Fake Bones Swiss. How can you tell ?

edited January 2015 in Powell-Peralta®
Sometimes I'm tempted to pull the trigger on some Bones Swiss on ebay, but I always talk myself out of it thinking its too good to be true, and they're probably fake.

Is there a way to tell the real deal from a fugazi?
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Comments

  • edited January 2015
    just go with it just make sure it isnt a stock photo cause then u might get fucked over
  • A prominent shop mentioned on s&b that the wholesale on them is more than what those ebay ones are priced at.
    imo fugazi, avoid
  • Bob, malooga my man, just buy yourself a set from a reputable shop at a competitive price. some shops offer memberships, and then give discounts on hardware. i bought a set of the swiss super 6's and i can't fault them. avoid the stress of the unknown and just bite the bullet
  • Yep, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Avoid the potential "awesome score"/let-down, and buy 'em from a reputable skate shop.  I kind of hate seeing this happening, as it opens the door to people saying "Yeah, I had Bones Swiss once, they were shit." talking about some bogus, fake ones (thinking they had real Bones Swiss).  It gives Bones a bad name that is not deserved, as they should be seen as a leader in the game. 
  • true. true. I'm with you all on the reputable shop deal. but there must be some way to tell if its genuine product.
  • I guess that would have to be the price of the product. go to bali at a street market and buy a pair of nike sneakers for 10 dollars...fugazi. go to the us to a reputable shop, pay a hefty amount for the same sneakers,... should be the real deal. if they fall apart you can return them at the reputable shop because of the warranty. by the way bob, i like your avatar/pic lol
  • avoid amazon, ebay and Alibaba.  Just check the shop name and email Skate One or Bones Bearings, and we let you know if its an authorized dealer.  The fake ones don't roll well out of the box or have spacers, and the font is a little different on the shield.  Lots of work to try and shut these guys down.
  • How often has this actually happened? Has it happened to anyone here? I grabbed a set of supposed Bones Swiss off eBay on a lark for cheap, not just a one-off auction from an individual, but haven't had a real set in around 20 years. I don't know that I can tell the difference in hand.
  • I saw a set come up locally on craigslist for $20. I looked at the photos and out of curiosity compared them to the real box. The Craigslist ones were missing the "Made In Switzerland" label on the front, so I passed.
  • Lots of websites I see, like reputable skate gear sites, have a pic of the box without the "Made In Switzerland." TONS of Amazon reviewers, even for prices that look pretty normal, are proclaiming that they received fakes. I have to wonder if it's the fakes or the paranoia that's running rampant.
  • You've probably already seen this, but it's worth posting here...
  • yea if they are cheaply priced then they are rip offs and there was a time when swiss was only 25 bucks but those days are long gone
  • edited October 2017
    I was on eBay looking for some Swiss Bearings shipping from Toronto to get cheap and found this one guy selling them for 25 bucks. Decided to pass and just bought from the local shop instead because the price is worth it for the real thing. If you buy fake swiss, might as well buy Street Plant.
  • lol yea never trust stock photos
  • And here you go...only $18. Does say made in Switzerland but there's only one pic and apparently the boxes are damaged but unopened. You make the call! https://www.ebay.com/itm/162740847263
  • read the second review and that is all u gotta know
  • They are meh

    Lol
  • Two reviews basically question their authenticity, and everybody else is happy in their delusion that they got Bones Swiss for like 1/3 regular price.
  • I think most people don't know the difference. The box I got, I can't tell anything from, but the bearings themselves don't spin particularly freely on my finger (I haven't put them in the wheels yet). I have some reds that generally spin more freely, but they get stuck because they're gunked up and dirty. I keep reading that you have to to "break in" the Swiss'.
  • gotta stop buying those fake bearings boy
  • edited November 2017


    I'm pretty convinced now that they're fake. I bought an unused complete off eBay recently. It was completely unskated. The bearings happened to be Swiss, so I popped them out and compared them to the questionable set I still have in the box. I can't tell any difference from the finish, the shields or the lettering on the shields. I popped the shields off both and they look and feel the same. The races look so much the same that I can't tell. The cages are a little different. That's the only visible giveaway that they're not the same. The little pin thing on the plastic races was not as big on the questionables.

    Again, pretty positive that these have never been skated and the inside of them was pristine. I said earlier that I'd always read about having to break them in. I figured if this was true then the bearings I took out of the closet complete would be similarly slow, but that isn't the case. The ones I took out of the complete spin well, and the questionables do not. I had a set of Reds loose, and they spun almost as well as the set of Swiss' from the complete. Again, the questionables do not.

    It is possible that the bearings in the closet complete were broken in and this other set in the box isn't, but I don't think it's likely. I think I just got ripped off. The real Swiss is on the right.
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