Spotting a fake before you bid, without being an expert
The checks that do not need specialist knowledge: seller history, photo forensics, and the price itself.
You do not have to be able to authenticate something to avoid the obvious fakes. Most of them fail one of
these checks and they take about three minutes.
THE PRICE IS THE FIRST TELL
Look up what the genuine article has actually sold for, not what people are asking. If something is at a
third of that with no explanation in the listing, the explanation is usually that it is not genuine.
A seller with a real bargain says WHY it is cheap — house clearance, a fault, no box.
CHECK THE SELLER, NOT THE ITEM
How long has the account existed, and what else have they sold? An account three weeks old selling twelve
of the same desirable item is the pattern to walk away from. So is a long-standing account whose history
is all small electronics and which has suddenly listed a handbag.
Read the negative feedback rather than the score. Three words about a fake in among four hundred positives
is worth more than the percentage.
THE PHOTO CHECKS THAT NEED NO EXPERTISE
Are the photos of THIS item, in someone's house, with a real background? Or are they crisp, evenly lit
and cropped square? A studio photograph on a used listing is either a stock image, which eBay does not
allow for used items, or taken from another listing.
Look for the same photo elsewhere. A reverse image search takes seconds and finds a surprising amount.
Look for the boring details: a serial number that is photographed, a maker's mark shown close up, the
inside of a zip, the underside of a base. Fakes are rarely photographed there because that is where they
fall down.
ASK ONE SPECIFIC QUESTION
Something only a holder of the real item could answer — what is stamped inside, what the underside says,
what happens when you do a particular thing with it. A vague answer, or an answer that arrives after a
suspicious delay, tells you plenty.
AND IF IT ARRIVES AND IT IS FAKE
That is "not as described", and eBay's Money Back Guarantee covers it regardless of what the listing said
about returns. Photograph everything before you unwrap it fully, and report the listing as well as opening
the case — the second part is what stops the next person buying one.