Updated: How to Spot Fake Ergo's

[aliss]

Ouch. And yes, the French is also very incorrect - it is not genuine. Sorry

 

[Leids]

Ouch. And yes, the French is also very incorrect - it is not genuine. Sorry

Thank you! I was actually wondering if the other languages were messed up as well.

 

[Menelly]

omg... I think I have a fake!

Oh no, I hope not. What is wrong with these people selling these?! Ugh. I guess they may not realize that what they're selling could hurt someone's baby.

Not to be mean, but... how can it hurt my baby? (I have a fake one too.)

The stitching is incredibly well done. (I sew. I'm familiar.) According to every site I've looked at, they're using the exact same buckles. Which are rated to 350 lbs. We've pulled, we've tugged, we've tried really hard to make that thing not take weight, and it does it fine.

I have no intentions of getting rid of it, although I probably won't try to sell it on. (I too found out it was a fake after getting it, which is why I tried putting it through so many tests.)

The fabric is sturdy. The stitching is sturdy. The buckles are sturdy.

Just because someone got a fake Timex doesn't mean it doesn't tell time properly. It just means Timex didn't get their proper take of the money.

I can't see any reason I'm putting my child in danger when it's quality is good enough to fool people into thinking its the real thing. The stuff they're mentioning on it being fake is things like "the logo stitching isn't as small" and "there's diagonal lines behind the logo" and "the box is in Engrish" and "the color of green on the box is a different shade." If you have to go THAT FAR to figure out it's not real, and the fabric is good, the stitching is good (I really did check all stitching. At least mine is fine.) and the buckles are from the same company... I don't think that makes it unsafe. Sorry.

Kesslie's been on my back in it loads of times. She's been fine.

ETA: Read the rest of the thread. Yeah, you guys have different buckles, that would bother me. Mine look like the Ergo buckles.

 

[BigAl]

Ergo website? There's a fake ergo website out there too.

It's this one: ergobabyscarrier.eu

Urgh I just bought mine from here.

 

[swood9]

omg... I think I have a fake!

Oh no, I hope not. What is wrong with these people selling these?! Ugh. I guess they may not realize that what they're selling could hurt someone's baby.

Not to be mean, but... how can it hurt my baby? (I have a fake one too.)

The stitching is incredibly well done. (I sew. I'm familiar.) According to every site I've looked at, they're using the exact same buckles. Which are rated to 350 lbs. We've pulled, we've tugged, we've tried really hard to make that thing not take weight, and it does it fine.

I have no intentions of getting rid of it, although I probably won't try to sell it on. (I too found out it was a fake after getting it, which is why I tried putting it through so many tests.)

The fabric is sturdy. The stitching is sturdy. The buckles are sturdy.

Just because someone got a fake Timex doesn't mean it doesn't tell time properly. It just means Timex didn't get their proper take of the money.

I can't see any reason I'm putting my child in danger when it's quality is good enough to fool people into thinking its the real thing. The stuff they're mentioning on it being fake is things like "the logo stitching isn't as small" and "there's diagonal lines behind the logo" and "the box is in Engrish" and "the color of green on the box is a different shade." If you have to go THAT FAR to figure out it's not real, and the fabric is good, the stitching is good (I really did check all stitching. At least mine is fine.) and the buckles are from the same company... I don't think that makes it unsafe. Sorry.

Kesslie's been on my back in it loads of times. She's been fine.

ETA: Read the rest of the thread. Yeah, you guys have different buckles, that would bother me. Mine look like the Ergo buckles.

There are reports of the buckles breaking and straps ripping. Who knows if their tested?

 

[Leids]

The stitching is shoddy and it's coming apart in some areas. The buckles aren't the same as the buckles on a normal ergo. I've pulled and tugged on it and it seems sturdy enough, but I'm not going to rely on my pulling and tugging. With time, I have no idea if the stitching will start to give even more. Since he's large and very bouncy, I'm not going to risk it. The straps themselves are already frayed and coming apart, and that's after occasional use over 3 months.

They falsely advertise that it's an ergo carrier. There are things all over the box guaranteeing the safety of it. I spent $75 on it because of I thought it was a real ergo, a trustworthy brand. I can't say the same for a fake, and had I known it was a fake, I wouldn't have even paid $20 for it let alone $75. Especially since a real, verified ergo is only $20-25 more.

A fake watch can't potentially seriously harm a child. Neither can a fake designer purse. It's completely different.

 

[bookreader]

This is something that really got me so mad.
I have posted about this here before.
About 6 weeks or so ago i bought one from Amazon. I also bought the insert ( a further £25).
When it arrived i noticed the buckle had a little bit of plastic sticking out and i thought that was odd given how great these were supposed to be.
A quick google check and i realised that there were loads of fakes, and basically if you pay under the actual price, the chances of gettign a fake is quite high.

I contacted the seller who was going to give me £15 as compensation, or send it back to them (me to pay the postage) and i would recieve a full refund.

