Buyer Beware: BYND4x4 "Tactical Cap"…Now With Lawsuits!

I think the answer to your question is multi faceted. The reason BYND is getting the heat is because 1) he claimed to have designed it himself and is a US citizen doing business in the US, with a US based company where these caps are “assembled”. He also paired with a major distributor in TB, so he’s in the spotlight now more than Shenzaun Overland or any number of Alibaba dropshippers will ever be, just like the faux TRD grill sellers. TB sells a lot of drop ship junk, but most of it isn’t blatant knock offs of high end products. Their own “branded” stuff is nothing more than the classic alibaba we build it and slap your logo on it deal that the cheaper “off-road” companies use.

2) China protects their own and would never even hear a lawsuit for patent infringement against their own manufacturers domestically from an outside (foreign) party. I’m sure RSI could seek an injunction to block drop shippers from importing them to countries like the US, but it’s a bit like playing wack-a-mole. Maybe they’ll try that next, or maybe they won’t see it as worthwhile use of time and money.

3) If I had to guess, the caps you see on marketplace are people who are trying to copy how most drop shippers start out. Import cheap crap in bulk, mark it up, sell it locally, wash rinse and repeat until you can rent warehouse space and pay someone to design you a logo and get yourself set up on Shopify.

 

Yeah I ordered one. it came 6 weeks late, and while waiting all this sh** came out. I went hard at jastopher LLC and got my money back. Cap came all hecked up- missing parts, missing the roof rack. Once I got my own hardware and put it together it does hold up with me walking around on the top of it. Gonna run it hard and see how long it lasts.

Anyone who asks though- I’m all for telling them to stay far away.

 

They deleted my comments and blocked me

 

Must be bleeding money left and right. I guess I got lucky. You bought a cap too?

 

thankfully no… I was just replying to a comment they had on their social media on why they stopped selling “their” caps

 

Sounds about right.
Super lame but when someone is pushing bootleg dropship crap it’s par for the course

 

Ah I see. Yeah it was a nightmare to assemble because they pulled everything from the site and since it came with a giant bag of random bolts and a middle finger- it took me two days to put together. Also the install video was wrong.

 

whack-a-mole.

there's previous examples of this. the "eleanor" body kit for mustangs is one. this case had been going on since 1989, the widow was well known to seize cars, and just be generally ruthless to protect her claim to copywrite of the body kit styling until this breakthrough in 2022.
https://fordauthority.com/2022/12/shelby-trust-prevails-in-mustang-eleanor-copyright-lawsuit/

the thing is, that's what required to protect a copywrite. if one doesn't chase down every version, there's also cases where allowing anyone to slip through is basically the same as allowing everyone to slip through.

there was also a case i know of in the electronics market as well.
https://www.sparkfun.com/news/1428

 

I doubt RSI gives much of a shit about Facebook sellers. They probably give more of a shit about some blowhard with a “business” touting these as USA made.

 

RSI's patent was filed in the US. They likely didn't patent it in China. Bynd has a US presence, so they get sued.

 

Their new “tactical” camper is 6500 bucks. At that price why would anyone buy from them when there are many American made opens close to that price

 

Yeah, I don’t get that. There is a guy on
Marketplace selling several Evo’s for 4195.00, not sure if it’s scam but seems legit. I’d go take a look but it’s 300 miles away

 

The FB sellers are probably taking away more sales than BYND

 

Some influencers still run them. Slowly backing off from what I’ve seen.

 

hell, i'll run one if you give it to me for free. can i be an InFlUeNcEr?!?

 

Just vandalize Moab and you will be right up there in a jiffy.

 

considering i'm in indiana, that's quite the gas bill. surely there must be a way i can be irritating and get free stuff without leaving home?

 

RLD Designs is another company selling this type of cap, never heard of them till a few days ago. I don’t know enough about these to tell if they are legit or not by looking at the pics on their website but I’ve never seen them mentioned here on TW before

 

next week, it'll be RDL Designs.

then DRL Designs.

Then when the heat has cooled, they can go back to selling as RDL Designs and start the system over, just like Amazons alphabet soup sellers do it.

 

If people just did a little research before buying something they probably wouldnt get duped into buying some Chinese knock. But people will still buy from Amazon. I personally hate buying shit online just because you dont really know what your getting till its at your door.