scam KOVE speaker is misleading/scammy

[Invertex]

After seeing the recent LTT video about drop cams that advertised this speaker at the end, I though hey, 65% off of a $200 portable speaker? That sounds like an amazing deal. I went to their website to look at buying it, but became a bit suspicious about how hard they were pushing a lifestyle and social media just for this speaker. So I went looking for reviews and other places to buy it, found very few reviews, but to my surprise came across a bunch of different speakers that are using the exact same design with a different logo on them, that came out before it, but with a regular price of what the Kove "discounted" price is, as well as videos from last year with the same 65% off urls that still work.

It seems quite likely that KOVE is just a prop up business that slapped their branding on this licensable device and then acting like they are giving us some amazing deal with this supposed huge discount. Reality is it's actually a fairly cheap speaker and in fact the regular price on Amazon is that of the discounted price.

I think it's quite bad to recommend to your viewers a product like this that had very little reviews nor proper background checking, and that is tricking viewers into thinking they are getting a great deal when they're actually buying it at the proper full price in reality. But perhaps there isn't something I know about the business that had been communicated to the LTT team...

[PokiDaSpitz]

oh damn sketchy.

[Christophe Corazza]

That marketing strategy is actually quite common. So it doesn’t surprises me at all. The initial price of $ 200 already seemed a bit suspicious to me.

[GoodBytes]

This is nothing new in retail. Many things you can buy (and maybe already did) are rebrands, or licensed. Anything from name brand glasses to TVs to food product (for example: supermarket brand products)

 

Rebrands of electronics are often times some Chinese manufacture making a product with no knowledge or resources sale to consumers, let alone provide support. They associate themselves with another companies that can do all this. So, they put whatever brand the company that buys from them is, and that last companies (the one that sales directly to you) takes the product received and does the rest, including packaging, support, etc. So, in this case,  you have KOVE that asks to have its label on this Bluetooth speaker that the company thinks it is a great product, then they handle packaging, marketing, support and manage the purchasing store front (if any) and/or retail partnership channels (so that it can be shipped to physical retail stores and sold there). Any returns/exchanges are handled by them as well.

 

Another thing that is done is the internals of a product is done by another company but the product physical appearance is made by some other company. This is true for MANY appliance makers, from blenders to washing machines to TVs and computer monitors.

 

Examples:

• Dell monitors. Dell buys panel from different panel manufacture (usually LG for their high-end products), and they do the circuitry associated with it, calibration, casing, packaging, etc. So it is a partially LG/Dell product. Dell doesn't make panels, it can't.
• If you buy a Toyota Yaris, you have a Mazda rebranded engine inside, but the rest is from Toyota (they are many cases like this in the auto industry)
• Many Chevrolet are Opel rebranded or the reverse. The front grill and company logo is usually the only thing that is changes. Sometimes the bumper design, but the rest is identical or near identical.
  
   
• Sony TV's. Non-high-end Sony TV's are just Sharp TVs inside, even circuitry.
• Kenwood hand blender uses also "off the shelf" Chinese manufacture motor, Kenwood just makes the physical appearance, packaging, support, etc.
• "As seen on TV" products (these are closer to KOVE story). They go to China, find a manufacture of a product and slap their name on it, and sales it. This is why many "as seen on TV" products have a reputation of being crap products, even though sometimes, they are decent. It may also be an inventor somewhere else that made his invention, but doesn't know the know how to sale it, let alone have the channels to sale the product in stores, or don't know how to mass produce his/her creation. So they make a deal with the "As seen on TV" companies that can handle all of this, including manufcaturing as they have partnership with companies in China or other regions that can do it. The inventor get a cut of a small percentage, and the rest goes to the company making the "big work".
• Tool industry (while sometimes the ownership of a company by another is just that, nothing more, and both company operate independently. Other times, it is 1 company making a product and slap whatever brand it owns. So Company X can make product A, and sale this Produce A, under the name Brand X, and Brand Y. Maybe the look of the tool might be a bit different, but the product is the same, and those are sold with 2 different prices, just due to the Brand name being different.
   
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[Invertex]

54 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

 

- snip -

I wasn't implying this was anything new, I'm well aware of all of this. But like I pointed out, the "discounted price" is its normal price on Amazon, it is not a deal but instead made to trick you into thinking you're getting one, and LTT seems to have been unwittingly pulled into this type of con. I'm pointing it out because I expect better of LTT and hopefully then in the future they will do better research into things they are promoting as a "deal".

