I have been testing many Chinese-made knives; some are Japanese-styled but then made in China. I got a few emails asking me about a few certain knife brands seen on Instagram as an advertisement. Sometimes they don’t agree with my reviews on YouTube, but once I asked them how much they paid, I was stunned! They pay up to 5 times more than you can get the knives on AliExpress. This article will showcase how those fake Japanese knife scam websites operate and how you can identify one.
Where do I buy my Chinese made knives and why?
I buy most of the knives on because they are cheaper than buying them from a reseller or other websites like Amazon. Some of the brands do operate their marketplace store on Amazon or other websites. For Bulk orders, you should buy it on Alibaba (starting at a minimum order of 10 of the same knife). Remember that you should always wait for a discount on for around 40% to 60% off before buying. The resellers and official stores have exclusive sales throughout the year. You have to wait a day or a week, and the product is on a 50% discount again.
Fake Japanese knife scam on Instagram
There are a lot of fake knife brands or companies on Instagram. Most of them use the advertisement option (Instagram ads, FB ads, Google Ads, etc.) to lure you to their website. But some of them are also using Instagram influencers with around 5k followers or lower to promote their knives. The magic behind Instagram is that it is a short video or just a picture with no real reviews about the product. And most Instagram Influencers don’t double-check the company as long as they pay for a sponsored post or as long as the product is free.
Read the Instagram comments
It is advised that you always read the comments, and you will notice a pattern. They never reply to bad comments and, in most cases, delete them. But good that you can see the comment counts on Instagram. If you see 50 comments, but only 5 are visible, they probably blocked the person saying a bad thing about their knives. Most bad comments come from people that did not get their order within a month.
The Japanese knife scam website red flags checklist
If the website offers at least ”6” of the following, you have a scam website.
- Tries to be Japanese by giving their knives a Japanese sounding name
- Limited time offer
- Buy 1 get 1 free or buy 2 get 1 free
- It never mentions where they are made
- An extreme discount of 40% or more for a limited time
- Mentions of Japanese forging techniques
- Using Designed in (a different country or Japan) instead of Made in……(everyone can get a laptop, travel to Japan, and put ”designed in Japan”)
- All customer reviews are 4 or 5 stars (heavy censoring on their website), with no low star ratings.
- Website powered by Shopify (Shopify is a legitimate platform that scammers abuse)
- Refund and returns have to be sent back to China (if they ever respond to your RMA)
- Long shipping time of 2 to 8 weeks
- Processing time of 2 to 4 days
- All the knives that they offer can be found on AliExpress under a different logo.
- Japanese Damascus Steel (steel might be from Japan or not, but the knife is not made in Japan)
How do those scam websites operate?
As you might have read in this article, they promote all their knives through Instagram and then sell them via Shopify. Shopify is a legitimate business; however, many scammers use (abuse) Shopify since it is easy to use and easy to integrate an automatic system. They use something called ”drop-shipping”. They don’t hold any inventory. All orders go directly to the seller that provides ”drop-shipping service”. It means that they have no inventory, and all they need to do is sell the knives at a higher price to cover their own cost, which means a profit margin of 100% per sold knife.
In the mind of a Japanese knife scammer
They have no inventory low start-up cost like $10USD per month for the Shopify account. One sold knife will make you a profit of $40 to $60+. To generate sales, you need good advertisements where nobody will question your knife’s legitimacy, and that is Instagram. Use the popularity of Japanese knives. Give out free samples to Instagram influencers/ home cooks with a following of 5000 followers and start generating customers. Sell as many fake Japanese knives as you can once it starts generating some bad reviews on other platforms like forums etc. restart everything under a different Japanese branded name. Or restart once there are too many refund complaints under a different name and address.
Scammers automation system
The sellers only run a few ads and never have to look back. The orders coming in from Shopify can be copied to an XML file. The scammer sends the XML File to the AliExpress seller with a push of a button on Shopify. The seller on AliExpress gives them a fixed price for all the orders. Once he paid the AliExpress seller, the AliExpress seller will handle the shipping. Unfortunately, there is some work to do. You have to censor all bad comments and even generate fake reviews at the start, which requires a little bit of effort. Once there are too many refund requests, you can handle or too many negative reviews, restart under a new name, and worry-free since you have a fake address and company that was not trackable. You have to spend 5 minutes after a hard working day of heavy censoring and email your AliExpress seller the XML file that includes all the orders and shipping addresses that have been collected through Shopify automated systems.
Knife Example
The in this video cost around $10. The scammers sell the same knife for $40—a profit of $30. However, the seller that generates at least 50 orders can get a discount, so $7, a profit of $33. They even generate extra money by charging the customers shipping & handling cost if the order is not above $50, Charging $15 for something that they didn’t even do in the first place. It is a profit of $48 per order, let alone the special deal of buy 2 get one free if the customer gets tricked by that. It is a profit of $107 per order. Should the scammer worry about returns and damaged or never delivered goods? No, you censor them, never reply back and once it blows up, start over again under a new Japanese branded name.
