Ever buy stuff that is clearly a knock-off of a popular, more expensive item? Tell me all about it!
I love my SUNWILL Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Double Wall Travel Tumbler, aka YETI knockoff. It was just $25 for two of them. I’ve never owned a YETI but I can’t see how it would be all that much better.
YETI cups are not cool unless you personalized yourself with a cool metallic sticker. 
I love my Crocs. I tried some knock offs. Nope… didn’t do it for me.
Bomba socks are nice. But I can do just as well, cheaper.
I bought a pair of Rolex and Omega watches on NYC’s Canal Street 15 years ago. Both still look and work just fine.
Or should I have typed that “Rolecks” and “Omeega”?
I went to Thailand in 1993. One of my friends asked me to get him a fake gold Rolex. It’s a terrible fake and fools no one but he still wears it and it still works.
I found a pair of fancy Birkenstock knock-offs at the Goodwill shop a few weeks ago. They hadn’t been worn, and at $25 I couldn’t resist.
Now having worn them almost continuously since then, I see the sole is wearing down quickly and may only last a few months more (unlike my regular Birks that go for years before dying). I googled the brand and found they’re only about $30 AUD from the online retailer anyway! But actually they are lighter than real Birks, and desperately comfortable to scoot around the house in, so I may well end up getting another pair when this pair carks it.
And they’re ‘prettier’ than Birks. 
I dug out a pair of fake Varnault (spelling varies, don’t know the correct one) sunglasses that I found years ago and rediscovered in a drawer recently. I’ve started wearing them, because they don’t have any scratches like most of my other glasses, and have a real nice tint for skiing. They are probably worth $3, but I kinda like em! Plus, they look the part.
My YETI cup is cool, indeed! 
I forgot I have a knockoff RIDGE wallet. Real ones are $100 - $200. My knockoff was $9.95, and I’m really not sure what the difference is between them. Zero marketing budget is my guess.
A friend of mine is really into watches and has several real Rolexes. He also collects fakes at both ends of the spectrum; extremely crappy one’s and extremely well done ones. One of his fakes is made up of all real parts.
I have a knockoff Montblanc ballpoint pen that I thought was real until recently (on the fountain pen hobby message board I frequent, someone posted photos of their pen that was exactly like mine, and several people pointed out the ways in which it differed from the real thing). I don’t remember how much I paid for it, it was a long time ago. I used to use it at work, although I grew to prefer gel pens. So my chagrin was mediated by that length of time.
I no longer have these, but I found them around 2000 in a flea market for $1.00 each. (Photos taken with ancient digital camera.)
Now that’s funny. They must have gotten a deal on that packaging card.
Same here. Looked at Ridge, choked at the price for two pieces of metal and some elastic and went with “Mountain Voyage” for $25ish bucks. It even has a swanky wood exterior which Ridge didn’t offer. I though the wood might crack since it’s just a thin layer screwed on the exterior but it’s been over a year and held up fine.
I own about 15-20 sets of polyhedral dice that I bought off AliExpress for $1.50-3.00 a pop versus ~$15 for a set of Chessex dice. Some experimentation showed the dice I tested were as random as the Chessex dice and I wouldn’t be surprised if they rolled off the same conveyor belt.
I forgot all about the one I had. Those pens were all the rage in the 90s. Mine was a shitty fake and never felt comfortable to me so I tossed it or gave it away.
Knock off Swiss(ish) Army Knives.
Cheap.
Get em at American Science and Supply.
I got a buncha them for $30, & give em away as Xmas gifts. Folks mistake me for classy.
Also, Kroger knock-off Breathe Right strips. (IMHO, the Kroger ones work better!)
In Türkiye - specifically Kusadasi and Efes - there’s a chain called Genuine Fake Watches. I have no need for one so I didn’t browse, but I admired their cheek.
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Not bought, but I have gotten both “Sketchers” and “Air” shoes (no Swoosh) for Christmas.
A hefty plaster grotesque named Carl with a Mona Lisa smile ©️infringement stopped production.
I have a couple guitars that are knockoffs. A Gibson Flying-V made by Hondo in the 80s and a Fender Telecaster made by Squier. The latter is a licensed knock-off while the first is now referred to as a “lawsuit Gibson”.
I previously owned a 4-cylinder 1988 Ford Mustang that was a piss-poor knockoff of a proper pony car.
The only example I can think of offhand is, rather oddly, in the area of groceries. The Loblaws chain of supermarkets (and the half-dozen other chains they currently own) used to be headed by a really cool guy named Dave Nichols, who famously traveled the world looking for new flavours and food ideas for his stores. These were incorporated into a line of premium store-brand products carrying the “President’s Choice” label, most famously the PC line of internationally-inspired sauces and marinades. But where “knock-off” comes in is that the PC brand also features store-branded versions of many commodity products, and because of the legacy of quality inspired by Nichols, many of these “knock-offs” are actually superior to national brands.
from the bar:
I will vouch for Sabroso coffee liqueur as a solidliy good substitute for Kahlua at a fraction of the price.
Cruzan makes a coconut rum that’s actually a bit better than the way-more-popular (and expensive) Malibu.
Royale Orange is every bit as good as Cointreu Triple Sec for your margaritas and other such uses.