(G.E. Chen knives) Maplegear is a direct copy of the Knifeart website!

retzius

retzius

Feedback: +0 / =0 / -0
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
1,102
I found a knife I liked on the GP Knives website from a maker called G.E. Chen:

http://www.gpknives.com/gechenduty3vblackmicartachoilblackblade.html

I searched for the maker but only found a link to their website at:

http://www.maplegear.com

weird... so I check out the website and it is a direct copy of the Knifeart.com website... just with different pictures!

http://www.knifeart.com

This is why I still can't buy some of these Chinese knives. Some of the designs look great and the materials and F&F look very nice, but if you can't even spend the time to build your own website and just COPY another website you have instantly lost my business.

Its amusing but pretty ridiculous to be honest... doesn't say much for their business ethics
 
I can see the website similarities but the blade looks pretty different than a Nimravus to me. Interesting find, thanks for posting.
 
Websites look similar to me (I couldn't care less). Knives look very different to me, not to mention completely different handle materials ( I don't see the problem). In the vast world of knives, some are bound to look a little similar. That doesn't automatically mean there is thievery or dishonesty involved.

I think you (the OP) were a little too quick to question the ethics of a knife maker/company based on the design of a single knife.

I think some people are eager to come to this forum and say- "Hey everybody, I found someone making copies of a knife! What a bunch of scumbags. Let's get the tar and feathers!".

In my opinion, questioning someones ethics is a very BIG deal and not something to be done casually or without very good reason, and solid evidence. I don't see the evidence in this case.
 
retzius said:
if you can't even spend the time to build your own website and just COPY another website you have instantly lost my business.
Click to expand...

Is it possible that both websites were created using the same template.....??
Calm down guy.
 
Rasco said:
Is it possible that both websites were created using the same template.....??
Calm down guy.
Click to expand...

No, there is not a "knife website" template that these two sites just happen to use, look at the html... they just copied the template, added the pictures, and used it as their own. I feel that is dishonest at worst, lazy at best.

Not sure what the internet tough guy "guy" stuff is all about, but you asked my opinion.
 
Blues Bender said:
What if I told you there's other forums that look....



(Wait for it)...



Exactly like this forum?:eek:
Click to expand...

What if I told you this forum looks like other ones because

wait for it....

it is built on readily available commercial forum software (vBulletin)


Websites like knifeart are built for a specific client... If you look at the html, the maplegear site is a copy of that specific template. You can grab specific images of their site and run a comparison using Copypage or Tineye...

Just an interesting observation in this global marketplace; but as Maplegear says "Quality Builds Pieces Towards the World."

whatever that means
 
Last edited:
retzius said:
What if I told you this forum looks like other ones because

wait for it....

it is built on readily available commercial forum software (vBulletin)


Websites like knifeart are built for a specific client... If you look at the html, the maplegear site is a copy of that specific template. You can grab specific images of their site and run a comparison using Copypage or Tineye...

Just an interesting observation in this global marketplace; but as Maplegear says "Quality Builds Pieces Towards the World."

whatever that means
Click to expand...

Idk, I don't get too worried about software/technology...

My computer knowledge ends at ".com"...
 
They may have hired the same IT guy & said "we want a web page like Maplegear." And so he sold them the same program he sold Maplegear.
Did you used to run around book shops complaining about standard sized books being the same size?
 
mtangent said:
They may have hired the same IT guy & said "we want a web page like Maplegear." And so he sold them the same program he sold Maplegear.
Did you used to run around book shops complaining about standard sized books being the same size?
Click to expand...

Your comparison is invalid...

This is not difficult. Look at the html. Look at the year the sites were created... Its pretty easy to see which site came first. Knifeart didn't "hire" the "IT guy" who created the Maplegear site. Write up a small macro, extract some of the image html and compare it with Tineye or Copypage.

Standard paper sizes has nothing to do with website design. Website design is actually considered intellectual property along with the inherent rights (at least according to the American government) recognizing the time and talent to create the site. Considering the Maplegear (Yangjiang Maple Knife & Tool Industrial Co.) is in China, they don't recognize those intellectual property rights and copy whatever they want, but that doesn't mean we can't recognize it and discuss it.

Nevermind, I just look at the history of threads you have started, thought provoking things like "I need a dumba#$" and "on the rag again" and I realize who jumped into this discussion. You're totally right. Knifeart found the "IT guy" who created a Chinese website and bought "the same program" from them :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
retzius said:
I found a knife I liked on the GP Knives website from a maker called G.E. Chen:

http://www.gpknives.com/gechenduty3vblackmicartachoilblackblade.html

I searched for the maker but only found a link to their website at:

http://www.maplegear.com

weird... so I check out the website and it is a direct copy of the Knifeart.com website... just with different pictures!

http://www.knifeart.com

This is why I still can't buy some of these Chinese knives. Some of the designs look great and the materials and F&F look very nice, but if you can't even spend the time to build your own website and just COPY another website you have instantly lost my business.

