eBay fake Roush spoiler - looks good

[cal_gecko]

I got one of these eBay spoilers for just $139.00, painted and delivered. I picked up a roll of 3M molding adhesive tape at Napa Auto today, and cleaned the paint surface with rubbing alcohol as well as the mounting surface on the spoiler - then stuck the tape on, and stuck the spoiler on - very happy with how it looks - can't beat the price, and I didn't have to drill ANY holes to mount it. knowing the strength of the 3M tape, I'm confident it's not going anywhere either.

link for the spoiler on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281942345999?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Sponsored

 

[Tems]

Hows it holding up? still on tight?

 

[stang305]

I have one also love it

 

[stang305]

There's a whole thread with everyone posting there eBay roush

 

[phunk]

ya, sorry cant get behind this one. original is only $350 painted and shipped. Thats not unreasonable at all. I gotta support the companies that bring this stuff to market and further the development for our platform. Not the guys that leech off them and hurt them.

With Roush being a paying supporting vendor of this community, threads about knockoffs of their stuff should be deleted. What a slap in the face.

 

[free]

Got the same one bout a month ago, no holes just 3M over 100mph and still holding on strong.

 

[Fox5.0]

ya, sorry cant get behind this one. original is only $350 painted and shipped. Thats not unreasonable at all. I gotta support the companies that bring this stuff to market and further the development for our platform. Not the guys that leech off them and hurt them.

With Roush being a paying supporting vendor of this community, threads about knockoffs of their stuff should be deleted. What a slap in the face.

Haha, chill out dude. He's allowed to post what he wants, some people don't have the money to dish out 400$ for a spoiler or simply don't want to waste the extra money when the product makes them happy.

 

[phunk]

Haha, chill out dude. He's allowed to post what he wants, some people don't have the money to dish out 400$ for a spoiler or simply don't want to waste the extra money when the product makes them happy.

Hahaha chill out bro. It's only $350. And if you can't afford $350, don't buy it. Why people wanna support copy-cat thieves is beyond me. :headbonk:

 

[JCGT]

Hahaha chill out bro. It's only $350. And if you can't afford $350, don't buy it. Why people wanna support copy-cat thieves is beyond me. :headbonk:

Thieves? That's a bit strong, don't you think? Unless the design is patented other companies are free to recreate it. If they can do that at a lower price point then people who either can't afford to pay the price of the original part or just don't see the value at that price will buy the new option (plus the folks with no brand loyalty). Welcome to free market capitalism. Given that, I find it somewhat ironic that most copycat parts are made in China.

From my own personal perspective, would I like a spoiler? Yes, and for ~$150 I might get one BUT do I want one enough to pay 2 or 3 times as much? Nope.

 

[steven]

jesus some people look for any opportunity to be negative about anything smh...looks good and awesome price bud...

 

[phunk]

Thieves? That's a bit strong, don't you think? Unless the design is patented other companies are free to recreate it. If they can do that at a lower price point then people who either can't afford to pay the price of the original part or just don't see the value at that price will buy the new option (plus the folks with no brand loyalty). Welcome to free market capitalism. Given that, I find it somewhat ironic that most copycat parts are made in China.

From my own personal perspective, would I like a spoiler? Yes, and for ~$150 I might get one BUT do I want one enough to pay 2 or 3 times as much? Nope.

It is a stolen design, and an entity that steals things is by definition a thieve. By definition, it is precisely what it is... so i'm not sure I see the room for debate on that piece of the discussion.

As for your patent argument... that is a very intuitive but weak argument that is often the go-to for imitation supporters. Not trying to be condescending here, but that argument would only be presented by someone who has not created or designed products worthy of protecting, has no experience with what a patent costs, nor understands what a patent does, or when they apply.

Researching patents, you will quickly learn that a patent would merely cost the designer a ton of money, protect them very little (if at all) in this scenario, and cost them a fortune to enforce in scenarios that it does apply. It would likely cost them more than the profits they ever stood to make on a low volume product (even the best selling performance parts are VERY LOW volume compared to typical retail products, or anything most businesses would bother with a patent on). Meanwhile these, most likely Chinese, knock-offs would still be floating around all the same.

Your popular attitude is what destroys incentive for innovation. What is ironic, is how selective and conflicted this attitude is when investigated. If we sat down and had a few drinks and chat for a few hours, I guarantee I could find major hypocrisy in your defense of this imitation product.

Sure, you can argue all day that it is LEGAL since there is no *LAW* protecting Roushs design, and you will win that argument every time.

But that does not change the ethics on the matter, that someone is a shit-bag for copying their work and efforts, and that cheap consumers have zero respect or appreciation for the truly passionate businesses that want to bring them new products.

I never came here to make claims that that this is an illegal business practice. I just find it a distasteful and shady. I am confident that if you had a personal relationship with the owners of a business that floats on imitations and wannabe parts, you would probably hesitate to trust them with your money. But since their personality is hiding behind the internet, its easier for them to muster support from people who don't care about whats ethical or fair.

When you openly support imitation products, you are saying that you do not believe that the individual who designed this product deserves to be paid for their work. You are saying that the photographer who took the photos for Roush should not be paid. You are saying that the only people who deserve to get paid out of all that went into making this product exist and be presented to you through marketing, is the laborer cracking the whip at the little kids assembling your imitation spoiler that you will proudly display on your "American" car.

