Regardless of the make or source of measuring equipment they should be calibrated if used in any kind of regulated process. You can have a brand name caliper that zeros dead on every time on your gauge block but have a parallel error that the calibration lab can spot. The calibration is good for a year if the equipment is treated carefully.

Calibration only verifies the stated accuracy at some conditions. I'm pretty sure Mitutoyo verifies the design and performance across specified temperature and humidity range, which I'm pretty sure the fakes skip.

Tiny differences in the design of precision devices can void the accuracy of measurements (for example, using a resistor of the same value, but with larger temperature coefficient can make the device pass accuracy test at room temperature but fail at slightly lower temperature).

All good points and I agree, but technically both the work piece and the measuring equipment needs to be settled in a controlled environment for the measurement to repeatable. I know this is not typically how calipers are used in practice though.

But even then, component aging and drift is something that is considered by serious manufacturers- Mitutoyo can probably guarantee and back it up with tests, that their design will maintain the accuracy over some time frame.

Of course it doesn't matter for most machine shop uses of calipers- but when it does, there is definitely more to it than meeting stated accuracy once.

Sure, I'm not arguing for using fakes here. Mitutoyo is very respected for a good reason. I have never had one piece of Mitutoyo gear go flaky on me once. A coworker almost made us miss a flight because he refused to hand his Mitutoyo calipers over to security at the check. I'm saying that even if it's a Mitutoyo it has to be calibrated every year.

Defective equipment may not hold a calibration as well, though. Especially for something like a digital caliper which can have all sorts of complicated internal failure modes (in theory). In a field like aerospace, the users of measuring equipment would have an expectation that the design/manufacture of the measuring equipment meets certain standards.

In measurement critical systems, all instruments (including even simple ones like rulers) are calibration controlled, for a reason.

This tool totally lacks a cal inspection sticker, that’s a write up

"For reference only" stickers are way easier than cal inspection stickers, you don't have to update them every year.

- AS9100 certified engineering shop.

Any persons in engineering worth their salt would not buy metrology equipment from Amazon. Exactly as you said, seems like the problem is Amazon, not equipment or engineers/technicians/etc.

This is good for all of us. Amazon is becoming a place to buy low end essentials and it gives opportunities to smaller businesses to build reputation and sell directly. The only thing that’s missing is a good directory of indie shops. No, Google isn’t a good one. We should build a modern yellow pages.

And then that modern yellow pages will be flooded by tons of "AAAAron's totally serious business" selling you bridges and non-counterfeight merchandise. This has never worked.

Sigh. You're not wrong.

Etsy exists; but exhibits the exact same problem; ends up being a list of shops selling dropshipped crap from aliexpress

> I wonder if anyone has been killed already because of Amazon's disregard for a manufacturer's right to his brand.

How many people saved from Amazons cheap access to equipment?

I'd guess more are saved.