Cheap Yamaha flute from Ebay - Are they legit?

[JohnnyZo]

I am looking to buy a Yamaha YFL-221(for a child).
My local authorized dealer sells it for 650$CAN, while on Ebay I find it for around 500$CAN. (Note that I've seen my dealer do clearance of that flute for 550$CAN).

I don't want to end up with a counterfeit (a fake, a copy). But I would hate to pass on a good deal.

Does anyone have experience buying such Yamaha flute on Ebay?
It this a legit Yamaha product or do you think it is a counterfeit?

FYI, all sellers of "cheap" YFL-221 flutes on Ebay are from South Korea (!?). They all seem to offer the same product. Here are three examples of current offers on Ebay right now:

• http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Yamaha-Student-F ... 4ac69b50d0
• http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-YAMAHA-YFL-2 ... 19db2bf734
• http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Yamaha-Student-F ... 339d8145cb

When I compare with what my local authorized dealer sells, I see that the packaging is different.

At the local dealer, the YFL-221 comes with a single flat hard case with external clips and handle. No soft bag. I was told this is some school/student packaging, and that's why the case is flat and square for easier stacking. It looks approx. like this (not an actual picture, but close to what I can remember) :



The ones from Ebay come with a different more rounded hard case (with concealed latches), a soft bag and shoulder strap. It looks like this :



Is it normal that the Ebay packaging is so different than the one at my local dealer?

Note that I went through all images at sellers sites on Ebay, and that looks pretty convincing. All these sellers also have very good customer ratings and some of them already sold hundreds of these flutes. Also, Yamaha Canada told me that all YFL-221 are now built in Indonesia. And some Ebay vendors clearly state the product comes from Indonesia, which is reassuring.

Let me know what you think,

Thanks,

Johnny.

[dwindladwayne]

You can try to ask to ebay's vendor if he can say you where is the flute made in, moreover you can try to ask if flutes on sale come out with a Yamaha official warranty or something like that.
However keep in mind that if you buy it from you local vendor and you have any kind of problem you can still go in the store, if possible by foot, and ask for any info!
Let us know what did you choose!