FAKE GOODS ON EBAY

theloft

I narrowly missed being conned by a fake item on EBAY and since then am convinced that there is loads of stuff which is advertised for sale but is not the real thing.    In my case I was bidding on an Odyssey 2-ball putter (golf club) and as I am cautious and these were fetching about £50 less than they retail, I asked the seller for the Serial No. having previously ascertained from Callaway that they would tell me if it was the genuine article.    The seller came back to me and said he had since discovered it was a fake and he had purchased it himself on EBAy the week before!  But he had no intention of passing it on. (I still am in two minds as to whether he was genuine or not).   I then bid on another one  from a different seller(he had 3 for sale), asked the same question, but as the seller was slow getting back to me I missed the end of the auction and all 3 putters were sold.   However the seller later said that all the putters were genuine and that he had bought them all from a golf shop which had gone bust!   Also he had another one which had some marks on the sole of the club, as it was an ex-demo model and he was prepared to sell this for £40 plus P & P.  An absolute bargain!   But I asked for the serial No. anyway and he sent me a photograph of the club with the serial No. on.   When checked with Callaway, the serial No. belonged to a different model of putter, sold in the Japanese market.    I have given him this information and he assured me that he would be taking the matter up with the man he bought them from!, but as yet have heard nothing further.   He may have been genuinely taken in himself, but it just shows you, and these putters looked absolutely genuine!  There are so many cons & scams out there and EBay  is rife with them.    Would be interested to hear of other similar items. By the way I reported to EBAy my suspicions and that some sellers did not respond when asked for serial Nos. but just received the bog standard reply, with advice on how to buy safely!

angelcake

There are a lot of fakes even GBA games....some of which I have purchased! I am not bothered though cos I suspected it and as long as they work fine, which they do! They will make good christmas presents and they cost a lot less! but things like what you are describing isn't fair! it isn't right to pretend they are the real thing if they are not! ...If the buyer was genuine and had genuine items for sale he/she would have snapped your hand off for bids or to answer questions! ....basically the age old clique comes to life...if it is too good to be true...then it probably is......and you get what you pay for!

bambri

I'm new to ebay and have just bought a Tiffany & Co silver pendant for £19.99. I now wonder if it is fake. Some items say genuine or guaranteed; does that mean they are real? Have I any comeback when I receive the item and suspect it is fake?

trace-j

If you think it's fake complain to your local trading standards department try here and insert your poscode http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk

imanan

there are handbags on there now bidding up to £77,exactly the same can be bought in primark for £3, ::)it puts me off buying genuine items.

Hintza

I bought a few seiko and citizen watches from Singapore and was worried at first that they might be fake.

However I had reason to send one from each company back for repair...wondering if they would send them back wondering where I had bought such tat.

But no both were fine.

Think you just ahve to be careful, we all know the type of stuff that attracts the counterfeiters so a little caution and a beady eye on a sellers feedback should keep you safeish. You could always e-mail seller and check and at least you then have a record if the items are proven to be fake at a later time.

bambri

Thanks hintza, ask me and imanan for your replies. I did email two sellers asking if the items where authentic. Both said they couldn't be 100% sure so I assume loads are fake.

TechnoNerd

i have a ladies accessories shop on ebay - been running it for 2 years now and initially i sold Playboy underwear etc and then i was really shocked to get an email direct from Playboy saying i was selling fakes and demanding to know where id bought them. They had contacted me via ebay. Being new to the retail trade i had actually asked the wholesaler who has a HUGE wharehouse in Mach'r if they were the real thing because i couldnt believe how cheap they were to buy. He assured me they were and it just proved the 300% mark up retailers had. I stupidly believed him and they certainly looked the real thing. I went back to the wholesaler and blew my top - they thought it was very funny but took the remainder of the items back BUT i felt so bad because i had sold the items for months on ebay as the genuine article and had great feedback from happy customers. I still feel guilty even now.

I have now learnt - 2 years on that you need to be an authorised dealer of most Branded names and there is a minimum amount you need to purchase and with most of the ladies handbag/accessories wholesalers you actually need to sign a contract and be cleared with them - they certainly wouldnt authorise an ebayer without a reatik outlet! Playboy actaully turned down our handbag shop as a Playboy outlet because the market they aim at is 14 - 18 years old and we were too upmarket!!! i was gobsmacked. Im now in talks with four other designer names and have to be interviewed and my shop loked over - i also have to commit to buy a min order of £500 - £1000 on my first order with each one.

I collect vintage designer handbags by Lulu Guinness and i always check the past items which have been sold by the seller and....

1. You know the market price for an item - if you can buy it on ebay half the price do you HONESTLY think it is the real thing?
2. Is the seller based in an Asian country - this is no offence but the Hong Kong/Chinese/Singapore areas are great at copies.
3. Has the seller previously been selling and buying small items/cheap items and then suddenly are offering a designer LV bag at £40 - you know they retail at £1000 plus for the real thing so what does this tell you.

As a collector i would rather buy the real thing as second hand/used/unwanted gift at a realistic price.