[IsaacThePooper]

looks like a grenade

[RollTime]

@LinusTech Were you guys aware of this?

[GoodBytes]

6 hours ago, Invertex said:

I wasn't implying this was anything new, I'm well aware of all of this. But like I pointed out, the "discounted price" is its normal price on Amazon, it is not a deal but instead made to trick you into thinking you're getting one, and LTT seems to have been unwittingly pulled into this type of con. I'm pointing it out because I expect better of LTT and hopefully then in the future they will do better research into things they are promoting as a "deal".

Not to defend the company, but this is often a marketing trick. The company would release a product day one with some super high price (MSRP), but sold in retail store for cheaper. This is actually quiet common. MSRP is only followed when the product is new, and store drops the price, either the manufacture makes a deal with retailers, OR, the profit margins are so high, that the retail store can sale the product for cheaper.  Usually, the offset is a few dollars to maybe 10-50$.

 

On the company site, the Bluetooth speaker MSRP is indeed 199.99$

https://www.kovespeakers.com/products/commuter

 

Granted here it is an extreme case, where the jump in price is just insane. Probably Amazon is selling the speaker at near cost, or they are selling it to Amazon for a low price, due to competition within Amazon (probably from the other manufacture selling the identical product that they offer for much cheaper. I guess the company should have sign an exclusivity deal with the manufacture, but didn't).

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

6 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

If you buy a Toyota Yaris, you have a Mazda rebranded engine inside, but the rest is from Toyota (they are many cases like this in the auto industry)

Then you have the Sedan version of the Yaris (formally Scion iA) which is entirely designed and built by Mazda. Essentially a completely rebadged Mazda 2 Sedan while the Yaris hatchback for whatever reason was a Toyota shell with a Mazda engine. 

It's such an after thought, they didn't even bother to take photos of the car themselves for their marketing. It just looks like they photoshoped the Toyota badge on the steering wheel. The angle is all wrong.

 

[imSuperman81]

I'm a big fan of LTT and not really sure where this belongs, but the Kove speaker "disocunt" is a rip off, and promoting it is... sketchy. I don't know if anyone from LTT will see this, but they are the second YouTuber I have seen promote a "65% off" discount for this "$200" speaker. Making the speaker $70.

 

The speaker is great. I have one, but it was in getting one that I noticed something odd. I happened to check them on Amazon, where to my surprise, I found several identical speakers under several different brands; all of which were well under $200. I'm still not exactly sure who the actual manufacturer is.

 

The Kove branded one is only $85 on Amazon. It's a bit more than the LTT discount, but if buying one normally comes with what would be a 58% discount, something is off.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Commuter-Portable-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B06W5JG4DJ

Comments on Amazon listing also indicate that at one time it was listed for $85 on the Kove website.

 

But as I mentioned, this speaker seems to be sold under multiple brand names. Some of these are as low as $50, which is nearly 30% cheaper than the "amazing" deal Kove seems to be offering.

 

SoundPEATS ($53): https://www.amazon.com/SoundPEATS-Bluetooth-Portable-Speakers-Waterproof/dp/B0776NYLLQ

 

BOHM ($50): https://www.amazon.com/BÖHM-Resistant-Portable-Bluetooth-Connectivity/dp/B0735MTCJH

 

TREBLAB ($70): https://www.amazon.com/TREBLAB-HD55-Bluetooth-Impeccable-Waterproof/dp/B0728CL5Q4

 

PAXCESS (currently unavailable): https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Speakers-Bluetooth-Surround-Portable/dp/B075WWTS37

 

I got the Bohm one, and it's a decent product. I actually think my users would be interested in it too. It's just advertising it as a 65% off discount is sketch, and if were me, I'd want the heads up. Great videos, love the LTT content.

 

 

[Drak3]

Treelab claims two 12W speakers.

Paxcess claims two 10W speakers.

Soundpeats claims 5W.

 

Seems like each brand uses the same base, but different (and likely better for the more costly) speakers in their end units.

Kove is a Dastmalchi brand, with Dastmalchi being the actual manufacturer.

[bob345]

reminds me of those clothing stores that always advertise "50% OFF LIMITED TIME ONLY" and its like that pretty much perpetually. Dishonest? sure, but i wouldn't go calling it a rip off or a scam. Its just shitty marketing.

[KhandakeF]

33 minutes ago, bob345 said:

reminds me of those clothing stores that always advertise "50% OFF LIMITED TIME ONLY" and its like that pretty much perpetually. Dishonest? sure, but i wouldn't go calling it a rip off or a scam. Its just shitty marketing.

