What are the tricks to avoid buying fake bags on ebay ?
- Thread starter .:K:.
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Don't buy anything on eBay that costs more than $25.
Fake bags on eBay are always ridiculously expensive.
Fake bags on eBay are always ridiculously expensive.
There aren't any tricks-there is only education-here and elsewhere-about ebay, designers, specific bags, sellers, etc etc etc-the best education is right here, reading these threads-good luck!
Nothing is foolproof, but some things to watch out for:
Look at the seller's history and click on their ID: I know that people have stated here that there can be good reasons to change your ID, but I get a red flag if they have changed their ID often, sometimes within a month at a time.
See what else they are selling. Are they selling multiples of the same handbag? Proceed with caution.
Does it say "new with tags?" I tend to be more interested in excellent condition, gently used (sometimes, mind you) If it's new with tags and selling at a cheap price; red flag.
Ask the seller a question about the item. Anything. See if they email you back. If they don't communicate- red flag.
Sometimes I ask if they don't mind telling me where they purchased it, or why are they selling it? I have gotten some interesting responses back. Again, if they don't respond, I don't want.
A return policy is an extra bonus.
It's always a risk on ebay or any auction site. For all the horror stories, there are some great purchases/deals to be had.
Look at the seller's history and click on their ID: I know that people have stated here that there can be good reasons to change your ID, but I get a red flag if they have changed their ID often, sometimes within a month at a time.
See what else they are selling. Are they selling multiples of the same handbag? Proceed with caution.
Does it say "new with tags?" I tend to be more interested in excellent condition, gently used (sometimes, mind you) If it's new with tags and selling at a cheap price; red flag.
Ask the seller a question about the item. Anything. See if they email you back. If they don't communicate- red flag.
Sometimes I ask if they don't mind telling me where they purchased it, or why are they selling it? I have gotten some interesting responses back. Again, if they don't respond, I don't want.
A return policy is an extra bonus.
It's always a risk on ebay or any auction site. For all the horror stories, there are some great purchases/deals to be had.
not necessarily. im selling a prada purse on there because i know a girl that gets them for super cheap and she will sell it to me for $35 and im gonna put it up there for cheap since i don't need it cause im a guy and i'm just gonna make a few bucks. help someone out with a good price and i'll make a little $. its definitely real though. my sister bought one from here to give to my youth pastor so he can give it to his wife for christmas. i saw it. my sister definitely knows her purses and she says its real. she got a coach purse from her though. she showed me some tag inside the purse that proves its real.
Hm. OK, let me put this another way. As you browse the messages on this particular forum, one thing will stand out to you, as it does to me.
There are many, many people selling merchandise on eBay that is fraudulently labelled. Some sellers may be aware of this, others may not be.
But that is really irrelevant, because if what you wish is to purchase a bag that is produced by a specific company, unless you have such an advanced level of knowledge and familiarity not only with the bag itself, but that a specific seller does indeed sell only truthfully labelled merchandise, then eBay is not, in my opinion, a good choice for you.
In the absence of such expertise, which your message indicates is indeed absent, the most reliable way to be sure that you are obtaining an item that was indeed made by a particular company is to purchase it either directly from the company's website, or from an authorized reseller of the company's products. The company itself is the best source for obtaining a list of authorized resellers.
For a variety of reasons, eBay has become an increasingly risky proposition for both buyers and sellers alike, and not just with regard to handbags.
It is for these reasons that I recommend that eBay be used to purchase inexpensive items only, and that for high-ticket articles, such as "designer" handbags, the actual company, or as close as you can get to it, i.e. authorized resellers, are a better option.
With regard to "cheap" fraudulently labelled bags, even completely up-front and legal lookalike bags, as someone pointed out the other day, it is possible to obtain fraudulently labelled bags for very little money - just not on eBay.
And while I am by no means an expert on designer bags, quite the contrary, I know less about them than anybody else here, but I can tell you that I have seen bags that look exactly like one made by a particular designer, NOT fraudulently labelled, making no claims to be the product of the designer's company, sold for under $15 in Marshall's or the Burlington Coat Factory, and I have seen that very same bag, again, neither the designer's product nor claiming to be, but on eBay that same bag will be sold for over ten times that amount.