Final notes
I find it hard to see those scammers getting away with what they do. I find it unbelievable how many customers got scammed. I appreciate the emails and even the emails that have some negativity towards me for reviewing those ”” and giving it a good rating while you paid $50+ for a knife that can be bought for $10. I’m sorry that you got scammed. I hope that you can spot some of those scammers after reading this article. There are really good businesses around Shopify, and there are indeed good Chinese-made knives.
Since I have some reach with my website, I hope to avoid some new victims for those scammers. Remember, we are not witch-hunting. The goal is to prevent those sellers by giving you the information on how they operate and how you can spot them.
If you know someone that was scammed by one of those websites, share this article with them.
If you have any questions about this subject, leave your comment behind.
▶ If you want to know what knife you should buy you can read the following article ''Choosing your knife''. ▶ On my youtube channel, I have reviewed a lot of different knives. You can watch the playlist by clicking here. ▶ Click here, if you want to search for other kitchen knives on: Amazon. ▶ , if you want to search for other Chinese knives on . ▶ Check out my gear on Kit: https://kit.co/ChefPanko ▶ Check out my recommendation on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chefpanko Full Disclosure: If you purchase from these links I get a small commission that goes towards supporting the channel and website. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases ▶ If you have any questions about Japanese knives made in China or about some of the brands feel free to ask it in the comment section below. Thank you for your support and feedback. ▶ Want to work with me? Please use the contact form by clicking here.
I was researching knives after receiving an utterly appalling Sakuto knife for Christmas.
Very badly finished
Chipped on first use – Carving a joint of roast beef!!!!
Burr has folded over
Handle poorly balanced and smudged
Doesn’t stick to knife rack as it’s probably largely aluminium
It’s a pure scam and yet your page here is littered with adverts and click throughs for this very company!
Your message is somewhat clouded by the adverts on your site!
Hi thank you for bringing this to my attention, the adverts are from Google but thank you for bringing this to my attention.
I will manually block Sakuto adverts from showing up. It might take up to 48 hours for the adverts to stop showing.
Thank you. Great page otherwise 🙂
Quick update: I have manually blocked the advertiser’s account and the ads on my side (will take approx 48 hours for it to be completely gone on my website). Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Hi! What about Tedzukuri? Their website says they are made in Australia…, no? I wonder if you could give more detail why you included them in your list?
https://tedzukuriknives.com/products/awabi-series-5-piece-chefs-bundle
They are technically not lying as they state ”Australian Owned and Operated” and do not say ”made in…”. But every knife they sell are made by a Chinese OEM with their own custom logo printed on it.
So I find it a bit misleading and the real truth too much buried under the refund a policy page or Terms of Service Page.
Chinese made knives does not necessarily mean that they are bad (I have reviewed a lot of them including some decent ones and some very good ones and a lot of bad ones that I did not publish since it was a waste of time when I received the knives I immediately knew I was decieved) but I have spoken to multiple OEM’s and they told me that they make the OEM orders based on what the brand want’s and the Quality control per OEM differs.
For example the 5 pieces you linked cost AUS $360 (with the supposedly current Black Friday Sale normal price in AUS $900), the exact same knife without the Tedzukuri branding is sold at AliExpress for just AUS $187 and that is without the Black Friday Special Discount making it AUS $150 (You can find the Extra Black Friday Discount code Here) for extra AUS$15 discount totaling around AUS $135 for the same 5 pieces. The Store that sells the exact same knife is here: Xituo Store they also provide Dropshipping and OEM orders (I must say I have tested Xituo knives and many did not make it for my final review as the quality control were more on the bad side than the positive side).
You are saving AUS $225.
Nothing against Tedzukuri but as a brand at least deviate from the standard design that all OEM’s offer (all they did was taking an existing design and slap their logo on it). The OEM’s I have spoken can design entire new knives not just customizing with different materials. You can say what thickness you want you can even ask them to create custom molds or use Damascus patterns outside the standard offering. And also they need to make sure the sales copy-writting is not too misleading having Japan in the domain (Tedzukurijapan.com.au – they do redirect to Tedzurukiknives now) suggest something else, adding Australian Owned and Operated is in my opinion misleading as you thought they were made in Australia (you can say that the customers need to read better but the sales copy-writting has been written in a way that can suggest otherwise).
Thankyou so much for this, I almost purchased one of their sets and have saved myself quite a bit from reading this.
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Have you reviewed Senken knives. I wondered how they stacked up next to the best knives out there. I know they are Japanese knives per their website but made in Salt Lake City, UT. Would love to know your, or anyone’s thoughts on then. Thank you.
I have not reviewed them but know that the question is asked multiple times about them.
The reason for not reviewing Senken knives is that they are not Japanese-made. The website is very misleading in making customers think they are. They are also not made in Salt Lake City (the website says HQ is located in so not made in and they never mentioned where the knives are made) but I know that they are mass-produced in China.
Every single one of their collection are standard mass-produced design that can be ordered from multiple Chinese OEM providers. (with some custom logo or handle which is not custom as the manufacturers in China let you choose them, if you want custom molds it will cost a lot more upfront to make the custom molds and design). The designs on some (most) of the collections are laser etched so not Damascus.
