That is a tough call for me. It looks real but I have yet to see a PL in this type of bag. Rip is the guy to ask. U2U him and see what he thinks.

Looks kosher, but the listing is wrong. Given the listing details and pictures, I think it is a Pepper (first gen) and not a Pepper II.

Peter Lynn Pepper (Pre 2007)
Available in:
1.5m
2.5m
3.5m
4.5m
5.5m
6.5m

Peter Lynn Pepper II (2007 and on)
Available in:
2.0m2
3.0m2
4.0m2
5.0m2
6.0m2
8.0m2

Also the Pepper II had a break (of contrasting color) in the wing tip color segment.

Pepper (I)


Pepper II


The Pepper came in a stuff stack:

The Pepper II upgraded the bag:

ATB,
Sam

If you look at other items for sale by the same seller he uses the same photo for a 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5 all for sale
- another odd thing, he has a Pepper 6.5 for 155.58 (£95.99) then further down a generic listing of a 6.5 foil but pictures a Pepper and the price is 324.14 (£199.99)

its a Pepper I version going by the Pictures

the Pepper I is an old version beginner kite

firstly, its buyer beware on Fleabay ... (funny how Dino and I were talking about it last night)
did you see his other items???

maybe he did grab a few from the factory when he was working there. my cousin needs to eat, and he wanted Tacos than Rice.

If youre going to buy it, make sure you are getting a PL Pepper, and not some kite that looks like PL.

No, it wouldnt be covered under warranty.

....and make sure you realize it's NOT a Kitesurf kite - it's an open cell foil for land use.

i would beware of any kite items that come from china--this ad says shanghai--i would try another source that u know is legit--there are deals to be had on ebay and craigslist--but also alot of scammers as well........

Just recently, Ben from Revolution Kites returned from China on a kite excursion. He visited a factory there that was producing Illegal Revolution Knock-Off's. This factory was using the full Revolution Logo including the trademark and copyright logo's and even copied the tags/labels for the rods that had all Revolution Logo's and markings.

Problem was, it was in NO WAY a Revolution product. It looked like a Rev, had the same markings as a Rev, even bagged the same as a Rev but when you got past the looks, you ended up with a cheap piece of $&#%$!!!!!!!

The material was very poor quality and had blemishes on it. The stitching was cheap cotton garbage thread that would stretch and erode in just a couple hours of flight to where the sail would start falling apart. The handles were made from very ultra thin garbage metal that was coated to look like stainless steel. The lines? Can you say bungee cord crap? Very cheap lines that had so much stretch, flying with any type of control or precision would be useless. Also, even though the carbon tubes had authentic looking logo's on them, they used very cheap carbon and the wrapping process was junk. The rods would break and splinter under 1/4 the amount of stress required to have normal flight. This splintering would shred the sail as soon as it happened. Leading edge material was poor-quality junk....everything about said CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!

It may have looked exactly like an Authentic Revolution at first, but it was nothing more than garbage. The biggest problem with this type of behavior is that it ruins our very industry. Someone will probably purchase this piece of crap and think they are getting an authentic Revolution kite, when in reality they are getting junk. They will try to fly the piece of crap, it will either break or not fly properly and they will get disinterested and toss it in their closet (or in the garbage where it belongs) and we will lose another potential kite flyer. These illegal copiers will continue their scum type business until this industry (and our lifestyle and enjoyment) is completely destroyed, then they will move onto another.

Please do not support these scum, you are only burning your own bridge if you choose to do so.

Now, I am not saying that the kite listed on this thread is an actual copy, but I do know for a fact that Peter Lynn does NOT sell directly from China. Authentic Peter Lynn products are sold through Vliegerop in the Netherlands and distributed through their authentic dealers in North America and the world. They do NOT and have NEVER sold products straight out of China. Because of this simple fact, I would be very concerned that the product sold (Not just shown) is actually a legitimate Peter Lynn Product. Remember, they can post up any picture they want but what you receive may be something totally different. And good luck going back to China to get your stolen money back from!!!!!

The pictures look authentic, but you are not buying pictures, who knows what the actual kite will be like - as mentioned, they have used the exact same pictures to show different types of kites they are selling so the kite could be anything.

I would recommend paying a little bit more and purchasing from a legitimate dealer who you know sells authentic products that are built to the standards that the manufacture demands they be built to. Also, if it is a legitimate dealer, you have a much better chance of getting any wrong corrected - even if the dealer didn't take care of your problem, because you did purchase from an authentic retailer, you could then move on to the manufacturer directly and they would be able to step in and resolve your issues. Nearly every manufacturer will honor your kite if purchased through one of their authorized dealers.

Of course I am a retailer, but I am not just saying this because I sell kites, I am saying this because I have seen people who have saved up their pennies until they can afford to purchase their very first kite, have gone and purchased off of FLEABAY and what they thought was an authentic kite, turned out to be an illegal copy. Then they come into our shop with a damaged piece of crap kite that not only doesn't fly but is not even worth the gas to drive it do us. They thought they were saving money but instead, they were blatantly ripped off!!! It is worthless, I can't fix it because it just can't be fixed, the manufacturer won't touch it because it is an illegal copy....it's just worthless junk and the customer is just plain out - money is gone, kite is garbage, just out.

Be careful when purchasing from China and from Fleabay. If you are on a budget, talk to the users of this forum and look for a good quality used kite deal. Most of the time you can find something on this forum for sale that will cost about the same as you can get from fleabay, but you will be getting an authentic product that you know will fly correctly.....and if you do run into a problem, the person here will stand by the product and make it right!

Remember, if it looks to good to be true...it probably is.

Hope this helps.

What is Revolution doing to fight the pirating of its brand? What can any kite manufacturer do to fight this?

I just noticed they picked up their "sales" copy directly from a review of PL Peppers that is on racekites.com: http://www.racekites.com/2006/09/1557/

Watch out when you review something here. It just might end up on a listing for bootleg kites on eBay.

I don't think anything can be done about China. They live in their own world with their own rules. When it comes to manufacturing anyway. If they ever start to actually innovate - watch out. Nobody will be able to keep up. Of course they'd have to address the issue of quality controls......

Quote:

Originally posted by awindofchange The pictures look authentic, but you are not buying pictures

That really says it so much better than I had hoped to.

Revolution has been trying to uphold their patents but as mentioned, China lives in their own little world and the govt. doesn't really care about patents or infringements. They do whatever they want and the rest of the world can shove it. What Revolution is trying to do is to educate the kite flyers out there so that people don't end up wasting their money and getting discouraged with the sport before they even get a chance to enjoy it. Legally and business minded, Revolution is doing everything within its power to try and shut these scums down. Not only are they knocking off Revolution kites, but many power kites and dual line kites as well. They are not concerned with who's design and hard work they steal, just how much cash they can rip off from the public buyers.

Education is similar to what PKF users have done with Jonesband, if you educate the world so that they know these illegal products are garbage knock-offs, they won't buy them. If there are no sales, the companies will stop knocking them off. The best way to combat them is education and not purchasing this junk. I am sure that what Jonesband thought would be a fast easy buck turned into a nightmare trying to sell his garbage. Hopefully this will make him think twice before trying to do it again. Thus far he seems to have crawled back under his rock. I hope he is done trying to rip off the kiting community.

Again, I am not saying that the kite in question is indeed an illegal copy, but it does point towards that avenue.

Maybe I can hire a Korean company to make knockoffs of Pansh kites. That'd show 'em.

I bought a cheap knockoff a Rev off e-bay once. Completely unflyable. Never even got into the air since one line was 6 inches longer than the other and I just couldn't be bothered.