhere that we know of, though you can find plenty of counterfeit Gibsons and Epiphones online at those alluringly low prices. Chinese wholesale product sites like TradeTang.com, DHGate.com and MadeInChina.com are chock full of cheap, fake Gibson and Epiphone guitars boldly advertised at “Super Low Prices.”
Unfortunately people like MosriteCharlie, who posted about his experience on Scams.com, are being hustled into purchasing these fake guitars, believing that their hard-earned money is being poured into an investment quality guitar. That is, until they receive the guitar and realize that something is terribly wrong.
MosriteCharlie’s recent post on Scams.com reads, in part, “Back in July of this year, I purchased two electric guitars that I was led to believe were American made guitars. To make a long story short, I was scammed big time … That is not what I actually received. I received counterfeit fakes.”
However dismaying, the fake guitar epidemic isn’t new to Gibson, which has invested considerable efforts to remove counterfeits from sites like these or to shut them down entirely.
Gibson’s Manager of Brand Protection Ric Olsen says, “We work diligently to protect the investments of our consumers by taking action against those who sell counterfeit and infringing guitars.”
Gibson wants to warn consumers not to buy from TradeTang or sites like it, as they’re failing to remove sellers who peddle counterfeit guitars.
If you want a legitimate and quality new or used piece, you’re best off purchasing through an authorized Gibson or Epiphone dealer.
“Wholesale product sales sites like TradeTang are clearinghouses for fake guitars,” says Olsen. “Some of these sites have policies that allow for quick removal of sellers with counterfeits or infringing pieces, but sometimes it takes a long time for a site to respond and sometimes they never respond at all.”
TradeTang, for one, has been virtually unresponsive to Gibson’s legal demands to remove sellers of infringing and counterfeit pieces. The Web site hasn’t taken down any fake guitars or their sellers from its site. Though counterfeit guitars are still rampant on its site, DHGate has responded to Gibson’s demands by making some effort to better police its site.
Meanwhile, TradeTang continues to blatantly market fake guitars, sending out email blasts featuring these instruments and paying for Google Ads to lure musicians to its site.
“TradeTang works as many popular e-commerce and auction sites do except that they have inferior reporting mechanisms in place to take down these illegal sales,” explains Olsen. “TradeTang has a link on each page for reporting infringing or fake product, but it’s useless because they don’t take any action.”
To report incidents, consumers should file a report at http://www.ic3.gov/.
For questions about a guitar’s authenticity, contact the Gibson Customer Service team at service@gibson.com or 1-800-4GIBSON.
For more on counterfeit guitars and Gibson’s ongoing battle against the trend, visit these links:
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/beware-web-sites-722/
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/CounterfeitGibsons/
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/counterfeit-guitar-bust-708/