Just to give you some examples of their collection from a brand called Xituo, as you can see the same collection sold for just $60 for the entire set of 10 knives.
Hope that this helps for brands I recommend are Hezhen, Xinzuo (not Xituo), Shibazi, and Dengjia. (Every single one of them states that they are made in China, and are actually of good quality no misleading text of designed-in, etc).
For the currently recommended knife that is made in China (2023): https://www.chefpanko.com/singles-day-11-11-aliexpress-sales-day-kitchen-knives-2023/
For an interview with the Co-Founder of Xinzuo and Hezhen:
https://www.chefpanko.com/unveiling-innovation-in-chinese-knife-manufacturing/
The same can be said for other brands that make people think they are Japanese ”made” knives:
Seido Knives
Huusk Knives
Tedzukuri Knives
Matsato Knives
Sakuto Knives
Shinrai Knives
Hajegato Knives
Each of the above sells the same or some of the same collection of Senken Knives. And every single one of them does not mention that they are ”Made in China” which they are. For that reason alone I can’t recommend any of the above-mentioned brands and websites some are more misleading than the others and each of them can be bought for a lot cheaper on AliExpress (and I have tried Xituo and more which I did not like or had mixed results per knife).
Thank you, Chef Panko. You just answered all my questions!
Glad the answers could help 🙂
I think I got scammed? Ordered this https://raythehsarpener.com/products/rui-softseries-western-kiritsuke and putting the tracking number shows shipping from China Post.
Hi sorry for the late reply, looking at the website it lacks a lot of information.
Their Damascus series are all widely available on AliExpress but without the RUI logo.
And they cost around $45, and each company offers ”dropshipping” and Custom OEM options (change in logo print, shape, form, steel etc).
Since the tracking also says shipped from China they are made in China (in some cases the OEM can import Japanese steel etc).
Due to the lack of information on the website as to where they are shipped from I would have avoided the website no matter if they are a scam or not.
Especially since I’m from Europe, I will get hit with a hefty import tax if I don’t know from where the knives are shipped (The location of the warehouse or country they are shipped from are important to me).
Other than that there is simply no mention of China at all on the website, but they did deliver a tracking code which seems like they do deliver the product but might not be what you expected as there are no mentions of China at all or where the knives are made only to say what steel and in some cases mention Japanese steel but they never mention where they are made (which may be added later).
The handles on the knives are a giveaway too as they are also widely available on AliExpress.
As for the knife you ordered it has a unique shape but the steel is on the softer side which means that you need a lot more frequent honing sessions (the website says HRC of 55).
I personally would have avoided ordering there purely due to the fact that as of right now there is a huge lack of information. There is no address of the company, no phone number, etc. This might change in the future once they grow bigger (which I have seen with other brands that slowly added more and more information).
As of right now, I think they have a few OEM orders with custom logos of their own drop shipped from China (especially the Damascus series).
The M42 series, the handle screams Chinese-made handles, and the unique look on them I believe that they have added a custom order with a Chinese manufacturer.
Once they grow they may provide more shipping locations,
Seido Knives: Cheap junk, scam, money back guarantee is fake, same ones on amazon for 1/4 the price
Purchased a few of these different ones hoping they would be decent quality for a few presents for Christmas. When I received them they were in cheap cardboard generic boxes with an insert from the company, when opened I noticed the quality was nothing like what they stated on the site. They are cheap imitation stamped Chinese made knives not Japanese forged knives, I found the exact same ones on Amazon for $20 when I paid $99 (see link below). Address in the US is not a valid address, it’s some drop shipper, the address in Canada is the same, doesn’t show a real business, looks to be some sort of shopping mall. Phone number doesn’t work as you can only leave a message and no one returned several of my calls.
Requested to return them with their 30 day money back guarantee which was clearly stated on the item and in the site FAQ. It stated “RISK FREE MONEY BACK GUARANTEE” if your not “COMPLETELY SATISFIED” and “FULL REFUND NO QUESTIONS ASKED”. They stated there would be a 20% restocking fee and I needed to pay to ship them back to Canada when they were shipped from the US. None of which complies with their guarantee as your out of pocket a ton for return shipping as well as 20% off.
Return shipping cost more than the knives were worth. When I asked to talk to a supervisor, I was told the phone lines were down, when asked to talk to someone they could call on the cell phone they didn’t respond. Asked several times to talk to a supervisor or manager and they would not allow it. After days worth of emails (over 25) and requests for them to adhere to their money back guarantee they would not. I had to contest it with PayPal and pay about what I paid for the knives to ship them back but at this point it was more about principal than the cost. Customer service was horrible, this is nothing more than a scam to get you to buy and once you buy if you’re not happy you don’t have much of a choice but keeping them.
After I put a claim in with Paypal and they changed the verbiage on their guarantee to remove “full refund” and reworded it to make it sound like there is no risk but they will pull the same thing on you. If you do some searches on the internet tons of people have had the same issue, should have done my research first.
