How do you guys find all these places ?

I’ve never heard of half of them. 
 

Also, when you buy reel for 5.00 from some off the wall, obscure website on the internet do you really think it’s that great of deal and money well spent?

 

I don’t get it 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Temu isn't that obscure, it's pretty huge. It's sort of like the Ollies of online retail. Basically cheap, off brand crap that no one wanted sold at a huge discount. 

4 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

Instead of the $50 plastic peice of garbage Black Max everyone recommends for beginners

No one would ever recommend a Black Max for $50, but for $20 off marketplace this plastic piece of garbage will last forever. However when they did sell for $50-60 it included a rod, that too is pretty durable and great for squarebills. 

 

5 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

Seasir Megacuda for $30 with an aluminum frame, dual supported pinion, cone level wind and a power handle. In other cases the exact same reels sold by "reputable brands" on TW for $100+ will be found in its native form in its native market of Aliexpress for $20. 

I and several dozen others got a LFS with an aluminum frame, P2 super pinion, an actually usable handle grips, etc for $22.50 from America, with a warranty, a receipt, no odd names, no scams....

 

There are really good deals in both markets, but i (and more than likely many of us here) have spent too much time buying cheap junk trying to save a dollar, testing out budget reels no one heard of, or uses. For a few bucks less or a few bucks more id rather just buy a Lews, Daiwa, Shimano from the US, because the deals ive gotten them for beat Ali/Temu and JDM stores. But i have to admit i really would love that Fuego SV and Salamandura, but im at a loss on where i would even start to try to find a legit one being sold by a legit dealer....

 

 

On 3/6/2025 at 8:56 AM, MediumMouthBass said:

but im at a loss on where i would even start to try to find a legit one being sold by a legit dealer....

They're all legit.  There is no such thing as counterfeit reels on these sites.   The amount of time and tooling it takes to make something passable for a reel doesn't lend itself well to making scams.  You'll get reels that will copy the shape of a high end reel but made from plastic because you can make injection molds and crap out plastic reels for nothing.  They are always honestly branded with some made up name and brand and stated as being made from "carbon fiber" (plastic) or what we call "graphite" (also plastic).

 

You're more likely to encounter someone in real life from Facebook Market place or somewhere similar dishonestly selling a cheap copycat reel as a brand name than you are from any seller on Aliexpress.  They would buy a plastic Metanium B shaped Hunthouse reel for $25 then put it in a Metanium box and sell it to you 2nd hand as a used Metanium or scam Shimano with a return.

I got one of these on the way 95mm hope it don't snap landing bluegil 

On 3/6/2025 at 10:18 AM, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

I got one of these on the way 95mm hope it don't snap landing bluegil 

Sharp edges on the sides of the handle and those knobs feels ultra cheapo, but for under $5 its fine. One vendor was selling carbon handles without the knobs for $10, and they looked so d**n good compared to your average handle, all the edges were rounded and it was very similar to the RCS handles, but no sure what happened, they stopped selling those.

I have bought a few Salamandura's off Ali Express. No regrets.

45 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

. No regrets.

“Oh look honey he has his life motto tattooed on himself” 🤣😆 I know I’m paraphrasing the movie line but having a daughter of my own it makes me laugh .

4 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

I have bought a few Salamandura's off Ali Express. No regrets.

What did you think of them?

6 minutes ago, MediumMouthBass said:

What did you think of them?

He thought No Regrets.