I refused both as i was not sending it back for some other unassuming parent to receive it.
I contacted Amazon who fully refunded me. It worries me, these wont have necessarly had the safety checks that Ergo carry out.

I have my real one now which i love. And i still have the fake. To be honest i dont know what to do with it. I will have to burn it or something.

 

[swood9]

I saw a site that did stress tests on fakes and they tore. My LO is nearly 20 lbs now, I wouldn't risk it.

 

[aliss]

Ouch. And yes, the French is also very incorrect - it is not genuine. Sorry

Thank you! I was actually wondering if the other languages were messed up as well.

Yes, it's quite bad actually, even worse than the English one

 

[LJM]

Do you have the equivalent of trading standards in the USA? (its basically a place you go to if something isn't as you expect and you can't get a refund another way)

Try and find out and contact them and let the seller know you have. They will poop themselves because they can go to court over it and face hefty fines.

Why do people do this

It is people like this that make me not buy from eBay- I use it for selling and that is that.

Is there a thread on here about how to spot a fake? Would be interested to know as we used one and will use one again with our next baby.

 

[LJM]

I have read everything on this thread but maybe name and shame too? You might find someone else here has brought from that seller and has no idea.

 

[Leids]

I can post his ebay information. He ONLY sold ergo's though, and as soon as someone called him out on the fake he stopped putting anything up for sale.

We have filed a criminal complaint. My husband is going to try to contact our bank to see if we can get a refund (apparently some banks will reverse it). We'll see though. I don't know about the trading standards, I'll have to look into it.

I can add some links on how to spot a fake in the original post for those interested. It is upsetting. It irritates me when I buy something under the assumption that it's a real product that's been tested and is verified to be safe. I'm not saying that all fake ergo's are unsafe, but I feel that the majority of them probably are.

His ebay username was jowhit2012. He had 4 or 5 100% positive reviews before I bought - I wouldn't have purchased if he had none, but since no one commented on fakes I thought it should be okay, silly me!

Ebay page: https://myworld.ebay.com/jowhit2012/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

 

[HellBunny]

I reported numerous ebay sellers last year for this, it is utterly ridiculous, trying to make a profit on things like this. It took weeks for them to be removed too, yet a pair of fake Nike trainers get removed instantly, how is that fair?

 

[summer rain]

This is why I only buy WAHM carriers that I know for sure are made in the US or UK. Getting your carriers made in a factory in China or India is like a big invitation to try and copy the product, as there are virtually no copyright laws there. Same goes for India, India even have a big problem with counterfeit books, I got a big boxed set of reference books from an Indian-run Islamic store in the US, they were offering it at a knock down price but when I got it home I noticed odd things like the dust jacket looked like it had been scanned and reprinted, there were big white uneven gaps between the different blocks of colour on the front cover (original cover has no gaps), the design on the cover didn't even go all the way to the edges of the dust jacket, the leather effect cover under the dust jacket was smooth textured as opposed to having a grain like the original, but it was applied very lumpily to the cardboard cover as well. Pages inside were all wavy and of poor quality also they don't turn easily and the book doesn't stay open easily, the originals do. Printing seems ok but isn't as clear as in the originals and there are typos though not sure if these were in the original books and corrected in later editions as they seem to have copied the set off the first edition. Was a bit annoying as I would have rather have paid that bit extra for the genuine article. India is known for counterfeit fabrics as well, I'd go to a fabric store in the Middle East and top shelf of fabrics and bottom shelf of fabrics would look identical but the bottom shelf would be Indian knock offs of the fabrics on the top shelf which were Japanese or Korean, the guy in the shop would warn me saying yes the bottom fabrics are a lot cheaper but they shrink and snag easily and fade in the wash xx

 

[SadieMaria]

Wow, thanks for posting this! I nearly brought one from a local baby store but looking at this, I don't think it was a legit ergo!

 

[Menelly]

I can post his ebay information. He ONLY sold ergo's though, and as soon as someone called him out on the fake he stopped putting anything up for sale.

We have filed a criminal complaint. My husband is going to try to contact our bank to see if we can get a refund (apparently some banks will reverse it). We'll see though. I don't know about the trading standards, I'll have to look into it.

I can add some links on how to spot a fake in the original post for those interested. It is upsetting. It irritates me when I buy something under the assumption that it's a real product that's been tested and is verified to be safe. I'm not saying that all fake ergo's are unsafe, but I feel that the majority of them probably are.

His ebay username was jowhit2012. He had 4 or 5 100% positive reviews before I bought - I wouldn't have purchased if he had none, but since no one commented on fakes I thought it should be okay, silly me!

Ebay page: https://myworld.ebay.com/jowhit2012/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

Oh, I agree with you though. It's infuriating to spend that much money and think you're getting a deal when in fact it's a fake and you can't sell it on.

I'm glad yours at least isn't selling on ebay anymore. I'd post the seller I got mine from, but I found out it was a fake by someone else reporting them and they don't sell anymore. They had 97 positives.