Here is an example, they are worth about 1/4 of what they are charging: Meat Cleaver Butcher Boning Knife Forged Kitchen Knife Multi-Function Cleaver Knife Chopping Knife with Large Finger Hole and Bottle Opener Ideal for Kitchen, Camping, BB, hunting, survival https://a.co/d/dXJUu6d
Sorry for your loss of time and money, Michael. Chef Panko has been on to this–and even shows how scammers operate. Yours is not the first example.
The positive side is that one can buy really wonderful Chinese knives for modest prices with little scammer risk. Following his general suggestions, I have purchased four knives through AliExpress that compare favorably to great Japanese and European knives that I also own.
For example, my Shibazi f208-2 vegetable cleaver cost only $33–and is every bit the knife Chef Panko reviewed.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Seido Knives. I looked them up and the first red flag is the picture they used on their homepage.
Those are fake Damascus patterns on a cheap $7 knife. But then they also have a section with ”Featured On” CBS NEWS, FOX, etc but once clicking on them they do not redirect me to a source that they were featured (not to mention that you can easily get a featured spot as long as they have the deep pockets to pay for a featured spot ie; sponsored spot).
I understand your frustration and thank you for sharing your experience hope that others that reads your comment are warned.
I have seen a lot of similar websites pop up, so I need to see if I can dive a bit deeper into this subject.
And directly warn others about them, got to figure out how to do it though as I don’t want a cease and desist letter.
So it will probably be written in wording like ”everything on this page is based on my personal opinion”.
I have been thinking about how to warn people about certain websites back then writing an article like this was my way of warning people but it seems like I need to dive deeper into those specific individual websites.
Again thank you for sharing your experience, I hope others are warned and I have to figure out to bring more attention to this matter in 2023.
Anyways, I wish you a Happy New Year! Hope your 2023 will be a lot better!
(I took a small break during the Holidays and New Year but I’m back at it now).
Hi, I just spent over $500 at a website called seido knives, i never received them and now they are not replying. seidoknives.com
I hope you can contact your payment provider, if you have used a Credit Card you usually can get your money back unless it was a debit card.
Call your CC company, or if paid with PayPal, open a complaint and PayPal will sort it out if you and the seller do not come with a solution.
Hope that you somehow get your money back.
Well Chef Panko,
I just got scammed by Japaknives/Huusk Knives and I am livid over this as I sent the knives back after checking them out. I also checked reviews after I bought them because I saw all their 5 star reviews by going through their sight and not independent sights!
I was going to eat all the cost they charge you for sending them back. Which is:
1) Shipping Costs (Mine was $22)
2) Restocking Fee (20% = $14)
3) Currency Fee (5%)
4) There is no Reimbursement
For the Shipping Cost They Charged me when I Bought the Knives!
I sent the products (3 of the same Knife) to the address in their return policy. They put me through hell saying they never received them and they needed my email Address, Order Number, and Phone Number to confirm!
But they are emailing me!
They apply the order number
And I explained that to them and all they do is send the same request email.
Then I send them everything they ask for and more!
Now they just responded that they didn’t sell me the knives, I must have purchased them from someone else.
Sure!
That’s why after my purchase they bombarded me with emails from the same email address for their support and staff which are:
——-edit by ChefPanko——
Removed email address
Removed email address
Removed email address
——email addresses removed——–
Is there a common thread here?
Geez…!
I need your suggestions because I will be reporting them to multiple Attorney Generals (AGs) as they can shut these companies down instantly with enough complaints, especially when there is proof of money being taken, and no way to get it back, or proof of scam activity! Also, the FTC, UPS, AND USPS, AND FED EX as there are Federal and State Laws being broken here, as well as International Laws being broken!
They have corporate addresses in multiple countries, as well as multiple states in the US UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES.
They burned up 8 days of my time before lying about me buying from a different company. So these people are extremely stupid and will go to jail, and have restitution and fines to pay after they get out.
This is only if the United States ever enforces any Laws again.
But if you have additional advice I’d like to hear it, because class action works too and thus easily qualifies. Attorneys love these cases because they get paid by States’ and Governments’ fraud protection funds and all of the consumer protection funds provided for this exact purpose!
Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon!
Regards,
Bill
I’m not aware of the laws and what can be done to those websites, however, I do know that most of them are not registered or use a false name and address.
I will edit out the email address in your comment as I’m not sure if it is allowed to share them since what I have seen they have a tremendous amount of advertisement budget. (don’t want any lawyers knocking in my inbox).
But all I can do is create some awareness about this topic and those websites. (don’t think that I can do much as I have seen multiple videos from me being stolen and uploaded into their advertisement campaign with some clever edits and I can’t do anything about it despite using the report option as they keep popping up).
Thank you for sharing your insights and experience! Hope that this helps others.
I love how bloggers with absolutely no knowledge of sales and marketing analysis profit margins. So a 7 dollar knife being sold at 40 dollars is 33 dollars profit? UPS for some reason offers this seller free shipping? Amazon for some reason also offers this seller fee free listings? The seller is also advertising for free? They do not need to pay storage fees for their products to sell? They do not have any labor to pack and ship their products? Business seems so simple and clean in the mind of a blogger.
