it seems that suspicious filters are still being sold on the amazon dot com… this is the fourth time i’ve felt that i need to warn people about counterfeit filters on amazon… the problem seems endless…
There’s this thing that keeps happening…
New Amazon sellers pop-up on the site, regardless of Amazon’s asinine processes to verify new shops, and begin selling B+W labeled filters for about 15% less than the official retail price.
I cannot absolutely say the filters sold by “Red Li Li” are counterfeit… I can only strongly, very strongly, suggest that they are.
(Both the B+W 72mm XS-Pro Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating (010M) and the B+W 67mm XS-Pro Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating (010M) are very frequently the filter sizes and styles counterfeited)
The real retail price for this filter, the price you will pay at actual official B+W retailers such as Amazon, B&H, and Adorama, is $40.
The seller that is selling this filter is brand new to Amazon and only offers three products. All cheap, easily counterfeited, products that can be obtained on Alibaba.
What these sellers do, is start a new seller page and then undercut the price of the real filter. Because they’re selling the filter for less than everyone else, Amazon automatically displays the filter from the new seller.
And people just blindly buy the counterfeit filter from the seller…
For consumers the thought process seems to be “the product page is correct, everything looks official, there’s an “Amazon” label on it… nothing can go wrong, right?”
Some of the confusion with consumers seems to stem from the label “fulfilled by Amazon”. People seem to think that this acts as some kind of verification of the authenticity of the products being sold.
It is not.
Amazon wants those sweet, sweet, warehouse and commission fees from sellers. Fulfilled by Amazon is not a program to benefit consumers. It is only a program for sellers to store and ship product. Amazon does not verify the authenticity of the products being sold.
There is a fundamental difference between “Sold by Amazon” and “Fulfilled by Amazon“.
When purchasing a B+W filter that is sold directly by Amazon, you will be getting a genuine B+W filter. When purchasing pretty much anything that is fulfilled by Amazon… well it’s a crap shoot whether or not you’ll get the real thing when we’re talking about an easily counterfeited product like lens filters.
Counterfeit lens filters are not new to Amazon, Amazon doesn’t seem to genuinely care and just goes on about it’s asinine bureaucratic processes for sellers that obviously can be easily gamed, and this problem will not be changing anytime soon.
As much as you may hate it, it’s all up to you to do your research and buy the correct genuine product.
I highly suggest you purchase your lens filters from Adorama and B&H. You pay maybe a whole $5 more but are guaranteed to get the real thing… not a counterfeit filter that uses window glass instead of optical glass.
An FYI…
Ways to tell your B+W filter is the real thing:
- B+W XS-Pro filters are made of brass and will feel somewhat heavy. Aluminum will feel lighter in the hand.
- B+W places the filter info on the front and not the side of the filter.
- There should be a hologram sticker on the packaging.
- Your filter should not change image quality… blatant counterfeits that use non-optical glass will change how things appear significantly.