And as for the genuine designer article, the people who sell those on eBay are very rarely going to sell them for next to nothing. Under retail, yes. Especially in the case of used bags. That's another thing I have learned here. It appears to be a fairly popular practice to buy and sell used designer bags. And there are people who do it on eBay. But I don't think that eBay is the place to look for designer handbag bargains, and I don't think designer handbags are the most likely category of merchandise for bargain-hunters anywhere.
Therefore the best "trick" for avoiding the purchase of a fraudulently labelled bag on eBay is - don't use eBay to buy bags - or any other high dollar item that anyone would be likely to fraudulently label!
There are many, many people selling merchandise on eBay that is fraudulently labelled. Some sellers may be aware of this, others may not be.
But that is really irrelevant, because if what you wish is to purchase a bag that is produced by a specific company, unless you have such an advanced level of knowledge and familiarity not only with the bag itself, but that a specific seller does indeed sell only truthfully labelled merchandise, then eBay is not, in my opinion, a good choice for you.
In the absence of such expertise, which your message indicates is indeed absent, the most reliable way to be sure that you are obtaining an item that was indeed made by a particular company is to purchase it either directly from the company's website, or from an authorized reseller of the company's products. The company itself is the best source for obtaining a list of authorized resellers.
For a variety of reasons, eBay has become an increasingly risky proposition for both buyers and sellers alike, and not just with regard to handbags.
It is for these reasons that I recommend that eBay be used to purchase inexpensive items only, and that for high-ticket articles, such as "designer" handbags, the actual company, or as close as you can get to it, i.e. authorized resellers, are a better option.
With regard to "cheap" fraudulently labelled bags, even completely up-front and legal lookalike bags, as someone pointed out the other day, it is possible to obtain fraudulently labelled bags for very little money - just not on eBay.
And while I am by no means an expert on designer bags, quite the contrary, I know less about them than anybody else here, but I can tell you that I have seen bags that look exactly like one made by a particular designer, NOT fraudulently labelled, making no claims to be the product of the designer's company, sold for under $15 in Marshall's or the Burlington Coat Factory, and I have seen that very same bag, again, neither the designer's product nor claiming to be, but on eBay that same bag will be sold for over ten times that amount.
And as for the genuine designer article, the people who sell those on eBay are very rarely going to sell them for next to nothing. Under retail, yes. Especially in the case of used bags. That's another thing I have learned here. It appears to be a fairly popular practice to buy and sell used designer bags. And there are people who do it on eBay. But I don't think that eBay is the place to look for designer handbag bargains, and I don't think designer handbags are the most likely category of merchandise for bargain-hunters anywhere.
Therefore the best "trick" for avoiding the purchase of a fraudulently labelled bag on eBay is - don't use eBay to buy bags - or any other high dollar item that anyone would be likely to fraudulently label!
Hm. OK, let me put this another way. As you browse the messages on this particular forum, one thing will stand out to you, as it does to me.
There are many, many people selling merchandise on eBay that is fraudulently labelled. Some sellers may be aware of this, others may not be.
But that is really irrelevant, because if what you wish is to purchase a bag that is produced by a specific company, unless you have such an advanced level of knowledge and familiarity not only with the bag itself, but that a specific seller does indeed sell only truthfully labelled merchandise, then eBay is not, in my opinion, a good choice for you.
In the absence of such expertise, which your message indicates is indeed absent, the most reliable way to be sure that you are obtaining an item that was indeed made by a particular company is to purchase it either directly from the company's website, or from an authorized reseller of the company's products. The company itself is the best source for obtaining a list of authorized resellers.
For a variety of reasons, eBay has become an increasingly risky proposition for both buyers and sellers alike, and not just with regard to handbags.
It is for these reasons that I recommend that eBay be used to purchase inexpensive items only, and that for high-ticket articles, such as "designer" handbags, the actual company, or as close as you can get to it, i.e. authorized resellers, are a better option.
With regard to "cheap" fraudulently labelled bags, even completely up-front and legal lookalike bags, as someone pointed out the other day, it is possible to obtain fraudulently labelled bags for very little money - just not on eBay.
And while I am by no means an expert on designer bags, quite the contrary, I know less about them than anybody else here, but I can tell you that I have seen bags that look exactly like one made by a particular designer, NOT fraudulently labelled, making no claims to be the product of the designer's company, sold for under $15 in Marshall's or the Burlington Coat Factory, and I have seen that very same bag, again, neither the designer's product nor claiming to be, but on eBay that same bag will be sold for over ten times that amount.
