It is always good to have another warning posted here, as the members can point out example threads like this to people coming here for advice about "Do you think such-and-such is genuine even though they are such a good price?"
The truth is... significantly lower than recommended retail price is almost guaranteed to be fake.
Buying brand name items from Chinese eBay sellers (especially electronic items) is frought with difficulties.
I don't say that every single Chinese eBay seller of such items is selling fakes, but the likelihood is high.
Buyers must get rid of the following notions if they want to avoid being taken for a ride with fakes on eBay:
- The item will be cheaper on eBay because of the seller's lower overheads.
- The item will be cheaper coming from China because the ones from the Australian distributor are a lot more expensive than the genuine ones made for the Asian market.
- The item will be cheaper coming from the eBay seller because they've been able to cut out the middleman.
- Australian sellers (big name shops) mark up the item hugely and they're ripping me off; therefore the price on eBay from Chinese sellers is the "real" price I should be paying.
- I can't afford the shop price so I will pay a much lower price from an unknown online seller and of course I will get the genuine product.
- I don't care if the item is genuine. The non-brand item is based on the original and it's just as good. *
- The seller's feedback is over 90%. That's A plus! They must be a good seller! **
- There are lots of positive feedback comments. ***
* Fake items have no name to protect, and they are made by people who don't respect Intellectual Property rights. They churn out these fakes like sausages, and there is zero accountability about the safety standard, risk in using, use of raw materials as required for the purpose, longevity and safety of the item. You risk the safety of any items connected to the fake item, the safety of any items in the vicinity of the fake item, the house in which the fake item is being used, injury or death to you and your loved ones... and of course your insurance will be voided if damage is caused by an electronic item that is non-compliant with Australian safety standards. If it's a Chinese fake, that is par for the course.
** For a large volume seller, I and many others on eBay would not consider lower than 99.5% feedback "good". That is due to the way in which eBay calculates that percentage score.
*** Most people leave feedback upon receiving the item and perhaps using it minimally. They are unlikely to put the item through its paces, and these fakes are designed to fool for a month, 2 months, 3 months... and probably not much longer than that. By the time most people REALISE that the item is a fake and not up to spec and has failed, it's past the feedback timeframe. You will get a better picture by clicking onto the link in the seller's feedback which displays just the negative feedback; if there is a consistent problem, that's where you're likely to see the pattern emerging.