 

[Leids]

This is why I only buy WAHM carriers that I know for sure are made in the US or UK. Getting your carriers made in a factory in China or India is like a big invitation to try and copy the product, as there are virtually no copyright laws there. Same goes for India, India even have a big problem with counterfeit books, I got a big boxed set of reference books from an Indian-run Islamic store in the US, they were offering it at a knock down price but when I got it home I noticed odd things like the dust jacket looked like it had been scanned and reprinted, there were big white uneven gaps between the different blocks of colour on the front cover (original cover has no gaps), the design on the cover didn't even go all the way to the edges of the dust jacket, the leather effect cover under the dust jacket was smooth textured as opposed to having a grain like the original, but it was applied very lumpily to the cardboard cover as well. Pages inside were all wavy and of poor quality also they don't turn easily and the book doesn't stay open easily, the originals do. Printing seems ok but isn't as clear as in the originals and there are typos though not sure if these were in the original books and corrected in later editions as they seem to have copied the set off the first edition. Was a bit annoying as I would have rather have paid that bit extra for the genuine article. India is known for counterfeit fabrics as well, I'd go to a fabric store in the Middle East and top shelf of fabrics and bottom shelf of fabrics would look identical but the bottom shelf would be Indian knock offs of the fabrics on the top shelf which were Japanese or Korean, the guy in the shop would warn me saying yes the bottom fabrics are a lot cheaper but they shrink and snag easily and fade in the wash xx

I really didn't think that carriers would be so commonly faked. I should have known though and done more research prior to buying it. My family is Chinese (well, all of them are but me ) and when I talked to them about this they told me to just toss the carrier. They were telling me that there are so many things there that are faked and when they go over there every year there are so many people that just try to scam like crazy. They really dislike shopping there because they don't know what they're getting and they can't trust anyone. Book shops that they went to to buy LO baby books at even tried getting a one up on them. They don't seem to have any shame.

I can post his ebay information. He ONLY sold ergo's though, and as soon as someone called him out on the fake he stopped putting anything up for sale.

We have filed a criminal complaint. My husband is going to try to contact our bank to see if we can get a refund (apparently some banks will reverse it). We'll see though. I don't know about the trading standards, I'll have to look into it.

I can add some links on how to spot a fake in the original post for those interested. It is upsetting. It irritates me when I buy something under the assumption that it's a real product that's been tested and is verified to be safe. I'm not saying that all fake ergo's are unsafe, but I feel that the majority of them probably are.

His ebay username was jowhit2012. He had 4 or 5 100% positive reviews before I bought - I wouldn't have purchased if he had none, but since no one commented on fakes I thought it should be okay, silly me!

Ebay page: https://myworld.ebay.com/jowhit2012/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

Oh, I agree with you though. It's infuriating to spend that much money and think you're getting a deal when in fact it's a fake and you can't sell it on.

I'm glad yours at least isn't selling on ebay anymore. I'd post the seller I got mine from, but I found out it was a fake by someone else reporting them and they don't sell anymore. They had 97 positives.

That's how I found out too! At this point it's too late to go through ebay to get my refund. I really wish I would have given it more attention as I knew that the buckle was a bit off but I attributed it to it maybe being an older version. One of the 'how to spot a fake' websites that I followed really had me believe that I had a REAL ergo because everything was right on mine aside from the buckle, which even looked similar to the stealth buckle just without the logo (slight differences, so I have no idea how safe the buckle actually is).

Honestly the fact that I bought it under false pretenses is what irritates me most. I can see there being decent knock-off's but I wish they would sell it as such, rather than claiming it's something else. It sells more because of the name though, so I guess they'll do what they have to. I don't believe my little guy was ever in any real danger because I always put my hands under his butt to support him, and had I felt anything odd I would have taken him out, but he really did feel secure in the carrier.

 

[dgirllamius]

I'm starting to wonder if mine is genuine. I was looking at the serial number tag and mine says made in china and some sites say that's a fake. can anyone verify?

Apparently they can be made in China or India.

do you mean fakes or real ones? will be peeved off if I have a fake >.<

 

[pink_rulez]

Iv just bought one from the list off ergo,
Born to be exact, but my warning label looks like the one pictured fake and the buckle dosnt say stealth but everything else looks like the real one, stitching ect now I'm confused, gosh I hope it's not a fake I payed full price for it!
It says made in china on the label dose that mean its a fake?
X

 

[Leids]

Real ergo carriers are made in China or India. Mine says it's made in India, but is fake. If you purchased one from an authorized seller then you probably have the real deal.

When I get my new ergo from the official store I'll post pictures so you can compare. Hopefully you have a real ergo. :\ From what I gather, the warning label on the belt portion can look a bit different depending on how old the ergo is.

https://distilleryimage0.s3.amazonaws.com/224ac7acb9f011e1a39b1231381b7ba1_6.jpg

That's a genuine label. I've seen one other type of genuine label though that's similar to my fake label. And I've seen fake labels that are identical to the real label, so hard to say. It's a shady business. If I buy another ergo type of carrier with the next baby I'll probably get a beco or a boba.