And as for the genuine designer article, the people who sell those on eBay are very rarely going to sell them for next to nothing. Under retail, yes. Especially in the case of used bags. That's another thing I have learned here. It appears to be a fairly popular practice to buy and sell used designer bags. And there are people who do it on eBay. But I don't think that eBay is the place to look for designer handbag bargains, and I don't think designer handbags are the most likely category of merchandise for bargain-hunters anywhere.
Therefore the best "trick" for avoiding the purchase of a fraudulently labelled bag on eBay is - don't use eBay to buy bags - or any other high dollar item that anyone would be likely to fraudulently label!
I love to read your post's as they are a wealth of information and so very well articulated. I agree with most of your post with the exception of advising a newbie to stay away from Ebay. It is a buyer beware market in all aspects of purchasing products and there are several resources available to everyone with regard to authenticity. I agree if you want to be 100% sure your purchase is authentic then you should purchase from LV or ELux, however there are a lot of honest authentic Louis Vuitton Ebay sellers out there and to state that "Don't use Ebay to buy bags-or any other high dollar item that anyone would be likely to fraudulently label" is unfair to the honest sellers.
amamxr, it is definitely unfair to the honest sellers, but it is also the best advice I can give a "newbie."
This doesn't mean that they should not educate themselves, read all they can, even seek "eBay mentors" to point them to this or that resource, but eBay has become a minefield - and not just with respect to handbags, or even designer goods or high ticket items in general.
There are just so many people figuring out so many ways to play both eBay and PayPal, things that you or I cannot begin to unravel, comprehend, or identify, as there are new ones popping up every day.
To tell you the truth, I haven't even bought any of my little low-dollar items on eBay for a while because I do not know the extent of the increasingly sophisticated schemes and exploits, and frankly, until that can be addressed, and I admit I don't know how that would be done, given the nature of the beast, I am leery of having any activity on my account, especially this time of year.
Am I being overcautious? Probably, and it won't be the only area in which I am guilty of overcaution.
But every single day I look on this forum, and I see sad story after sad story, invariably pitting those honest sellers, and honest buyers against people whose goal is essentially to steal money. And they know more about stealing money using eBay and PayPal than I know about preventing them from stealing it, and apparently more than eBay or PayPal know about preventing it either.
So yes, it's all unfair to me, to you, and to all those honest sellers. Crime is by its nature unfair.
This doesn't mean that they should not educate themselves, read all they can, even seek "eBay mentors" to point them to this or that resource, but eBay has become a minefield - and not just with respect to handbags, or even designer goods or high ticket items in general.
There are just so many people figuring out so many ways to play both eBay and PayPal, things that you or I cannot begin to unravel, comprehend, or identify, as there are new ones popping up every day.
To tell you the truth, I haven't even bought any of my little low-dollar items on eBay for a while because I do not know the extent of the increasingly sophisticated schemes and exploits, and frankly, until that can be addressed, and I admit I don't know how that would be done, given the nature of the beast, I am leery of having any activity on my account, especially this time of year.
Am I being overcautious? Probably, and it won't be the only area in which I am guilty of overcaution.
But every single day I look on this forum, and I see sad story after sad story, invariably pitting those honest sellers, and honest buyers against people whose goal is essentially to steal money. And they know more about stealing money using eBay and PayPal than I know about preventing them from stealing it, and apparently more than eBay or PayPal know about preventing it either.
So yes, it's all unfair to me, to you, and to all those honest sellers. Crime is by its nature unfair.
I do agree with you somewhat, for new people it is so hard for them to buy an authentic bag of ebay, but they can come on here and get it authenticated. I have bought a lot of authentic Fendi spys on ebay some from PF members, I think Knowledge is key their is always a risk but you can say that with shops to as some shops sell fakes. I think if the seller has a very good feedback and you do your homework regarding the bag and get it authenticated then you have a good chance of getting a authentic bag, but if you expect to buy an authentic bag for say $500 and it costs over $2000 in the shops you are going to buy a fake.
once again, not always. im selling a brand new bag for waaay under msrp just because i don't need it cause im a guy and i can help someone out with a good price but still make a little money. but then again i don't know if its $2,000 in the shops. i think maybe its $1,000
once again, not always. im selling a brand new bag for waaay under msrp just because i don't need it cause im a guy and i can help someone out with a good price but still make a little money. but then again i don't know if its $2,000 in the shops. i think maybe its $1,000
Got a pic of your bag, or a link to your eBay auction? I'd like to see.
