Quite a few sellers in China(?) are offering Shimano Stradic @$190.00, and I wonder if they are legit? They are selling about $40 below the market price which is ok, but is it worth the trouble? 

This is just me, if I order a brand name reel especially the one very popular, I would consider Japan first even it slightly more expensive. China is well known to be a very good knock off source and if even it is not, there is chance that the reel has been gutted and replaced with something else. There are plenty of main gear being sell from China now.

 

The Stradic for 190 that must be ci4+ FB, I think you can find it elsewhere cheaper or not much more expensive. BPS just put ci4+ on sale for 160.

You have to be really careful. Lots of Fake items come from China from reels to golf clubs. I think if I were spending that much for a reel, I'd buy from a reputable source and pay a bit more.

Shop the Japanese sites, they already have nice deals and most will get your order to you within a week.  I've had rods and reels come from Japan in as little as two days.  Compare that with China and you could be waiting more than a month and possibly receive a knockoff.

On 7/3/2020 at 6:08 PM, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

This is just me, if I order a brand name reel especially the one very popular, I would consider Japan first even it slightly more expensive. China is well known to be a very good knock off source and if even it is not, there is chance that the reel has been gutted and replaced with something else. There are plenty of main gear being sell from China now.

 

The Stradic for 190 that must be ci4+ FB, I think you can find it elsewhere cheaper or not much more expensive. BPS just put ci4+ on sale for 160.

Ok, Japan over China then.   Unfortunately, BP is out of those reels. I contacted TW to see if they would match the price on BP's website. They sent me an email saying that since BP is out of stock, TW wouldn't be able to match the $$ even though they claimed that they'd match their competitor's prices. I told them that they were falsely advertising since I don't see why BP being out of stock is of any conflict to their policy, and my email got ignored. LOL

1 hour ago, Eddie101 said:

Ok, Japan over China then.   Unfortunately, BP is out of those reels. I contacted TW to see if they would match the price on BP's website. They sent me an email saying that since BP is out of stock, TW wouldn't be able to match the $$ even though they claimed that they'd match their competitor's prices. I told them that they were falsely advertising since I don't see why BP being out of stock is of any conflict to their policy, and my email got ignored. LOL

they aren't falsely advertising anything...BP is out of stock ..why would they price match something the company doesn't have...shop the JDM sites for them. 

If you can wait Shimano might come out with new Stradic ci4+, like x-protect, long stroke spool, one piece handle, etc.. that why deep discount from BPS and out of stock everywhere. Otherwise check out digitaka, you can op for shallow spool, difference gear ratio or even compact size 2000, and 2500. The USDM selection is really suck.

48 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

If you can wait Shimano might come out with new Stradic ci4+, like x-protect, long stroke spool, one piece handle, etc.. that why deep discount from BPS and out of stock everywhere. Otherwise check out digitaka, you can op for shallow spool, difference gear ratio or even compact size 2000, and 2500. The USDM selection is really suck.

I wondered about that actually, and your reasoning makes a lot of sense. 

China = counterfeit 

Tom

 I have never personally seen a counterfeit reel, anyone else ever had or seen one?

4 hours ago, Heartland said:

 I have never personally seen a counterfeit reel, anyone else ever had or seen one?

Yes, it was one of the older white Stradics.  The paint job was solid white instead of pearl.  The guy bought it off eBay.  Came in from China.

 

Like most people above, I would suggest buying from Japan. Asian Portal has been pretty good for me. 

5 hours ago, Heartland said:

 I have never personally seen a counterfeit reel, anyone else ever had or seen one?

China does a pretty good job of imitating the looks of reels, so even if you saw one, it would be very hard to tell if it was fake.

Example, golf clubs...I guy bought a set of Titlest irons from China, he was suspicious and contacted the maker, he took the clubs to their San Diego headquarters, turns out they had to cut the club head open to verify that they were indeed fake, so that tells how good these guys are at crating fake merchandise.