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I have been trying to ask a question regarding whether an APC product is genuine or not.

The result is that such a question is put on hold within 24 hours and completely removed within a few days. First I have tried as what battery is in the box. Try to ask this question to APC and you will never get an answer. For that reason the question and answers are interesting.

When I tried to broader approach by asking whether the unit is a genuine product (which is a valid question regarding earlier APC counterfeited units have been seen in the wild) the question is still being closed and removed. I though the reason was "too localised" again.

If find it difficult to balance between the "local" and "generic" scale. On other stackexchange sites your question will be closed when you ask a broad question because too many answers are possible. Here on superuser the trend seems to be that relative concrete questions regarding a single article identifier are seen as too local.

By the way the APC unit is confirmed to be genuine by APC/Schneider solely on the fact by which shop it was used and the distributor that shop uses. The differences between the initial and replacement APC UPC indicate that APC supplies at least two lines of quality. By default the user is supplied with a cheaper/lower quality product (mounting errors, 3% lower battery capacity, battery from different manufacturer, sharp edges on housing, etcetera). As soon as the unit is swapped by APC you will receive a product from their premium quality stock.

I still do think that the results of the questions are interesting for a broader public.

How to ask a question about whether an ICT related product is genuine or not?

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    If you link to the old questions that are deleted, high-rep users and mods can see them, and possibly give additional input
    – Canadian Luke
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 19:03
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    superuser.com/questions/890628/… superuser.com/questions/890641/… and superuser.com/questions/891566/… for 10K and higher
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Commented Mar 27, 2015 at 22:12
  • meta.stackoverflow.com/a/270704 ahh, i am all for such questions, and for learning such information. I could still see that some would percieve the question as somewhat "shopping" style, getting the right stuff when buying, and not getting ripped-off, which could apply to some 1 million purchaces. If we dont cover it, then it is time for a "computer Hardware" SE , where it can be rejected there too Phhhht , because they are finding/shopping/securing goods questions..
    – Psycogeek
    Commented Mar 28, 2015 at 4:36
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    why the freak can i go to the SE garden center and find out which rake to use, and what type of gas to put in my mower, I can go to the bycycle site and ask which bike seat to put my butt on., but cant go to the computer user site and ask which UPS is going to blow up in my face :-) It is discrimination i tell ya.
    – Psycogeek
    Commented Mar 28, 2015 at 4:43
  • @Psycogeek: I disagree with your point in your comment, but I upvoted it anyway because it cracked me up.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Apr 14, 2015 at 20:08
  • @ProBackup: There is a limited menu of reasons to select from when voting to close a question. Often, the "closest" canned reason is not a great explanation, particularly if you aren't already familiar with what is on- and off-topic. Anti-counterfeiting measures relate more to the manufacturer's business practices, and how to detect a counterfeit relates more to a shopping question. Also, the subject is outside the core competencies of the site's answerers, so this would not be a good place to expect to get a good answer, or for others to come looking for one.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Apr 14, 2015 at 20:30
  • @fixer1234 The "where", "how much", "what is the best" are usually offtopic shopping question. The does product "x" meet requirement "y" are not: meta.superuser.com/questions/1103/… In this case the balance goes to ontopic on this measuring scale. The question is not a discussion. That the subject is outside of the competencies of the answerers is not an issue, because self answering your own questions is allowed over here. There have been APC counterfeit units in the wild. Sorry that I came looking here.
    – Pro Backup
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 19:48
  • @ProBackup: On the competencies issue: 1) Take an extreme case--say a question related to the computer in your car. Some user might be able to answer it, or the poster might be able to self answer it. Nobody would expect to find that information on SU, so this isn't the place anyone would look for it. 2) When questions are outside the expertise of most of the answerers, they tend to attract low quality answers--opinion, BS, etc.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 22:46
  • Another consideration, if I remember your question correctly, it didn't sound like a real issue someone was facing. It seemed contrived, more like an advertisement. It was an obtuse question about a specific brand. It wasn't about solving a problem, it was about how to purchase. But that's just my opinion. Others may have reacted to it in a similar way.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 22:49
  • @fixer1234 Without mentioning the brand or product it is not possible to ask any question about the genuinity of a product at all. The question isn't about how to purchase, the purchase was already made. Do you still think that the question is obtuse or might it be a real question that someone is facing? The answering process learned me that by default APC supplies UPS-es from a cheaper manufacturer (with a different brand of battery). As soon as any issue arises, APC replaces it - at least in my case - with a unit from their premium manufacturing line, with a different brand of battery (CSB).
    – Pro Backup
    Commented Apr 20, 2015 at 9:44

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