Silly question about Lowepro Flipside 400 AW

How many own this pack and like it?
I was looking on ebay and I got real confused, you can buy them from Hong Kong-Korea-China for 69.00 shipped but they are well over 100 here in the USA.
Are the ones from overseas copies and not legit or what?

No they are not legit.

Read this thread: what a great deal on a lowepro flipside 400 !

A prime example of "you get what you pay for".

I don't know why people think they aren't legit.

Two or three months ago, when that bag first came on ebay at that price, the bag was $200 from every retailer in America (B+H, Adorama, etc.).

I posted this in the above referenced thread:

Now the price of the bags at B+H and Adorama and the like are down to $109 or less ($99 for the green). This tells me there was some validity to what I was thinking. Why all of a sudden the cost at a name retailer has halved? Because their cost of the bag has dropped considerably. Not because they feel pressured to compete with the Chinese ebay sellers. Lowepro is dumping these. Mark my words, in another few months, these will have been discontinued.

With that said, I have one from the ebay China seller, and have been using it regularly since I got it in August. I load it up with 2 gripped bodies, and roughly 7 lenses. Weighs in at a little over 20lbs. I have not had a single issue with it. No weakening of the seams, especially where it opens when it's still on your waist. This is where all the weight is being held at two seams, and would be the point to show problems.

I have two other Lowepro bags, and I have compared everything between them, and IMO, the ebay bags are genuine.

The theory that a low price automatically indicates counterfeit is absurd. I guess all those EOS -M kits that are being blown out at $399 are counterfeit as well.

This is how businesses work. Off load the old stock to clear the way for the new stuff. Remember, the bags are made in China (even the ones sold by B+H/Adorama/etc.), and they then have to be shipped to the US. The cost of the bag, plus the cost of the shipping, and all taxes related to import are paid by the retailer, which is then marked up. The guy in China just pays for the bag, not export taxes, no significant shipping (heck, he may even go and pick them up himself).

The difference between $99 for the bag vs $60 for the bag is pretty small, and not enough to warrant saying that the cost is the indicator of non-genuine goods.

I got a lowepro 500 flipside a while back from ebay (china) for $69. Ive compared it to those on sale in a 2 local camera stores at just under $200 and can't tell the difference.

They're currently selling at $40 with free postage although the rep is dubious....it's in Chinese if you click on seller http://www.ebay.com.au …ories&hash=item​2a32d72b5f

jadedpony wrote in post #16391718
No they are not legit.

Read this thread: what a great deal on a lowepro flipside 400 !

A prime example of "you get what you pay for".

That thread is pretty funny. Thanks for sharing.

I've had the Flipside 400 for ages, and love it.

KirkS518 wrote in post #16392490
I don't know why people think they aren't legit.

I'm not saying that the Chinese knock-offs aren't decent bags, they look like pretty good replicas with okay materials but you can tell from at least those who posted photos that they are not genuine Lowepro.

waterrockets wrote in post #16392544
That thread is pretty funny. Thanks for sharing.

We can laugh about it now since those who didn't even get a knock-off bag and were shipped thread with wooden fish charms at least got a refund through ebay I showed my wife the thread and she asked, "Really, they make counterfeit camera bags?"

I bought it when it first came out and took it camping/hiking. Loved it. Found it to be very comfortable. Ended up returning it though as I also discovered I never needed to carry that much gear nor did I want the weight of that pack fully loaded on my back. The Flipside 300 is now and has been for years my go to backpack.

I have the 500 to carry/store all my gear (well, most) and a mid size sling bag for hikes. Really like the 500, light, comfortable, roomy. Since I no longer carry my laptop with me (ipad instead) I don't miss a laptop compartment either.

jadedpony wrote in post #16392756
I'm not saying that the Chinese knock-offs aren't decent bags, they look like pretty good replicas with okay materials but you can tell from at least those who posted photos that they are not genuine Lowepro.

We can laugh about it now since those who didn't even get a knock-off bag and were shipped thread with wooden fish charms at least got a refund through ebay I showed my wife the thread and she asked, "Really, they make counterfeit camera bags?"

I think I could probably still manage to laugh at the snake oil victims, refund or not, since I think any DSLR owner can handle a $40 loss

I've had one of these (not from china) for about 3 years. I've dragged this bag all over the place, in crappy weather, and its held up great. It now stays at home and acts as the home for most of my stuff, it will occasionally go on road trips but it stays in the car, I no longer have the desire to carry that much stuff on my back. One thing I will say is that I eventually grew to hate the zipper/entry system, the zipper can be a pain to get around quickly and once open the back needs to be held back to access the bag, I got tired of fighting with the bag to get things out of the lower section.

jadedpony wrote in post #16392756
I'm not saying that the Chinese knock-offs aren't decent bags, they look like pretty good replicas with okay materials but you can tell from at least those who posted photos that they are not genuine Lowepro.

Just curious, because I'm one of those that posted photos. What do you see in the photos that make you say they aren't genuine? I've done a complete side-by-side comparison of them against 2 other LowePro bags, and vehemently feel they are genuine. In fact, I found the 400AW to be a little better made then my LP Reporter 200.

Eeek looks like I started a ruckus sorry about that.
I was just looking for a bag to carry my gear in thats in my sig plus a flash and small accessories.

KirkS518 wrote in post #16393103
Just curious, because I'm one of those that posted photos. What do you see in the photos that make you say they aren't genuine? I've done a complete side-by-side comparison of them against 2 other LowePro bags, and vehemently feel they are genuine. In fact, I found the 400AW to be a little better made then my LP Reporter 200.

I skimmed the thread, and there were missing QC stickers, bad font for the "4," zipper pulls different, stitching done differently, with different thread.

Well it will certainly fit that stuff. Do you understand why it's called the "flipside"? If not, find out, because, that's a very useful feature!