A local refinisher has been borrowing my BEA stapler every now and then for the last 10 years. He finally decided to pop for one of his own.
He didn't realize until it came in, but he bought a knockoff version from a UK E-bay store. Total cost, including shipping was $102.
Here it is next to my 10 year old BEA:
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi775.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy33%2Fsofadoc%2Fth_DSC05429.jpg&hash=17ab4cde2d88719282fe1677e047b073) (http://s775.photobucket.com/user/sofadoc/media/DSC05429.jpg.html)
The gun shoots great. Seems like a good price for a comparable quality gun.
I wonder if that is a true BEA knockoff, or is BEA selling it as a knockoff to reach the 'cheaper' market without compromising their name. Or, are they trying to unload a backlog of products in order to keep their production levels up???
BEA is still claiming that they make their tools in Germany, aren't they?
I've thought for awhile that some fabric manufactures are doing a similar thing: selling their fabrics at cheaper prices through a third party which I wonder is simply the manufacture using a different name as if it was a third party.
It's difficult to pay more money for something, when you can get the exact same thing for less money some where else.
gene
With luck - it lasts, but usually you end up buying the better quality tool. Hope it doesn't quit in the middle of a big job going out the next day. It might melt if he spills lacquer thinner on it !
SA
Why should the guy bother shelling out the money for a quality staple gun when he can always go back to borrowing sofa d's staple gun if his piece of crap stops working?
The guy down the sidewalk from me repairs brass musical instruments. Yamaha is a big name in brass musical instruments. A guy came back from a tour in Afghanistan where he bought a Yamaha trumpet for $20 bucks. These things can cost up to $1000 here in states. What a great deal!
And it played well enough to bother your neighbors, but not well enough to play in a band on Saturday night. Hence, a need for repairs.
The repair guy said it was such a cheap knockoff that he refused to work on it. The metal was so thin that he figured that any work he would try to do on it would make things worse. He thinks it was made in either Pakistan or China.
gene