Every year counterfeiters get better at copying Mitutoyo's very popular Digimatic Calipers. Here are a few easy ways to identify distinguish calipers from fake calipers.
A very interesting and informative video, I watched it several times before I purchased my Mitutoyo vernier and I also lurched it from an authorised dealer.
Thank you for your info, I just bough a Mitutoyo Digimatic Calliper on Amazon, it seemed at a good price and I was afraid that it would be fake. I just checked against your video, and all matches, I was lucky, it is a real Mitutoyo Calliper 😄
Thanks for this video. I'm writing this about a year after you produced it. I wish I'd watched it before I bought my set, which I now know 100% to be fake. However they are still a very nice set, even though they are not genuine, and I got them for about $40 shipped from China (that's an obvious red flag). I have used many Mitutoyo calipers in the quality labs of various companies I've worked for, but have never had my own set of Mitutoyos. Like many others I've had to make do with the cheapo substandard Harbor Freight calipers. The nice thing about the HF's however is I don't care what happens to them. If they get dropped, lost, or stolen, I'm only out about $20 at most. (In fact I have a set or two of HF's which I "inherited" from my father's friend who passed away several years ago. My dad & I were helping cleaning out his garage and I found these, along with an old Fowler dial indicator. With the widow's permission I was allowed to keep them.) I usually consider these "Reference Only", and while I do occasional part measurements with them, say at tool trials, I usually have my measurements verified by a certified lab with calibrated certified instruments. I bought these on eBay as much out of curiosity as anything. I did my own visual assessment at home a couple days ago, and while I didn't have a known genuine set of Mitutoyo's to compare against, I will say that the telltale signs of fakery are very very subtle. In essence, this set of what I will call "Notutoyo" or "Just-A-Toy-o" calipers is a very very very good copy. The things from your video that basically confirmed 100% for me, that I was not able to discern for myself, were: a) The machining of the track; mine is squared-off and ramped at the end as you show. b) Also as you show, the thumbscrew at top is not captured. c) The label on the plastic box does not have a QR code, though it does have a UPC code. I scanned it with the Amazon app and it pointed tto a listing for Mitutoyos listed at $148. Oh yeah - when I went back to eBay, the listing and the seller are no longer visible. :-D 🤣 I have not compared them directly to a genuine set, have not used them on a set of certified gage blocks (which I may do in January next time I go to one of our plants), and have not sent them to an outside calibration lab (which I likely won't due as they are my personal set, unless the cost to do so is minimal). That said, these Notutoyos (or, until & unless I can verify their accuracy & precision, Just-A-Toyos) are still a very good set for what they are, far superior to the HF's. They also seem to be slightly improved over the set you show, perhaps in an attempt to further evade suspicion. a) Unlike yours, the calipers seem to slide smoothly open & closed, with no grabbing, sticking, etc. b) If I rapidly & repeatedly slide them open & near-closed a few or several times, and then close them, the reading returns to Zero. c) There do not appear to be any obvious machining defects (burrs, rough edges, etc). d) On the inside of the case, unless I looked at it wrong, the placement of the standoffs appears to match those of your genuine set. Do I feel cheated or foolish or like I have been taken advantage of? Not really; I was at least half-sure that these were fake when I placed my order, and mainly bought them out of curiosity. $40 is not gonna break me. I certainly would not issue them to others, nor would I resell them or gift them, without fully declaring these these are fake. (If I could safely do so, I would cover or remove all of the "Mitutoyo" branding.) If I did resell them, I certainly would not ask Mitutoyo pricing. In the end I got what I believe to be a very good set of digital calipers for a decent price (not much more than I would have paid for a cheapo lesser-quality Harbor Freight set). We already know that certain brands of high-end, high-value, and/or "trusted" brands of goods such as Louis Vuitton (and I think also Michael Kors?), NGK spark plugs, Nike, etc., are targets of counterfeiting and reselling on sites such as eBay, Temu, Alibaba, Facebook marketplace, etc. Sadly it appears that Mitutoyo has now joined that club. The other option is to buy a set of used but likely genuine Mitutoyo calipers. In fact I bought a set of Mitutoyo digital micrometers, and they seem in very good condition, have a calibration sticker dated 2020, and I have little-to-no doubt they are genuine. Calipers tend to get more use, wear, and unintended abuse / damage than do micrometers, soI believe there would be a 50/50 chance that used genuine Mitutoyos, at the same or even higher price, might not be any better than these new Notutoyos. (Maybe that's an exercise for another day.)
Other identifiers 1. Comes with a battery installed and 1 replacement 2. Automatically comes on when you slide them 3. Material seems to be softer, when engraved opposed to authentic Will se how they do, by the feel alone not excited and probably will end up in the trash I buy Mitutoyo for a reason I don't need to replace them often, but thought i was getting a great deal lol Our government needs to step in and uphold patents/ trade marks
Thank you. I was able to differentiate a fraud from an authentic Mitutoyo because of this video. Unbelievable how many fraudulent items that are sold on eBay.