THIS DEAL WILL BE ONLY FOR 100 YEARS

[imSuperman81]

Bob, I agree, which is why I left it at sketchy. It's a decent product so I don't want to say scam, but the discount is clearly exaggerated. 

 

Drak, good catch. I went back through the Kove listing and looked on their website but didn't find anywhere where they list the speaker wattage. From what I can tell though, at least the Bohm and the Kove are the exact same, except for the LED color. Looking at the Kove, Amazon suggested another SoundPeats listing, this one for $45 (even cheaper), and they list a 5w driver. A different listing shows the same 5w driver, but also list 10w speakers. I'm not super familiar with audio tech, so maybe someone can explain the difference. The 10w listings do promote a higher battery life.

https://www.amazon.com/SoundPEATS-Bluetooth-Waterproof-Resistant-Microphone/dp/B071NDJCTY/ref=pd_sbs_23_2

https://www.amazon.com/SoundPEATS-Bluetooth-Portable-Wireless-Speakers/dp/B0776NYLLQ/ref=pd_sim_23_7

 

So it seems like there might be two different versions, a 10w speakers with 10-hour battery and a 12w speakers with x-bass and 8-hour battery. It would be interesting if LTT did a video buying them all and breaking them open to find out if there is a difference.

 

Edit:missing a word

 

 

[imSuperman81]

Oh, found another one, the EIVOTOR 360

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-EIVOTOR-Surround-Portable-Speakers/dp/B0742ZFH9B/ref=pd_sbs_23_13

It seems to be the same as the Bohm and Cove, listed at $45

 

And another, the EasyAcc SoundCup

https://www.amazon.com/EasyAcc-SoundCup-Bluetooth-Splashproof-Sensitive/dp/B01MSSVGE1/ref=pd_sbs_23_25

This seems to be the 10w speakers, 10-hour battery life version, listed for $52

 

[dgp]

Always thought Linus wouldn't promote something like this. %65 off a $200 speaker and shipping is $10 to me if not more elsewhere. All the while it's on Amazon for $85 with free 2day. Trying to make something seem more of a deal than it is. Kinda seems sellout to me. Linus always seemed to have better morals than this. Business is business I guess. Usually he looks out for community first.

[TheStyne]

When did they advertise this? Newest video?

[dgp]

It's an IG story. So if u go to there page then tap on there profile pic it will play. It's literally just them turning the speaker up with text over the video

[dgp]

43 minutes ago, Fixinit1 said:

When did they advertise this? Newest video? Instagram story

[GoodBytes]

It is a rebrand from another manufacture you can find the same speaker under another brand for cheaper, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/SoundPEATS-Bluetooth-Waterproof-Resistant-Microphone/dp/B071NDJCTY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527816665&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=KOVE+bluetooth+speaker

[dgp]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

It is a rebrand from another manufacture you can find the same speaker under another brand for cheaper, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/SoundPEATS-Bluetooth-Waterproof-Resistant-Microphone/dp/B071NDJCTY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527816665&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=KOVE+bluetooth+speaker

Another reason why I thought LTT was above partnering with guys like this

[GoodBytes]

13 minutes ago, dgp said:

Another reason why I thought LTT was above partnering with guys like this

Oh hang on, the link I gave you is for the 5W version, there is a 10W version that looks identical.

https://www.amazon.com/SoundPEATS-Bluetooth-Portable-Wireless-Speakers/dp/B0776NYLLQ/ref=pd_sim_23_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0776NYLLQ&pd_rd_r=ZR5DZPDDHARFNP5QCJM9&pd_rd_w=kt8yT&pd_rd_wg=JFc7S&psc=1&refRID=ZR5DZPDDHARFNP5QCJM9

 

Both models have their marketing image saying 2x 12W speakers... :sigh: Chinese brands.

 

[Ahoy Hoy]

The comparison to the cars is really not a good comparison as its not the same. Car companys buying parts from each other or working together to make a car and they both have the same car just with each other's branding.

 

This product is made by a company and you can buy it in bulk from them. You can pay a small amount extra and get your brand or a name on it.

Loads of Amazon sellers sell things like this and make up their own little brands.

 

The real problem is the sale. It's a requirement to be sold at the full price before you can say this item is now on sale. Depending on the country it can be required to be at full price for a certain amount of time compared to the sale length.

 

So what now needs to happen is see if it has been on sale/not on sale for the correct time periods and if it hasn't Linus tech tips will have accidentally broken the law for advertising something at sale price which had never been at full price.