Bootleg Apple Products

Hi all. I'm very sick today and won't be able to do a proper post myself today, so my dad will be stepping in today. Hopefully I can get back to normal soon. Anyways, thanks for reading!

The other day I was walking with Alex (my son who is the creator of this blog) through Best Buy.  He was laser focused and marching quickly toward  the store clerk several aisles away restocking Amiibos, as I got distracted by a display of colorfully printed Apple EarPods.  These headphones were in the same square plastic case as the genuine Apple EarPods I had in my work bag.  Same shape and design, only they had bright colored patterns, each making its own fashion statement.  And, they were on sale for only $7. How could these be so cheap when the same Apple EarPods in white are sold for $29 at the Apple Store? They are knockoffs, counterfeits, of course, made in China.  Some fakes make their way to brick and mortar stores like BB.  Apple doesn't like counterfeits, and takes this seriously, not so much because they are losing revenue, but because these cheaply made products more often have poor performance, can cause electric shocks and even fires.  What thriving company wants the word ‘fire’ attached to their electronic products (Samsung, anyone?)? This year Apple analyzed the products being sold on Amazon that claimed to be Apple-branded accessories.  They now believe that nearly 90 of these online products are fakes. Although Amazon “allowed” counterfeit products to be sold through the website, Amazon itself hasn’t sold these knockoffs.  “Fulfillment by Amazon” items, stored in Amazon warehouses by third party merchants, were most guilty being counterfeit. Amazon itself hasn’t been selling the fake Apple accessories.  What can you do?  Buy directly from Apple, in the store, or on their online store. If you still want to buy accessories that are not genuine, you can first check them out on Fakespot and read reviews to help determine the quality of each.