Its amusing but pretty ridiculous to be honest... doesn't say much for their business ethics
Click to expand...

Last I knew Chen did not have his own website. Besides, the maplegear you have linked may be a shop selling his knives - which seems natural to me, since Chen is based in China. Chen is well-known over at EDCForums, and the forum store carries his full line. I have found him to be honest and a straight-up guy based on his posts - I did follow his foray into knifemaking, and the amusing tests he does on his knives.

If you think Chen own's/operates maplegear, did you bring it to his notice that it was a copy of knifeart? And how does your bickering about maplegear have anything at all to do with Chen's knives? Trying to paint someone with a single brush is narrowminded at best, racist at worst. Folks have given you sound advice - take a chill pill. If you are still irked about the maplegear vs. knifeart business, please contact both and seek clarification -- maybe that's a better course of action than venting here. :-)
 
Last edited:
This thread should go to...

cheesewine01.jpg
 
I don't care too much about the website, and I realy don't see sufficuent similartty to a Nimravus to call it a copy.
But the idea of payung $180 for a knife made in China......
 
KenHash said:
I don't care too much about the website, and I realy don't see sufficuent similartty to a Nimravus to call it a copy.
But the idea of payung $180 for a knife made in China......
Click to expand...

Actually, Chen is a member here. Also, I'll recommend looking at his knife threads on the making of Duty. I think Chen now has Duty 2, an improved Duty.
 
choombak said:
Actually, Chen is a member here. Also, I'll recommend looking at his knife threads on the making of Duty. I think Chen now has Duty 2, an improved Duty.
Click to expand...

I'm not talking about the knife maker, design,or quaity of the knife itself. I'm wondering how a knife could be made in China with their material and labor costs and have such a retail price. Mayby there's an expanation?
 
KenHash said:
I'm not talking about the knife maker, design,or quaity of the knife itself. I'm wondering how a knife could be made in China with their material and labor costs and have such a retail price. Mayby there's an expanation?
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting that it's overpriced simply because it's made in China? If it's a well-made knife in premium materials (and by all accounts it is) it should be fairly similar in cost no matter where you make it. These aren't mass-produced factory knives from the likes of Sanrenmu or Ganzo, assembled by uneducated factory workers. They're quality, small-batch fixed blades made by skilled craftsmen. This seems to be the same problem Reate faces trying to break into the US market. People WANT the same quality as a US-made knife, and yet they still expect to pay half the price if it's made in China. You can't have it both ways... you can have a cheap knife or a high-quality knife, pick one. China's labor costs may be lower, but you can't take full advantage of that fact without turning out a ton of product.

I will say the price seems a bit steep to me, but the same applies to BRKT and Busse (IMO).
 
amg137 said:
Are you suggesting that it's overpriced simply because it's made in China? If it's a well-made knife in premium materials (and by all accounts it is) it should be fairly similar in cost no matter where you make it. These aren't mass-produced factory knives from the likes of Sanrenmu or Ganzo, assembled by uneducated factory workers. They're quality, small-batch fixed blades made by skilled craftsmen. This seems to be the same problem Reate faces trying to break into the US market. People WANT the same quality as a US-made knife, and yet they still expect to pay half the price if it's made in China. You can't have it both ways... you can have a cheap knife or a high-quality knife, pick one. China's labor costs may be lower, but you can't take full advantage of that fact without turning out a ton of product.

I will say the price seems a bit steep to me, but the same applies to BRKT and Busse (IMO).
Click to expand...

Sorry but I disagree. The cost of manufacturing just about anything in China is lower than in the US/EU/Japan. Whether a product is produced in a factory or hand made one by one makes no difference. The labor cost in a factory in China is low because the cost of living is low, not because they are uneducated. One person hand making knives in China also has lower living costs.
A handmade knife made in China will not cost as much to make as if the same knife were made in the U.S.
And premium materials do not cost the same everywhere. Sure a hand made in China wull cost more than a factory made in China because there is no economy of scale. But by how much?
 
Most likely they share the same template. When you look at the source of both sites (from your "view source" option of your browser), there is a "www.w3.org" in the header of both of them, in the very first line.
W3 is a digital publishing company, I assume both sites use them to advertise their business and those are just same templates.
Knifeart's whois from GoDaddy shows that the company is based in Sunnyvale CA, Maplegear is also based here in the US, in Kirkland, WA.
I doubt it that US based company will steal just like that a template from well known retailer as Knifeart...
If you whois maplegear.com in GoDaddy it'll give all the details along with contact info, you can call them and find out why they use the same template.
They are hosted probably on different servers, because maple gear is awful slow to load.
Looking at the line in the address bar will not give you much more info, the domain name is probably redirected, it doesn't show anything more than this.
The only way to find out where they are is to whois the domain name, trace it from your location to check it and than to look for info in the web page's code that will confirm some of the findings from the whois.
This is what everyone with little knowledge and web based tools can do, I believe OP is some how over reacting on this, but of course I can be wrong.... :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top