I think if you re-read the blog you’ll find the blogger does actually explain a lot of your questions. The scammer is simply acting as a middle-man. They take your $40 and then place the order from Aliexpress. If you haven’t used their website you may not be aware, but they usually have free shipping, so no UPS cost. I had a look myself and sure enough, the knives are selling for as cheap as $6.60 shipping included. The advertising is mostly free by using instagram posts and sending free samples to influencers. Although I agree with you that this would not be $0, I think if you average it over many sales, then it would not be much. They do not have any storage fees as they never have the product themselves, they simply pass your order onto Aliexpress. The labour and shipping costs are again covered by Aliexpress. I think the business model is extremely simple, which is why the blogger points out that when everything starts to go bad for the seller, they simply delete the shop account and start a new one. I hope this cleared up a few things for you.
It is exactly as Tom explained, sorry if the article was confusing.
It is called ”Dropshipping” the cost is very low and the warehouses and inventory are with the ”Dropshippers” service providers.
The one selling the knives only needs to pay a small fee to keep the website up and running but they have no inventory risk and all shipments will be done by the ”dropshipper” providers.
Feel free to ask more questions I would love to explain.
Are knifes from japa knife real or another ripoff?
If we are talking about Japaknives.com, you can find the same knives from ALiExpress:
Japaknives and Huusk Japan sells basically the same knives:
Example one: Chun Kitchenware
Example two: Knives Kitchenware Store
I also love how they use ”Designed in the USA” while each of those so-called designs is a reference design from the manufacturer themself and everyone can get a laptop and travel to XYZ and say designed in XYZ.
The same with the websites Fitmesolution.com (a fake review website using the search them is XYZ a scam?)
Then they say it is not a scam ”find the best prices here” and it leads you to shopperholiday.com.
The fun part is both domain names are registered under the same person and hosting provider. (I find it very interesting how they go the extra mile by creating a fake review website).
I hope that this helps, scam or not. I leave that up to you to judge.
Hi Panko 🙂 , i Recently came across zeekka knives, i ordered my knives over 3 months ago have i been scammed ?? also are these real Japanese knives ? zeekka.com
Every single knife sold on that website is also sold on
AliExpress (this is one of the knives they sell) and each of the versions have a drop-shipping services, including a warehouse in the US. Three months and not receiving anything? If you did not receive anything, you could be the judge yourself.
Hi ChefPanko, I was attempting to purchase one Huusk knife and was offered a sheath and stone on special during this process which as far as I was concerned I added to my cart. Anticipating a cart review prior to placing the order I found that I was in fact being invoiced for four separate orders of 1 x knife, 4 x knives, 4 x sheaths and 1 x stone. Within 8 minutes of this I had a relative in the US call the number offered in the US to cancel or adjust the order and was told that couldn’t happen. I immediately raised a dispute through my bank and advised Huusk of this. My bank has since credited my account and are taking the dispute to Huusk. No one from Huusk has contacted me in relation to the dispatch as promised, in relation to an adjusted order as promised, or in relation to my notification of dispute. The ad came through “you tube”. Wouldn’t “you tube” pull the ad if they were aware of this mal practice. BK
Huusk is based in Lithuania and offer all sorts of things. Contact your bank & dispute the transaction
You can buy similar knives on Alibaba website at a far better price.
There is no malpractice on Huusk. You simply did not pay attention. I ordered 4 yesterday intentionally. It highlights 4x then below that is 3x then 2x then 1. It was up to you to click on the best offer that suits you. Some as with the sheaths, it gave you an option to choose the quantity. It just suggested 4 because it’s the best bargain of buy more and pay less. You just weren’t paying attention. It was all clear to me. Pay closer attention next time and dont blame a company for your ignorance
Kyle have you visited the Huusk head office in Lithuania?
It doesn’t inspire confidence in the company.
Huusk markets all sorts of strange goods as being the best – not just knives.
The Alibaba internet site offers similar knives at a much lower price.
Youtube will pull some of the ads if people report them. Most of the drop-shippers have multiple google AdWords account to avoid being terminated completely. As for Huusk, I had to block 3+ Huusk accounts to stop their advertisement from being shown on my website ad spaces.
The website ordering process is relatively straightforward. They directly put the options on the best deal for them.
They will use scare tactics by saying limited offer, last chance, etc.
Every single commercial picture they have a Huusk logo but non of the customer had the logo on the actual knives. This indicates a dropshipping service and not a custom order. (as explained in the article)
Here is an example, and each of them offers dropshipping service it is exactly the same knife:
Example one: Chun Kitchenware
Example two: Knives Kitchenware Store
As you look at the website from Huusk Japan, they are using a Famous Japanese blacksmith in their picture called: Itsuo Doi (土井逸夫氏) (the guy in blue on the Huusk Website).
This is a Japanese Blacksmith that specializes in hitting the blade. Believe me. There is no way he will make that kind of knife that Huusk is offering, especially not in that quantity.
