Buying elecrical/electronic components from the onlime marketplaces.

[GBDamo]

Below is a Louis Rossmann video where he reviews fuses he bought from an online marketplace.

The results of his testing is terrifying and needs to be more widely recognised.

Now, I know us professionals will not purchase critical components like fuses in this manner but I recall the recent Solar iBoost thread where folks were talking about buying fuses in this manner.

We should be shouting loudly for them not to.

By the way I did look up the tripping characteristics of these fuses and typically there supposed to blow at their rated current in 10-20 seconds and factions of a second at 2x their rated current.

 

[nicebutdim]

I buy a lot of items from online marketplaces, but there are many items I wouldn't buy unless from a known distributor selling through them.

Some items aren't worth counterfeiting and others are difficult to counterfeit well, but fuses are the sort of item that is very easy to counterfeit. If you opened three packs of fuses sourced direct from the manufacturer there would be noticible differences to their finish, so spotting a counterfeit fuse would be pretty much impossible without testing samples to destruction.

I know people who won't buy form marketplaces, through fear of counterfeits, and people who buy all manner of counterfeit items believing them to be genuine. There are sellers on marketplaces from whom I wouldn't buy anything, but find it impossible to describe the warning signs learned over a quarter of a century.

 

[GBDamo]

I buy a lot of items from online marketplaces, but there are many items I wouldn't buy unless from a known distributor selling through them.

Some items aren't worth counterfeiting and others are difficult to counterfeit well, but fuses are the sort of item that is very easy to counterfeit. If you opened three packs of fuses sourced direct from the manufacturer there would be noticible differences to their finish, so spotting a counterfeit fuse would be pretty much impossible without testing samples to destruction.

I know people who won't buy form marketplaces, through fear of counterfeits, and people who buy all manner of counterfeit items believing them to be genuine. There are sellers on marketplaces from whom I wouldn't buy anything, but find it impossible to describe the warning signs learned over a quarter of a century.

The problem is many of the brands are withdrawing from 'marketplaces' leaving only the Russian roulette 'brands' from China to take their place.

This is a problem of regulation, Trading Standards used to shut this crap down now nobody seems to care.

Nobody gives a ---- about toys that don't work, tools that fall to bits and all the other cheap shenanigans but when it comes to fuses that don't blow at 5x their rated current it should be a different story.

 

[nicebutdim]

The problem is many of the brands are withdrawing from 'marketplaces' leaving only the Russian roulette 'brands' from China to take their place.

This is a problem of regulation, Trading Standards used to shut this crap down now nobody seems to care.

Nobody gives a ---- about toys that don't work, tools that fall to bits and all the other cheap shenanigans but when it comes to fuses that don't blow at 5x their rated current it should be a different story.

I don't disagree. Most stuff I buy comes from wholesalers selling through marketplaces than offered on their own websites or people clearing random stuff. The former shouldn't happen, but it's a regular occurrence - I guess they get caught up in chasing sales, through trying to be cheapest, and don't realise they're undercutting themselves with fees to pay on top.

Trading standards have never been well funded and are hopelessly outnumbered by the sheer number of substandard goods offered online. They seem to concentrate on people being scammed and a few dodgy dealers inbetween as some sort of warning, which goes unheeded.

I'm divided on the whole China brand thing - while all goods offered for sale in the UK should meet required standards, people are also incredibly stupid and seem to absolve themselves of more and more personal responsibility as each year passes. I don't get the mentality that thinks someone else must always be responsible for their own actions. Don't bother checking basic details, click the buy button and then avail yourself of the right to return - all well and good, but each and every return is a cost which retailers need to pass on and mostly through increased prices which serial returners no doubt grumble about.

Sorry for drifting so far from the core point - the stupidity of people really grates on me. What I will add is this: counterfeiters don't care about particular products any more than they care about safety. What matters is the opportunity to make money. Counterfeiting high price items, from big brand names is a constant game of cat and mouse, with resellers constantly running the risk of being shut down and shipments being a target for customs in western nations. Imagine how cheaply blade fuses can be produced when more expensive metals are replaced with monkey metal (or whatever is to hand) and the profit on a large box of them becomes immense. I can't imagine how many people around the world buy one of those sets each day, thinking it represents great value compared to manufacturer prices or the hassle of driving to a motor factors. The vast majority won't consider the possibility of counterfeit goods and those who do probably convince themselves that no one would bother making knock-off fuses. If they blow instantly the set might be returned, but slight overcurrent for an extended period will go unnoticed for some time and add to the belief that the set was a bargain.