Counterfeit NGK plugs

So I was on You Tube watching Bikes and Beards and noticed another video about counterfeit NGK plugs ...my interest was peaked . So apparently Amazon has been selling fake Plugs , the plugs look the same but the word made in JAPAN the real plug the P has a hash mark underneath. The real plug the markings on the porcelain is clear, the fake is blurred slightly . Another video a guy had a plug that actually rusted on the porcelain and it was loose was also chirping while running. So they did not have a problem with Autozone, Oreilly, Advance ...only Amazon ...so that great price may not be such a great deal .

 

Almost everything sold on amazon is from China. FYI!

 

So this is because of how amazon stocks things

Everything with the same UPC goes into one bin in the Amazon warehouse

Amazon buys 10 real plugs from NGK
a reseller buys 40 fake plugs and prices them cheap

You don't trust the resellers low price so you buy from Amazon

So the warehouse worker goes to the one bin with the correct UPC and pulls one plug from the 50 there are in that bin.
You have a 1 in 5 chance of getting a real NGK plug

Remember you paid more money for the Amazon listed plug and you still get a fake!
Meanwhile someone else buys from the reseller and might get a real plug. It's a crap shoot

So far Amazon doesn't care enough about this problem to fix it. Until then, buy from a more reputable place

 

why would you get plugs from online when they are cheap and most autoparts stores carry them?

I have read about this issue before the plugs stand out as fake

from the manufacturer
https://www.ngkntk.com/press-media/social-news/emea/fake-products-how-to-avoid-them/

 

Will it say Made in Japan on the box too meaning counterfeit or does Made in Japan ok ?

 

Real NGK plugs say "Made in Japan" on the box, as they should. Yet another reason that Amazon has grown too big to trust; they simply cannot "police" themselves any more.

I get mine at 'Zone or O'Reilly's anyway, they always have them in stock.

 

For some of my friends it's the 30 minute one-way drive to the auto parts store that makes Amazon the better deal.

For me it's the lack of free time most of the year, so a saved trip makes a big difference in what I can do with my free time.

I have yet to get a counterfit of anything that is sold by Amazon, but have run into that twice when buying from sellers who use Amazon as a platform and delivery system. Not all Amazon warehouses are run exactly the same, nor do they have identical sorting systems (though that's changing as the older warehouses are currently being either updated or replaced).

 

O'Reilly's was my source for the NGK plugs for my FZ10. Found them there "in stock" after doing a cross-reference. The ones through Yamaha were on national back order at the time.

I have been cautious ordering stuff off Amazon, but so far, so good.
Also have to agree with K-moe, the more time I save running back and forth to the parts store the better.

Tony

 

but thats what the parts bike is used for, going to get parts

 

Business owners and such love to trash Amazon and I don't blame them...but with what I have experience and notice is that they are a welled oiled machine especially to there customers.

 

Local Fleet Farm carries NGK for my XJ. As cheap as the online ones, and "real."

I don't make a special trip, I pick up my "next" plugs whenever my wife and I make the 30 minute trek for other things (like household items and reloading supplies.. )

 

this sounds like a classic "i saw it on youtube so it must be true"

 

Actually there are several of these , one had the best items to look for ,the Amazon box was larger than the one from Autozone and some of the wording was different on side of box . I personally like running Autolite AP63 this is equivalent to the NGK 7es .

 

Just like the internet... everything is true

 

This side of the pond I get my sparkplugs from The Green Spark Plug Co.
I'm fairly sure he's not stocking any fakes, and the last cock-up was by me not paying attention to whether the ordered plugs had removeable caps or not.

 

Me too.

 

my next plugs reside on my shelf aside of the used cleaned plugs. I have a plug cleaner from harbor freight.