The product is not the problem here, but how Huusk is misleading people with photoshopped pictures and stolen pictures from famous Japanese blacksmiths. At the same time, the knife itself is not made in Japan (and charging 4x up to 10x with false advertising).
Thanks for this! I’ve been fighting this bogus company foe weeks now. They appear to have used part of a genuine compay’s name – Huuskes in the Netherlands. They are a complete scam. Please warn everyone. I can’t understand how their adverts appear all over the internet.
Everything about this experience has been terrible. I ordered 6 weeks before Fathers Day and today tracking said ” Item is ready for departure”. After complaining on 5/28 in a review, Noah sent me an email stating “my order was on it’s way, We’ve shipping” that was 6/7. I called today, I was # 89 in the queue. I held for 1 hour and 3 minutes, got Gene who took my name and order number and asked me to hold for a few minutes while he checked my order. I held for 5 minutes AND HE DISCONNECTED ME ! There is more, like the fact they charged me 2 times, I have requested invoices twice to see why, but both times I got the Covid excuse. My next effort will be with Paypal to cancel this order, get a full refund. I have been buying online for over 20 years and this is the worst time I’ve ever had.
Good that you used Paypal, once there are more complaints about a specific website or company Paypal will block them from using the Paypal payment services.
Paypal customer support is very good so far for me, if you and the seller can’t get to a solution Paypal will step in and take measures.
I Hope Paypal sorted it out for you! there are more and more of those fraudulent ”dropshipping” websites popping up.
On an impulse, I ordered a cleaver last Christmas. The company was called Nakamura Club. I got the e-mail confirmation about the order, but the company no longer exists. It wasn’t much, just about $40, I am so glad I didn’t go for the full set. The money from my credit card was taken by a company in a small town in Queensland, Australia. But I am pretty sure they were based in China. Thank you for putting together all this info for us.
The companies, or rather the websites, are usually run by other people outside of China (usually teenagers who got scammed by buying a ”get rich quick course” that teaches them how to do dropshipping). However, when a customer orders from their website, they will place an order by a Chinese seller that provides a ”Dropshipping service”.
This means that there is no name or logo on the package, but you will see that they are sent out from China.
The person behind the website, on the other hand, can be operating his website from anywhere. And that is the problem with those websites, and they care about one thing: to get rich quickly.
But most of them bought an online course on making a ”dropshipping website” so it is an endless loop. The real winners are the ones selling the courses.
I’m not too fond of those business practices, and the websites won’t last long.
I hope you could do a chargeback with your credit card company.
I make sure I use a payment provider that protects me with every impulse purchase, especially if it is an unknown website.
(The fake reviews that they paid someone or did themself will create many victims).
Thank you again, ChefPanko. Very informative. Unfortunately the dispute can not be filed after 120 days from day of purchase, so I have learned so many lessons on this journey.
I have sent multiple emails concerning my order of 4/13/2021.
Still have not received knives as of 5/24/2021
Takes days to get a response and response is don’t worry.
Tracking has not been updated since May 6
My only recourse is to dispute with my credit card.
Do not order from them unless you like frustration.
I get daily emails to buy more Huusk stuff. I order from Europe often and no delays due to pandemic from other companies.
Yeah, I hope you can do a chargeback and block them from your email.
The more people report or do a chargeback. They will eventually need to close the website.
It is scary to see how professional those websites can look now.
But when we dive deeper, we can see that they are a scam (knowing what to look for is important, especially when people buy on an impulse without researching).
Hi Robert,
Malcolm from UK here. I fully agree with everything you say. I have tried tracking with all sorts of couriers Huusk say they used but got nowhere. I too get the emails from various companies. The payment is taken through a Swedish bank – odd not to be Lithuanian???
Reading all these comments and more importantly your reply has given me the tools to make a much better purchase!
I was watching a YouTube add for the Huusk knives and what truly made me laugh was to think that all these knives would be made by that one blacksmith and even worse, that they would only be sold at (in my case) $36 CAD each – because of a 50% discount – only available today (of course).
Thanks for taking the time to help educate us in regards to our kitchen needs,
All the best
They are even active on youtube ads? They really go far with the advertisement.
Huusk is a company I did not hear of until someone mentioned it.
But they are one of the select few that does advertising beyond FB and Instagram.
I wonder how long something like this can stay in business.
Glad you could make a better purchase 🙂
Great site Chef!! Thanks. Yup…. HUUSK is a scam operation! Right after I placed an order it hit my bank immediately as being paid. The following day it jumped up two steps in their tracking system to “packaging” status. Two weeks passed by, and after several attempts to contact them via email and phone… nada!!! One month later… it’s still in “packaging”. I initially gave them the benefit of doubt, but filed a dispute with my bank yesterday. This morning I was credited back the money I spent by my bank.
Glad you could dispute it with your bank!
I ordered a knife set from Razar knives in January and did not receive them yet. Responses from Support have been useless. They have not offered to give me a refund. Was I scammed?
