Originally Posted by
guadzilla
In addition, there ARE a lot of bike companies that dont do much other than find a reliable vendor with a good open-mold design, spray on their paint designs and re-sell these bikes. Some companies - eg, Planet X, Pedal Force - are quite open about this and price accordingly. Other companies... well, they dont really contribute much except overhead.
The difference between the likes of Planet X and ebay sellers is that PX is an ongoing concern owned and operated by people within the jurisdiction of western courts. Meanwhile, the ebay carbon sellers could be anyone and far, far away from any accountability. If PX is caught selling rejects, they're out of business, in court and have their reputation ruined. If the ebay seller is, he can just start up a new account and keep going.