Going off this thread in a way but my Brother is a Drug Addict (ex - if you can ever by an ex addict) and he's told me how alot of the major crimes and moneylaundering scam gangs are heavily into copy merchandise and fund major film/game copy operations - he was a copy game tout and also did a stint in the 'warehouse' running the copies off. He was paid in drugs. He went to Prison for this, as did the gang. They all got what they deserved but there are still loads more criminals like this out there. So when you are buying copies think about the bigger issue and what it means. I was shocked by some of the things my Brother told me involving these drug gangs and how they try to lure younger children in and i definatley wouldnt buy even a copy t-shirt off ebay again because i'm just contributing to the biger problem if i do.

And whilst im having a rant (sorry) - I tried to sell a genuine Prada bag (i bought it in a Prada shop and have the serial card and receipt proving ownership etc) - the bag is worth £1600 (Bought it in my rich flush days - those days are long gone). I grew tired of it and started the auction at £99 - bargain when you think but there are so many copies i just cannot get shut of it - people just dont recognise the real thing now on ebay - its such a shame.

sorry rant over

Great ebay thread by the way!

regards Cathxx

Clareo

I'm new to ebay and have just bought a Tiffany & Co silver pendant for £19.99. I now wonder if it is fake. Some items say genuine or guaranteed; does that mean they are real? Have I any comeback when I receive the item and suspect it is fake?

All the Tiffany things on ebay are fake. Come straight from Japan! they are good fakes, have hallmarks etc. but they are definitely fake. I've bought one or two myself, not from ebay though. It's common sense really, i've seen bracelets on there for £20 that are £865 on the official Tiffany site, no one's going to get it that cheap!

Don't be too upset though as your necklace will look genuine, the pendant's are good copies so no one would be able to tell. Unless it's one tiffany don't make which I've seen a couple of! It will also be real silver, so you won't get a green neck! and you'll receive a tiffany box, care card and bag. However if you've ever bought from Tiffany themselves you'll know that they come in little green envelope type thing that close with a popper whereas the ebay ones all come in green drawstring type bags!

chillipepper_3

In the interest of keeping this thread a little even weighted......

I have purchased lots of items from ebay, mostly old stuff which is easy to tell if genuine but also some new items which can be tricky. Last year i purchased a gucci bamboo watch for the better half for xmas, It came from a US seller and i paid approx £280 including duty, they retail here for £500, and it was completely legit and correct, its been to a gucci dealers and authenticated. I also bought, same year (lucky girl) a vivienne westwood briefcase for £200 which are more like £600 in Libertys at the time, again, absolutely 100% genuine. I have had to take chances on a couple of items and lost to that chancing but it comes down to doing your homework, communicating with the seller, checking feedback etc etc and as always when buying blind, taking that chance.
I have no doubt that there are countless fakes on ebay, some are just so obvious and some not so, but not all bargains are untrue, as the previous poster proves with her Prada handbag.
Everyone should keep an open mind when it comes to large manufacturers. They will never say that their merchandise is being flogged on ebay at cut price value as its going to damage their own brand image and value. It is quite apparent that a lot of these companies source their manufacturing in the east and when these manufacturers produce products, i.e the 2 ball putter they will overproduce sometimes by thousands of units.
These items do get sold, often not fully assembled or finished in one way or another (ie. legit serial codes, labelling etc) and normally end up in smaller companies hands that specialize in knocking these products out into the marketplace via wholesalers etc etc. They are often the real deal only not finished to the same standards as the majority of the product. But then again, some are. This could well be the case with the oddsyey putters.

Most foreign and even UK manufacturers in the east work this way, its costed in the original deal and goes on all the time, especially in trades like clothing, accessories, electrical and even sports equipment. I used to work in the rag trade and have seen over production done in this manner with my own eyes.

Always do some research, access the brand sites, manufacturers even, go to the shops and view the items in detail, take note of serial numbers, where they are etc etc, ask lots of Q's and if you don't get answers don't buy from the seller. Never buy from 0 feedback sellers who are selling expensive products. I would also recommend paying by cheque with risky items then you have the sellers address, and if you cant resolve any problems then leave bad feedback and apply a little imagination to the situation.

Happy bidding

austmanic

My brother was bidding for a motorbike on ebay but all of a sudden the price went up sky high so he left the aution. A few days later he had an email sent through ebay from the owner saying the highest bidders had negative feed back & would my brother still be interested in buying the bike for the last price he bidded at. He said yes & the owner suggested a direct payment through Western Union (personally havent heard of them). Thinking it might be a scam he sent the email to ebay asking if this was normal & if they had heard of Western Union & they advised that yes they were as good as paypal.

He sent his payment through & a few days later the owner started chasing payment. My brother checked with the bank & the money had been with drawn last saturday, they sent him confirmation of this & he forwarded it on to the owner & requested his address so he could arrange to collect the bike.

He hasnt heard for the owner since. He has contacted ebay who have said they will look into it & also contacted the police who informed him they have to allow Ebay 1 weeks to investigate before they become involved.

If it would have been a small amount im sure my brother wouldnt have been that bothered but he has now lost £550. Does anyone have any other suggestions that might be able to help him??

Thank you in advance.

Ket