Now some of you might know that I REALLY want one of those "90 cm Funassyi stuffed version 3" as they are called.
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| 90 cm Funassyi - image from direct link via the Funassyi Webstore (see link below). |
But they are very expensive, and by the time I could afford one I am fairly confident they won't be available to buy.
For those wanting to see how awesome they are can click this link
So imagine my complete surprise at finding one on the internet selling for about 1/3 of the normal price and with postage that was so cheap it was almost free.
After the initial joy wore off I started being logical about the 90 cm Funassyi and started to smell a rat, and a dead one at that.
I showed my wife, and she agreed with me.
We decided that it must be a pirated version of the 90cm Funassyi being made, obviously, illegally.
The images on the web site may or may not have been of the actual Funassyi being sold. It is hard to tell, and they may have even used a real legal one to be the model for the photos.
I thought I would do the right thing, and I contacted Gray Parka Service (GPS) and explained the situation. Thanks to my wife I was able to do so in Japanese, making the process a lot easier for GPS.
About 18 hours later GPS relied to me, with part of the email saying "Thank you very much for the precious information".
It seemed I was right - this was a 90cm Funassyi being made illegally, and GPS were in the process of launching an investigation in to the fraud and to see what could be done.
I was a bit sad that I wouldn't be able to buy this cheap 90cm Funassyi, as I refuse to knowingly purchase something like this. Not only is it fraud, but it is depriving the legal owners income, as well as preventing donations to charity, as Funassyi gives a percentage of sold items to a very worthwhile charity.
Now, I wont be providing information as to where I found this pirated Funassyi - I am not here to promote anything illegal.
What I would like to do is tell Pear Friends to be wary of fake items being sold, and if you have a sense of what is right and wrong, then please do the right thing.
Anyone can contact Gray Parka Service directly via their 'contact us' section of their web site and provide the details of illegal items: link
Unfortunately for some the field headings for this form is in Japanese, and I don't know if the staff at GPS can read English (or other languages) but I dare say someone might be able to help you with translation if you were to ask around (I might be able to help out there... well, at least my wife might).
A page on the GPS site covers fake Funassyi items... it is rather difficult to find if you don't read Japanese, so my thanks goes out to Makiko Itoh of "We Love Funassyi" and "Justyhungry.com" fame for providing me with this page showing what to look out for in a fake Funassyi: link
So please be careful when you buy your Funassyi items, and consider being a good Pear Friend and do the right thing if you think you have found someone selling fakes.
I will get off my soap box now and go back to wishing I had a 90cm Funassyi.
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