I hope you received your order. If not, I hope you can do a chargeback or report it to the payment provider.
If paying with PayPal, open a dispute. If paying with a credit card, call your cc provider and ask for a chargeback.
I hope you can solve this. Since it is now more than two months away, you should already have received the product. If not, then it may be a scam (drop-shipping).
Looking at their website, each knife they sell is from .
I finally received my knives mid May. Apparently the first set was lost in the mail. The knives appear to be well made and the handles are beautiful. Too bad that it took a bad review for the company to finally take action.
Glad to hear that 🙂 Drop-shipping is always slow as they usually come from China.
ChefPanko,
THANK YOU for exposing phonies!
Your breadcrumbs are the BEST!
RESPECT!
Chef Borat
Thank you for the comment, I hope others will be aware of those drop-shipping scams or at least how they operate.
They are usually operated by young folks that bought ”drop-shipping get-rich-fast courses” from other online scammers.
Chef,
While looking for reviews of Japanese knives I stumbled across your website, I was wondering if you know anything about the Huusk knives (ironically currently showing in the ad box on the side of the site) Are they decent quality? Are they actually made in Japan or are they Japanese style knives made in China?
Thanks
There are multiple knife stores on AliExpress that offer the same knife without the logo. Huusk knives look the same as all the other webshops.
Customer pictures also show the plastic edge guards, and so far, I only see those when the knives are made in China.
Same knife color and knife cover:
Example one: Chun Kitchenware
Example two: Knives Kitchenware Store
The same knife for just around $15.
How the knives are, I don’t know since I did not try them personally.
I also don’t think it is a Japanese knife style either. More of an outdoor/camping/hunting-styled knife.
Update: Huusk knives will no longer be visible as an ad on my website (I have blocked them from my website, thank you for pointing it out).
Huusk reply address as copied from their email to me is :
Huusk Japan
Gedimino str. 45-7, Kaunas, LT-44239, Lithuania
+1 (914) 559-9997
I asked to cancel the order within an hour of placement & they advises it has been shipped. Lithuania says it all,
Huusk is definitely a scam company in Lithuania. I ordered knives from them and they charged my credit card immediately. The knives never arrived and my requests for a refund was ignored. Buyers beware!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope that others see this and avoid Huusk Japan them.
It’s funny that so many of those so-called ”drop shippers” always need to add ”Japan” to the product page to be able to sell something.
I hope you can still get it sorted out or ask for a chargeback from your credit card company.
My mother bought a Huusk knife for me and she says she had no trouble with delivery at all which is odd to me since all I can find about the company are scam warnings from people with bad experiences. I’m not saying those bad reviews aren’t legitimate, i just didn’t have such a bad experience.
A completely different topic is the marketing and the actual quality of the knife. It seems to fit the low price but I need to find a way to test the steel without buying a hardness testing kit for 150€. Sure the fake blackened “forged” finish screams low quality but if the steel is at least decent quality it wouldn’t be a bad camp knife for the money.
The biggest problem is the marketing and the price point, as the knife is sold for (4x and sometimes 10x higher and they charge shipping & handling cost for something they don’t even do themself like charging for shipping cost while shipping is free with the drop-shipper provider).
And because it is dependent on where the knives are sent from, mostly from China, the knife can take a while before it arrives at your doorsteps and, in some cases, get lost (as they will choose the cheapest shipping provider).
The knife itself is mostly decent, but not at the price point they (scam websites/drop shippers) charge you for.
As you look at the website from Huusk Japan, they are using a Famous Japanese blacksmith in their picture called: Itsuo Doi (土井逸夫氏) (the guy in blue on the Huusk Website).
This is a Japanese Blacksmith that specializes in hitting the blade. Believe me. There is no way he will make that kind of knife that Huusk is offering, especially not in that quantity.
The product is not the problem here but how Huusk is scamming people with photoshopped pictures and stolen pictures from famous Japanese blacksmiths. At the same time, the knife itself is not made in Japan (and charging 4x up to 10x with false advertising).
As for the steel, if I’m correct Huusk knives are using 5cr steel. I reviewed a 5cr steel from Dengjia, which is also an OEM manufacturer for other brands.
http://www.chefpanko.com/dengjia-hand-forged-chef-knife-review-5cr15mov/
So the Rockwell should be around 55.
Awww, obviously I’m happy to be reading this as I was just about to order 2 x huusk knives for myself and my father as a gift. They look beautiful and the advertisement makes them look like excellent knives. I suppose I’ll be sticking with my wusthof classics for now ☹️ unless of course anyone has a good recommendation for a nice not overly priced good looking chef’s knife ???
The knives I was going to order were called the samurai
Chantelle x 🔪🔪🔪
I’ve never seen this knife in any Japanese source, but knives of this shape are used by the Royal Kitchen ladies in the 2003 Korean historical drama _Jewel in the Palace._
Have not seen that drama, but it reminds me of ”Mr Queen” drama if I’m correct at eps 3 they have a cook-off very funny drama that still needs to finish the drama.
Hi Chef Panko, I hope this message finds you well.
