Well, I have in my hands a fake and a refurbished. After taking some time to compare, I've made some findings....we shall compare the Fakes, Refurbished versus the Genuines.
By 'refurbished' ....let me explain what I mean. These are the FCT sleeves that are made of the same mould taken from the Taylormade factory. They are produced outside with that same mould. These FCT sleeves are better than the fakes, because they are adjustable....BUT are they done up to the exact specs? We would not know for sure, as long as the words (L, R, N, NU) are printed slightly off...even 0.01 degrees off, the angles that we play on our drivers will all be messed up some way or another. Some people may not mind....the Refurbished sleeves are much cheaper than the Genuine ones....but then some people are selling refurbished sleeves as genuines, and people buy them without knowing, afterall they look so similar. Pictures says a thousand words:
(Do not worry if you find the pictures too small. At the end of this page I will put up a link where you can view the big pictures)
So, we will be comparing 3 kinds of 2010 FCT sleeves here:
1) Genuine - 100% Taylormade (same as those installed on your Taylormade clubs)
2) Refurbished (made from the same mould, adjustable but may not be accurate)
3) Fakes (just replicas, not adjustable at all. Straight bore all the way)
We can see from the above picture, the 3 kinds of sleeves. Refurbished and genuine sleeves have tilt (which means they're adjustable)....the fake one is kinda straight. Also notice the very obvious difference in teeth groove on the fake (boxed in yellow)
Putting the refurbished and genuine sleeve side by side, its hard to tell any difference right?
Well I had the 2 in my hands and when I looked at it, the refurbished sleeve is one tone slightly brighter. However, this difference in color is NOT easy to tell. It really is very very close!
I noticed that on the refurbished sleeve, the line goes down way more than the genuine. Again, very close! Another picture below:
The fake sleeve are easy to tell by the teeth groove, also the hole for the screw to lock is red (for the fake). Pictured below:
I think this would be my pick for 'how to easily tell refurbished from genuines'. On the black part where the R, L, N, NU words are, you should see horizontal fine lines across....almost like fine laser machine prints. I looked through the refurbished one under the magnifying glass...it does not have it.
I notice that the paint tend to 'spill over' near the screw hole too.
Another look at the difference in length of the lines. Left is genuine, right is refurbished.
The R is different (font)...very close again. The gap for the genuine one is much smaller.
So, refurbished sleeves are adjustable, and 99.9% of buyers will not be able to tell them apart. Well the question is, how accurate are they made? Like I said, as long as the L, R, N and NU are printed slightly off, even 0.01 degrees off.....it changes everything.
I hope this helps.
Some may ask why on earth do I spend time doing this? Well, the answer is simple. I get questions everyday from buyers comparing me with other sellers on eBay. They say that my price is expensive - compared to the rest out there. People need to know you get what you pay for. Well especially now, when there is such a thing as 'refurbished sleeves'...well I am not sure if refurbished is the right word.....my vocab book is not working right now....haha, 5AM and I am writing this....brain freeze. If you guys can think of the right word, let me know.
Oh by the way, I only sell genuine sleeves. I am in no way tempted to go the refurbished route, although I can make more profits. LOL. Its hard to build a reputation, and harder to keep it clean. I won't risk it.
LINK to enjoy bigger pictures:
(click on these small pictures to enlarge. It will take you to photobucket website to view the pictures. Over there, you can click on the picture again for extra zoom)
