Buy a genuine Babolat Aeropro Drive from Amazon today.
Some people seem to be worried that the tennis rackets they are buying are fake.
The most common rackets I see are the Babolat Aeropro Drive and Aeropro Drive GT but I have seen queries for the Head Microgel Prestige Pro and numerous Prince tennis rackets. If you want to be sure you are buying the 2010 GT from a reputable dealer then click the tennis racket image to the left.
The best tip I can give is this - buy from a reputable and recognized dealer. That means don’t buy them off some less than honest seller on Ebay.
Time and time again people buy from shady dealers on large shopping sites and expect genuine rackets at half the usual asking price. You get what you pay for!
If it’s too late and you’ve already received the racket, feel free to contact the racket manufacturer to check if the particular supplier you are buying/bought from is legitimate.
You can also try emailing the manufacturer and sending them pictures of your racket for verification if you are really concerned.
A couple more dead giveaways relating to a fake Aeropro Drive GT specifically include;
- the presence of a hologram sticker – definitely means you have a fake
- inaccurate color/text reproduction and a different string pattern to the original.
- try the light head versus heavy head demonstration. This involves putting a finger in the throat and watching to see if the head floats up above the handle or sinks below. Fake rackets tend to be head heavy as a rule.
- fakes have improper location of markings and some missing logo detail
Some of the other things you might be able to pick up on are;
- The inside of your racket will look disorganized and poorly constructed when you remove the butt cap.
- The center divider should be straight in a genuine copy but skewed in a fake.
- The background of where the “GT Technology” text is located should have a grey background with small lines. Fake copies will almost always have a black background with no lines visible to the naked eye.
Of course, it is hard to compare a fake to the real thing in person if you have already bought a fake. This is why it is SUPER important to buy from the most trusted dealer you know. It cannot be stressed enough.
Fakes are not confined to Babolat however, so I have included some links for other rackets.
Check out an example for Head tennis rackets:
http://www.tenniswarehouse.com.au/store/racquets/fake-racquets.html
Another for Babolat in general:
http://www.regentville.com/2007/03/fake-babolat-pure-drive.html
In summary a bit of common sense and research will go a long way towards avoiding buying a cheap copy. Hope you have found this somewhat helpful.
Filed under: Hints & Tips
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We have found that the bumber guard on most fakes look different to the originals, also some slight differences in colour. Always take the racquet to your local dealer for inspection and also remember to have it weighed.
tennisgt.com is out of China and sells fake racquets.
http://www.tennisgt.com is a scam which sells fake rackets. They are in China. See this report:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/sporting-goods/http-www-tennisgt-co/http-www-tennisgt-com-they-3277c.htm
I just bought a babolat aero drive GT raquet from tennisprinces.com and I think it’s a fake! The colour behind the GT tech label is black. What can I do?
Looks like it may be a dodgy website. See here
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110816130827AAvGrfC
Cant find much other info about them though. Best bet would be to try and return it for a refund. Otherwise you may have been done
BEWARE….BEWARE….BEWARE !!!!! Tennisprinces are 100% FAKES
They pretend to be an American based company But are Chineese SCAM
Artists , dont go near them ,I was stupid enough to buy from them and recieved a FAKE Babolat Racket !!!!
Thanks Gary, that is a helpful tip for all of us.