Scam/Fake? 'Replica' Yanagisawa W033 alto for £100

[DaveT]

I was wandering around and saw a nice looking alto for £299 in the window of a second-hand shop.
Went over to have a look and saw it said 'Replica Yanagisawa' £100.
I assume 'replica' is to get around the 'fake' problem and the £100 is to get it off the premises ASAP!

I had a look at it, and knowing it was a fake I was surprised by how good it looked! Not sure it looked as good as a £5000 sax should but if it was a Taiwan sax for a £1000 I think you would have been happy with it.
I suppose it is silver plated to get the look of the solid silver bow and neck crook.
A pity most Chinese saxes don't look that good, they can obviously do it if they put their minds to it.
Mind you, that assumes the fake is Chinese!

There was no mouthpiece so I couldn't try it out, not sure they would have let me.
Luckily alto sax really isn't my thing, so the ethics of 'replica' vs 'fake' didn't come into play.
I suppose I could go and see if it is still there and then hang it on my wall...

 

[Pete Thomas]

Replica = fake, assuming by replica you mean it has counterfeit logo. The word replica does not get around any counterfeit issues. Selling that is illegal, and selling it on is also illegal in most jurisdictions so I wouldn't even bother thinking about buying something that has no legal value.

 

[turf3]

Ethics and trademark law come into it if it's labeled "Yanagisawa". If it's labeled "Ultra Sax 400" then it's just another Yani copy.

 

[DaveT]

It said Yanagisawa on the mouthpiece and the body.
Also the obviously untrue 'Made In Japan'.

 

[turf3]

Well, then, fraud is being committed. The correct course of action would be to notify the authorities. No one should be allowed to sell the fraudulent product, but it could be made non-fraudulent by removing the "Yanagisawa" and "Made in Japan" labels (or so I believe). The current owner could, I believe, sell it without ethical violation if he removed those labels in a permanent way. He should not be allowed to make a profit from its fraudulent mis-identification.

 

[jonf]

Indeed, if it says Yanagisawa on the sax, selling it is a criminal offence, even if you make it clear to the buyer it's a fake.