I bought one like this in Dayton Ohio the 6 inch model in 1990. It has the ramped slot and mine is authentic. I was at a trade show and the device came from the Mitutoyo booth. Newer ones have the radius cut at the end of the slot. I guess the Chinese got the older specs. Also my depth gauge is how you describe the real ones,, a short tail. Thanks for the video! By the way the 1990 case is way different as you might suspect and so are the tags. Perhaps I will try to send a photo or post one somewhere.
Got a fake from Amazon last night. Matched them to genuine here at work. Color on slide was almost pink, no battery and the whole head rattled when you shook it.
It is interesting to see the lengths that the counterfeiters go to match the genuine article. And it is also striking how eBay actually seems to pander to the counterfeiters. Years ago I bought a watch wrench on eBay (The tool one uses to take the back off a watch to replace the battery). When the wrench arrived, it was obviously a knock-off with loose tolerances. It actually rattled if you shook it. I made the mistake of giving the seller feedback saying as much. He then retaliated by dinging my reputation even though all I had done was tell the truth about his product. I complained to eBay but, presumably because he sold a lot of junky merchandise and eBay benefited from the commissions, eBay did nothing. I was sufficiently disgusted that I have never done business on eBay since.
@@GmGrayfox what seller on Amazon? I got mine not realizing from a seller that was selling for $80 new named “Mehar khashif” after i saw the seller and the fact they only had 2 reviews i realized they might be fake before they even arrived. just ordered a new pair from a more reputable seller i never realized there were different seller i just thought it was always amazon lol
Just came across this video. And realized the one I bought off ebay is a fake with exactly the differences you mention. In addition the battery cover doesn't like to stay in place and screw you use to move the calipers in and out is loose. Thank you, at least now I am informed. Dong a quick ebay search, I still see a Mitutoyo caliper for $50 from a Chinese seller with no feedback. How can they get away with it, why aren't these listings flagged?
@garypond3451 I informed ebay after I discovered my caliper was not genuine, but they never responded. Unfortunately, eBay is incentivised to look the other way since they make a commission on each sale. Basic economics shows for a lower price, you will get more sales. Until ebay sees a drop in sales directly due to counterfeiting, they are unlikely to care.
My fake ones came in a sealed bag with brown piece of paper inside, the battery card says SR44 but the battery is a LR44 battery and one LR44 was installed already. My slide locking screw was not captive. The counterfeiters are ruining EBay…..
I have two genuine Mitutoyos and one counterfeit. The counterfeit one seems nearly perfect, and even has hardened jaws. It seems great. But maybe one out of 20 times that you use it, it just randomly scrambles the measurement by a few millimeters. This can easily ruin a part if you don't catch it. The counterfeits aren't worth it.
It is easy if you 1. hold it in your hand 2. have a legit orig in your other hand. I would appreciate method to identify them from a tiny photo in a webshop without ever having seen an original before. 😉
LAS MEDICIONES DE LOS CALIBRADORES FALSOS SON IGUAL DE PRECISAS QUE UN CALIBRADOR MITUTOYO ORIGINAL? POR OTRO LADO MUCHAS GRACIAS POR EL VIDEO MUY BIEN EXPLICADO, OJALA HAGAS UNO IGUAL PERO CON MICRÓMETROS
I got fake ones off Ali express for $30 they work just fine they look the same there not nearly as nice but there $120 cheaper so I can't complain there really good for $30.
A few years ago, I got a Mitutoyo at the flea market for 12$. I still cherish it. There is a noticeable difference with the cheap ones, accuracy and longevity. But for my use I would never pay the Mitutoyo price, it's really for high precision. The cheap digital ones are good for most uses, it goes bad, no big deal, you buy another one, on the other hand, you drop your Mitutoyo...ouch.
In the case of ebay, not much. You can report counterfeit goods to ebay and leave negative reviews. Ebay makes money on these transactions, even if the goods are not genuine, and is thus incentivized to allow these products even though it violates their terms of service. Vendors like amazon are more diligent in removing these products from their site.
I have a mitutoyo caliper it has everything that says genuine except the back of the slide the groove is ramped not rounded but the rest is the same as genuine! What do you think
Likely a counterfeit, but if you want to be certain you can contact mututoyo's us support team. They will ask you for a specific set of pictures and let you know if the caliper is genuine.
There are other signs like the battery contacts and the battery itself. There is another video by clough42 that covers about all the details. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KG6I2gNGVwM.htmlsi=WIkrYP6WtuSqSwVr
@@LesWilhelm I have new, original Mitutoyo 500-184-30 from authorized distributor (verified on Mitutoyo site) and these also have ramped and not rounded slot at the back.
what about the wheel that moves up and down? is it suppose to be a bit loose like does your real ones have play where you can move it a bit up and down? or is it suppose to be very firm with no play?
I just bought new sealed on ebay and looking at the photos the box looks like the fake one here but everything else looks legit, were they more box sizes?
Depends on the size of the calipers. The counterfeits also evolve over time so they might have updated. To be sure what you have you can contact Mitutoyo support for your region and they will give you the latest steps to check for a genuine caliper.
