How can some people on Ebay sell Surefire's so cheap?

I've been looking around for a Surefire U2 for a while because mine either got lost or stolen. I don't know how I could have lost it because it had a 9" orange cone attached to the head where I had been using it to direct traffic. But anyway it's gone and I can't find it so I was shopping around for another one. I noticed that on ebay there are U2's for sale with prices ranging from the MSRP of $299 all the way down to $90 for new in the box. I'm aware of counterfeits being out there because I just posted about seeing some at a gunshow recently. But the person selling them so cheaply on ebay has good feedback from previous customers who bought SF lights and if they were fake I don't believe they would have 100% good feedback. I just wonder, how can a seller be selling new in the box $299 flashlights for $90? I bid $92 on one last night and actually won it. I would think that is less than dealer cost so whats the deal? How can they be selling NIB expensive lights at such low prices?

Maybe he steals lights like yours and sells them. Just a thought.

those people might not know its a real surefire or not they just realize its bright and it works.

message him and ask him, if he doesnt respond i wouldnt buy unless someone on here can confirm its real

just like people buy Boss Audio and Pyle Audio car audio products, which are the bottom of the barrel and rate it good because they dont know any better

I was going to say maybe they're fake as someone posted the other day saying he saw fakes at a show.. As that someone is you, i guess you thought of that lol.

Maybe update the thread when you get the light. Perhaps it is a fake, guess you'll find out soon. Didn't you say they were pretty good clones? Or maybe (as El Camino says) they're stolen. I'm pretty sure with lights like Surefire the retailers would have to sell at a price no lower than Surefire stipulate?

Maybe they're reconditioned faulty returns or seconds that have somehow made their way on to ebay.

the military issues surefires to a lot of deploying personnel, and sometimes they offload that equipment when returning from overseas

I have noticed that the prices of U2's on Ebay and Craigslist are depressed more than just about any other Surefire, as a percentage of MSRP.
My guess is that the knowledge of U2 fakes have depressed prices of genuine U2's, as people purchasing them can't count on them to be legit until they see the light firsthand.

I have purchased many SureFires on Ebay and CL - the U2 is about the only model that I have an interest in that I haven't purchased outside of CPF.
The reason being, the price of it would have to be unusually low for me to take the chance, even if it's a relatively small chance of getting a 'fake'
Therefore, less online demand = lower prices on that particular model.

My two lumens, :shrug:

Oh well, if it is not real I can just file an Ebay Buyer Protection claim and get my money back based on it not being as described. So I won't be losing money either way. The fact that it's new in the box makes me believe it's real because I don't really believe a counterfeiter would print Surefire boxes and owners manuals too. The fake one's I saw recently didn't have boxes and manuals. I'm enough of a Surefire fan that I believe I can inspect the light and pretty quickly know it it's authentic or not. I've owned several U2's before and I'll know if the one the ebay seller sends is fake.

Not to mention that it is possible to snag Surefires for low prices if you happen to luck into clearances and similar happenstances.

As a collector (of sorts), I don't actively look to buy and re-sell, but it certainly is possible with enough motivation.

Found that at times they do not even know what they are selling and if its real or not.

The law of supply and makes the most sense. The U2 was the IT light when it came out with 8 variable brightness levels. Now, however, you can buy a titanium light with more lumens and so much more than 8 levels. Not many desire they once coolest light out there. Hence 90 bucks for a new one.

The U2 is an 8-year-old flashlight. A used one sells for $75-90 almost anywhere. At open auction a NOS one isn't going to bring much more.

It's really crazy that SF is still selling it without a huge price cut.

In general, and especially from China, on eBay you've got counterfeit, stolen, unauthorized, and factory seconds selling at very enticing prices. You might get a good deal!
China is making some very good "fakes" that would take an expert to detect it.

Keep in mind that MSRP is calculated to have profit plus carrying costs to hold the item in stock for a period of time. I recall purchasing a new cell phone back when I worked at a telecom company. I was happy to have purchased the phone on internal sale at half the price of the local cellular providers. I was less happy when a co-worker told me that company cost was only half what I paid.

So, 1/3 MSRP isn't necessarily proof that it's counterfeit (what's the profit margin on Surefires?). Especially if you have little/no overhead and shipping costs cover shipping plus pay for somebody to prep it.

i've put a few on ebay before w/ low starting bids... and they just don't get bid up. my loss, i guess. I've never sold one in perfect new in box condition though.

I bought a LED Lenser P7 for half the MSRP from ebay.When It came I inspected it against a genuine (bought from Amazon, so hope it's genuine) P7 that I'd bought a month earlier and I couldn't tell them apart in look, feel and performance. I was still suspicious of how can somebody sell an item below its wholesale price, so I contacted them saying I knew for definite it was a fake (although i didn't). They replied assuring me that the items they sell are 100% genuine but for my inconvenience (I'm not sure how I was inconvenienced) they offered me a further 50% discount in return of positive feedback. I think this in itself was an admission of guilt but I ashamedly took the discount, left positive feedback, but not wanting to own a fake, gave the torch to my mother (who's very happy with it)

In summary – you can't always trust somebody's 100% positive feedback, but if it was a counterfeit item, kudos to the manufacturer as they did a top class copy.

martindb said:

In summary you can't always trust somebody's 100% positivefeedback, but if it was a counterfeit item, kudos to the manufacturer as theydid a top class copy.

Click to expand...

In addition, if this exploit has not been closed yet, the person with the (near) 100% positive feedback might not be the original account holder; some people sell their ebay account with positive feedback to someone else.

I bet OP is Hooked on hunting for fakes now.
I would be.

Maybe what they buy is fake, or get it from another improper ways.

You know, a lot of Surefires go for very close to average retail on eBay. If Scott's only talking about U2s, those go so cheaply because they're ancient. I've seen used ones sell for under $70 at open auction with people bidding against each other.

Dadof6 said:

The U2 was the IT light when it came out with 8 variable brightness levels.

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I want that one. My older Lux V and the new LED U2's have 6 light levels. BTW, the Lux V U2 is still an awesome light, and when modded with an MC-E, or the high voltage XML, would make a excellent setup. But I digress ....

Bill