 

[phunk]

jesus some people look for any opportunity to be negative about anything smh...looks good and awesome price bud...

And some people look for any opportunity to save a buck, and sweep the hard working innovators under the rug. :cheers:

If you search my posts you will easily find just as many positive posts as negative posts. I am just as prone to praise greatness as I am to criticize nonsense.

 

[JCGT]

It is a stolen design, and an entity that steals things is by definition a thieve. By definition, it is precisely what it is... so i'm not sure I see the room for debate on that piece of the discussion.

Unless they illegally obtained copies of the design documents its not a stolen design. Reverse engineering is not stealing.

As for your patent argument... that is a very intuitive but weak argument that is often the go-to for imitation supporters. Not trying to be condescending here, but that argument would only be presented by someone who has not created or designed products worthy of protecting, has no experience with what a patent costs, nor understands what a patent does, or when they apply.

That is a poor assumption. I am an engineer at a large aerospace company with direct experience with the patent process.

Researching patents, you will quickly learn that a patent would merely cost the designer a ton of money, protect them very little (if at all) in this scenario, and cost them a fortune to enforce in scenarios that it does apply. Overall it would cost them more than the profits they ever stood to make on a low volume product (even the best selling performance parts are VERY LOW volume compared to typical retail products, or anything most businesses would bother with a patent on). Meanwhile these, most likely Chinese, knock-offs would still be floating around all the same.

I don't dispute that

Your popular attitude is what destroys incentive for innovation. What is ironic, is how selective and conflicted this attitude is when investigated. If we sat down and had a few drinks and chat for a few hours, I guarantee I could find major hypocrisy in your defense of this imitation product.

I think "destroys" is a bit of a dramatic choice of words. There is absolutely a risk that might dissuade some from developing a new product but much of that risk can be mitigated.

Another perspective is that the competition helps drive innovation and in this case (knowing you are likely to be knocked off) it will hopefully lead you to focus on making sure you are providing your customers with good value for money.

Sure, you can argue all day that it is LEGAL since there is no *LAW* protecting Roushs design, and you will win that argument every time.

But that does not change the ethics on the matter, that someone is a shit-bag for copying their work and efforts, and that cheap consumers have zero respect or appreciation for the truly passionate businesses that want to bring them new products.

I personally wouldn't base a business off of copying the work of others as it wouldn't bring me any satisfaction to do that, I would rather come up with my own designs. I don't think that makes those that do choose to do so bad people though.

I never came here to make claims that that this is an illegal business practice. I just find it a distasteful and shady. I am confident that if you had a personal relationship with the owners of a business that floats on imitations and wannabe parts, you would probably hesitate to trust them with your money.

Fair enough, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I'm not sure what you mean about trusting them with my money though.

 

[SK GT]

Looks great OP. I'm sure Roush will survive without your $350. #dramaqueens

 

[phunk]

That is a poor assumption. I am an engineer at a large aerospace company with direct experience with the patent process.

Perhaps the "large" part is what is making it hard for you to relate. Try entrepreneurship. Start from scratch and create your own products, and then see if your opinion about knock-offs starts to shift a little?

Sure, reverse engineering in itself is not stealing. But using that reverse engineering to create identical products certainly is. They could have reverse engineered the trunk lid instead, and then designed their own spoiler. Or they could have improved on the Roush design with their own personal touch such as changing the angle or height to their preference. But nope.

I think "destroys" is a bit of a dramatic choice of words. There is absolutely a risk that might dissuade some from developing a new product but much of that risk can be mitigated.

There is no measuring of things that never existed. How many small businesses failed partly due to bullying practices of larger companies? Or due to imported knock-offs emerging before their company could grow?

I am a small business owner, and my business was set back years of growth by such shady business practices. Only once the primary bully company that was copying most of my products eventually failed, my business began to succeed. I stuck it out longer than most would or could through sacrifice.

Why didn't I patent the stuff? For the exact reasons explained. The costs and enforcement was absurdly prohibitive and the the startup business could have never sustained that. Now that I am through that phase, I have several products for my customers that nobody else has. Products that would not exist if I had a family or children through the tough span, which would have forced me to walk away.

If you think that this industry hasnt killed dozens or hundreds of innovative businesses with bullying before they got their foundation built, youre out of touch. Yes Roush will obviously survive through this one knock-off. But how much are they losing annually due to all knock-offs of their product? I wonder if it might be enough to have been another designer or engineers salary, to create more products that we like?

Another perspective is that the competition helps drive innovation and in this case (knowing you are likely to be knocked off) it will hopefully lead you to focus on making sure you are providing your customers with good value for money.

This is merely an excuse. And in this scenario where Roush is asking just $350 shipped for their official product... youre going to have a tough time convincing me that the official product is not already a good value. Why should innovation have to be driven by the fear of imitation? Why can it not be driven by competing innovation? If you can make the same product for less, then you can make an alternate product for less. BUT that would mean you dont get to ride the wake of the innovator and the momentum they generated for a product.

I personally wouldn't base a business off of copying the work of others as it wouldn't bring me any satisfaction to do that, I would rather come up with my own designs. I don't think that makes those that do choose to do so bad people though.

So, they dont meet up to your personal standards. You'd never stoop to their level. Buuuuuut if they can save you a buck, you'll support them with your money and time.

Either way, :cheers: for keeping it civil & intelligent through our differences.

Sponsored