Buy once cry once i picked up a igaging ez cal for 34 bucks and it lasted 7 years did well but i paid up for a mitutoyo this time around i use it nearly everyday so it is worth it for me and its not that exapensive compared to other name brand measurment devices like fluke for example
That was actually surprising for me when I tried original Mitutoyo for the first time - I didn't expect that I would have to manually press "on" to turn these on. I was thinking that sliding jaws will turn them on (well, one thing where fake ones are "better" ;-) unless that causes more battery usage)
What is the battery life like on fake ones? The cheap ones are always dead when I need them. I bought these so the battery wouldn't always be dead. I can keep them if that is the case otherwise I'll return and get some used ones
The fake calipers have an auto-on feature not present in genuine Mitutoyos. Unfortunately, a slight bump is all that is required to power on the fake calipers. This cuts battery life a lot.
Hello and thank you for sharing your video with us. Icant expect your video I’m sorry sorry. Because ilive in Austria and ibuy always my masuring tools (mitutoyo) from very special and Authentic shops of course white Warranty. The first of all you told about Battery that for starting must come 4 line. 2- about slut also. Ihave 2 mitutoyo also 100% Orginal also serial Nummer in sait is available but don’t have slut also when ilet Battery directly shows digital number. I will say nooooo way to find which one is fake or real only you must buy from Authentic shops only this.only this way only this way only. Best regards sina
Really, Quality requires stringent design and manufacturing processes. These come at a cost that the inferior fakes capitalise on whilst diminishing the original brand's reputation. Mitutoyo, Moore and Wright, Starrett etc loose out to sales of crap counterfeit imitations and may eventually fold, leaving us only the cheap shit to buy. Be careful what you wish for. BTW they don’t work as well. My Mitutoyo absolute calliper batteries literally last for years. The batteries in the fake ones don’t last long as they are always on, even when switched off and packed away.
Honestly i have a real 8in Digimatic and ide get the 6in fake one next. You said yourself there was no noticeable difference in measurement and thats really why one buys a Mitutoyo right? For the accuracy. For a regular guy why spend more for the real one when you can get the same performance for less than half the price.
7:01 Most of the fake products are obviously crap but I've actually found some fake products that are great and it's unfortunate that instead of putting their own names on the product they faked them and there is no way to find out that who made them. I've also saw genuine chinese products that were modified to look fake, why the fuck would anyone do such a thing???
I beileve the "fake" one are the geniune Mitutoyo sold in black market without the huge marketup by the authorized distributors in North America. That is why you don't have to pay the "genoiune" mitutoyo prices.
I've used tons of Mitutoyo calipers over the years analog, digital and I never paid attention if it's fake or not because somehow the device did managed to help getting the job done. If the fake ones were made just as good and it's only gonna hurt if you actually overpaid for it to begin with and beside it's just a caliper and it's not something that will make you look stupid if you wear 'em like a fake Rolex right? Same goes with designer women's hand bags. I could never tell the fake ones but my wife sure can and laughs at people when she sees one in them. So if you gotta wear them then yes it's a big deal but a caliper? I don't care if it's made from a small sweatshop south east of Palawan Island as long it reads ok then it's fine by me.
@@gourdo2 so you needed to be told about scammers on the internet? You don't need bigmouths on youtube telling you this basic stuff. You need Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. That's IT. Critical thinking skills will get you pretty far! - ♫ conjunction junction
The world of handheld precision metrology in the 10 micron range has changed over the years. The American and Swiss manufacturers lost their supremacy as far back as the 1980s, when Japanese, especially Mitutoyo clearly bested them in quality control. Today it is Mitutoyo's turn to lose their advantage to much cheaper Chinese knock-offs that perform every bit as well. All the aforementioned players still hold their own in laboratory metrology, but in handheld devices for machinists there's really no advantage any more in seeking a particular brand. The best and most innovative today is almost certainly iGaging, which is a US/China joint venture. Do not spend an extra dollar seking an "authentic" Mitutoyo device, as much as it pains me to admit that....
I reported them to ebay. Ebay didn't seem to care. They are incentivised to permit as many transactions as possible since they take a percentage from each. So they do not pay attention to relatively small dollar counterfeits like these.
The fake one is probably only worth $10-$15 so if you get it definitely don't pay more than that. However, I would rather have a $15 real one (cheap but not fake branding) than a fake Mitutoyo because how are you gonna trust the long-term accuracy of a product from a company when the company is created with the sole intention of fooling people? A fake Mitutoyo is like a pig with makeup on. It is still a pig. I worked for a Chinese company a long time ago (at a European branch office) and the people in that company had a strange mentality. They often tried to fool people just a little and often lied to customers a little thinking they would not notice. They were not outright criminals but they almost seemed to take pride in fooling people just a little thinking they could get away with it. They did not care for one second about what happened to the customer after they had taken their money. They thought they were smart and people would not notice. However, people noticed and the company only lasted two years.
