eBay fake Sony Pro Duo

DMUK

Maybe this has been posted before but this is from personal experience and hopefully it will help some people.

The majority of the Sony Pro Duo memory sticks sold on eBay seem to be fakes. I fell foul of this unfortunately - the price should have warned me however the opportunity for a bargain won the day.

I am not sure if it would be permissible to post the sellers details so I won't, but needless to say these fakes are good, and as a result the +ve feedback far outweighs the few people like me who have spotted the fakes.

The cards (2 GB high speed versions) work okay, however they cannot deal with files over 1GB which is fairly useless for me, but not noticeable for those who use it for a camera or other Sony products.

Luckily, I got my money back via a Paypal dispute (he refunded rather than lose the dispute) and was able to keep the card, but thousands of people have been scammed by this one seller alone and eBay, despite my Paypal dispute, continue to allow him to sell.

Useful Google search.

Astaroth

I am more curious as to why anyone would be buying sony branded memory sticks in the first place.... Scandisk for example are both cheaper and faster than sony.

How much did you pay for the fake anyway?

DMUK

You are right on the branded issue, however the 2GB "Sony" cards were £28 inc postage (what I paid) which was good at the time irrespective of brand.

The majority of people won;t even notice they are fake, which is the annoying thing!

Mattjimf

things to check for are if the packing is sealed with six dimples around the edge rather than the usual staple type usually found on packaging like this, also if you run your finger over the back of the card, if it's all smooth, then it's more than likely a fake, due to Sony using laser engraving.

deanos

Sandisk ones on EBay are mostly fakes as well, also stay away from Amazon Marketplace sellers

DMUK

deanos wrote:

Sandisk ones on EBay are mostly fakes as well, also stay away from Amazon Marketplace sellers

I'll second that regarding Amazon - prices are similar if not lower than what I paid on eBay. Not sure about the protection you have with Amazon vs Paypal either.

welshcakes

I know this isn't quite the right place to post it, but for years I have always had great prices, delivery and communications from a UK company called dabs.com

They do everything pc, tv, audio,etc etc and you can actually ringup and speak to real human beings who genuinely help those of us who aren't clued up on all the tech specs

point3

There are a couple of very good guides on how to spot fakes on Ebay:

http://reviews.ebay.com.au/FAKE-Sony-Memory-Stick-Pro-Duo-MagicGate-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001535703

http://reviews.ebay.com.au/FAKE-SanDisk-Ultra-Compact-Flash-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000000792498

I just bought a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II MS Pro Duo from Amazon.co.uk (not a market place seller) for £46.07

DMUK

point3 wrote:

I just bought a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II MS Pro Duo from Amazon.co.uk (not a market place seller) for £46.07

What a bargain!

tripled

I think I've had one of those fake one's before, worked fine though and was cheap so I don't really care.