I own an export factory in Shenzhen and we buy acceptable quality kn95 masks for our staff PPE in low volumes of a few hundred or so masks per order, for 10-11 RMB each, ~$1.6 USD/mask. While there is a variance in quality standards depending on the manufacturer source, I think labeling anything cheaper than this $1.50ish as “fakes” is kind of not the full story in this PPE case. See, in China, instead of political parties posturing to give Five Trillion Dollars in stimulus funds away without much to show for it (like we didn’t even get a single new mask factory in America for this?) instead the “CHI-NA” Government did the smart thing by mobilizing manufacturers directly to make PPE, with terrific financing terms for equipment purchases and promises to buy whatever quantity of PPE stock was made, for any manufacturers that wanted to switch over to make PPE. We even considered taking this factory stimulus incentives ourselves to get into making PPE, but I ultimately decided against it because it was too hard to get workers and we had existing orders to work on with our staff. But many factories that didn’t previously make PPE got into it. Masks from those kind of factories are not maliciously “fakes” but the quality is more highly variable.

"fake" is a subjective term and what I meant by fake was either substandard or direct knock offs of authorized manufacturers. we've been offered plenty of substandard "KN95" masks at <$0.10/mask.

btw, any of you at big (or small) companies that are looking at the daunting new normal of requiring masks at work (ie: uber drivers & riders) - please reach out - orders@maskhq.org

the HARDEST thing to do right now is match demand with supply. we had an entire production line (1M masks per week) running but once we fulfilled the order, that was it and now we are back at the "end of the line" to get more. the more we can pool large bulk orders together, the more consistent the supply chain is. ocean freight is ~20 days landed in LA and then 3-5 business days to get masks anywhere else in continental US.

for everyone else buying smaller quantities for personal use, as a long time HN lurker, use the discount code "HN" when ordering - https://maskhq.org/discount/hn

stay safe everyone!

Thanks for doing this. You're probably saving lives.

So, obviously counterfeits are bad because they both steal profits from manufacturers and retailers who build quality products, and undermine trust in the real thing.

But, those are harms to manufacturers and retailers--what's are the harms to customers? We see some mixed evidence on the effectiveness of homemade cloth masks, and better evidence that authentic KN95 and N95 masks are effective. Where do counterfeit KN95 and N95 masks fall in relation? Does imitation of look and feel of a KN95 or N95 imply some degree of imitating the effective features of these masks?

These aren't rhetorical questions: I'm really asking because I haven't been able to find much information.

Wow. Talk about solving the real problems! I'm not sure if this has been an issue yet, but how do you QC masks from known good manufacturers to make sure quality doesn't slip?

I'm doing the same for extended friends and family.

I import and wholesale natural stone slabs for a living, so was right in my wheelhouse.

Concur with the pricing, Is say the best deal I got was earlier in and out was $1.90 shipped to the US.

I've been trying to define the efficiency of wearing kn95 masks but you've probably looked into this extensively, tell me where I'm wrong:

Wearing a mask protects the people around you by not exuding the virus when sneezing/coughing, so covering your mouth with your elbow has the same effect.

I assume that while breathing there isn't enough pressure on your throat to exude virus with your breath, so the mask doesn't do anything here either.

In an isolated environment, the virus clings to particles in the air and takes 3h to gravitate down or towards a surfice, although this is faster in practice (weight of sneeze particles ann wind, etc) so when someone sneezes/coughs around you with no protection, you protect yourself by breathing through a mask. This is the only relevant benefit of wearing a mask that I found since I already cover my mouth while sneezing/coughing.

Are you testing any of the masks? How do you test them?

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I've got a neighbor with a newborn who is trying to find some masks, are you aware of anyone producing for small children and infants?

How are you protecting against "I wore your masks and still got sick" sort of lawsuits? Selling masks right now seems like a high-risk for these, even with meticulous attention to the supply chain.