My father asked me to check out this website for him because there was an excellent deal on Japanese cooking knives, but based on the red flags in your article it seems like a scam.
Here is the website: japaknives.com
Not only did I see multiple red flags, I also could not copy any of the text on the website (which I usually do to fact check).
Am I overthinking, or is it actually a scam?
There are multiple knife stores on AliExpress that offer the same knife without the logo (It is not that the knives are bad. It is just the business practices of those ”drop shippers” that I dislike).
Same knife color and knife cover:
Example one: Chun Kitchenware
Example two: Knives Kitchenware Store
The same knife for just around $15.
Since their knives have a logo, I think they have the knives send over to their own warehouses for faster shipping (and branding of the same knife).
I also hate that they use ”scare” tactics (scarcity) of giving you a feeling that you will miss out once you put the knife in your basket.
”Your order is reserved for 8:00 minutes!”
If you clear your browser history or go incognito mode, you reset the timer.
I’m not too fond of that kind of business practice.
If Japaknives is a scam or not I leave that up to you.
are kizaru knives real Japanese knives
Every knife I see on there is also sold by . A knife brand made in China with a 10cr15comov steel (Chinese VG10). They never claimed that it was Japanese-made, but ”inspired by Japanese craftmanship”.
But I’m 100% certain all the products currently sold there are made in China. They do claim to send it from a US warehouse, so in that case, they are most likely not dropshipping.
If the price is worth it or not for you is something you have to decide as offers the same (but not send from the US warehouse)
Feel free to ask more.
Xinzuo is a reliable knife made in China at a most competitive price. I purchased 2 knives from Xinzuo via Alibaba and they are good value.
Xinzuo is indeed one of the select few brands that delivered me consistent quality.
Thanks for your feedback on this issue.
Do orders from these scammers actually get delivered? Or is it money stealing as well?
If they are lost in shipments, they won’t go the extra mile to resolve the problem.
Some may, but most of them won’t even bother helping, so it is stealing in some cases.
But most of the orders do get delivered but just longer than expected, which is normal when you order from China, but they will now use the Excuse due to the pandemic and keep you on the line.
Also, if you read their terms, they are all to protect themselves and not there to protect the consumers. (They never mention where they are made, they never mention where they themselves are based or where to return the shipment, but once you contact them, they will give you a return address in China, and in most cases, it cost you a return shipment cost of $20/50 that they won’t compensate).
Some even dare to charge a restocking fee when you want to return the order or when you refuse the order when the postal service delivers it. (as explained in the article, they never owned an inventory)
Thank you for the feedback. I am a bit worried as all I have is a text confirmation and no tracking details. No response from the website email contact form when I asked for the tracking details. Even though the knives were ‘cheap’, still $200.00 that we might lose! Hoping for some luck….. thank you again!
Sorry for the late reply, did you receive your order?
Hi Chefpanko
It’s Grandsharp knife store from Aliexpress website. One of those foxy sellers?
I amb about yo buy a knife which is delivery un 2 months.
Thanks at all
Grandsharp on AliExpress has multiple resellers on AliExpress, the quility is the same and the pricing are similar.
The Store I bought my Grandsharp version is this one:
http://bit.ly/2usGvZK
Grandsharp brand is also sold by other Shopify scam websites for $100 to $200 for the Damascus version.
Quility wise Gransharp is good especially considering the price I did a review on my YouTube Channel for one of their knives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6hx79X8EI8
Keep in mind when ordering from AliExpress never buy at full price, they always have 40%/50% discount throughout the year. It usually takes 48 hours to get a new discount price from the same reseller.
Delivery time is around 2 weeks to 1 month usually but when ordering from AliExpress you are protected by a ”buyers protection” of 60 days with a possible solution for buyers protection extension or a full refund by AliExpress.
Feel free to ask more 🙂
Chef Panko,
I would encourage you to increase your presence on instagram with introductory videos linked to Youtube and/or your web site, including a link to this post. I’d guess that the Chinese manufacturers are totally appalled by this. They are the biggest losers. In the United States, there was a very effective campaign against fake product recommendations on AMAZON, but nothing I’ve seen about scams like this.
Hi Ray, I noticed that a lot of those fake Japanese knives that were also on Amazon have been removed (some are still there and the fake Ebook business on Amazon is still active). And it seems like that the exacts same knives and sellers are now moving to Shopify to continue this ”Dropshipping” scam. Since Amazon legitimate brands have now a label with ”fulfilled by Amazon” sold by ”brand name”. So Amazon has the real physical product inventory stocked up with its product in an Amazon warehouse (the thing is that amazon never checks the content so if you ask for extra quility control to check the knife state they won’t fulfill it).
And Shopify is also a victim by those scammers since it also gives Shopify a bad rep.
And many of those websites are managed by one person only.
It scares me to see how easy they can get away with this, all they have to do is declare bankruptcy. Or they never signed up with the Chamber of Commerce in the first place to register their business. And can operate entirely in incognito mode by just opening a PO Box/ Adress.
I haven’t figure out Instagram yet, but I try to figure that out too now.