How to Spot an Auction Fake
Auction culture has changed our world, and especially our marketplaces. But, before you take advantage of the best the web has for sale, make sure to buy wisely. The online counterfeit market is enormous—don’t get fooled into buying a fraud.
If you are going to bid on items in an auction, there are a few guidelines to remember:
Look for sites which employ a high degree of quality control, and which do some of the work for you by ensuring that each item for sale on its website is genuine.
Below are six guidelines to consider when using these sites:
description
Read the product description carefully
Check the country of origin - does it have a quality mark?
Dishonest sellers will try to hide the country of origin, but misspelled words and grammatical errors are indicators of counterfeit goods (Take, for instance, the misspelling of South Africa on counterfeit Colgate toothpaste recently recalled.)
Look for key words such as "inspired by" and "replica" and common misspellings such as "fke" instead of "fake"
photographs
Examine pictures closely - as you cannot touch, smell or taste the item, photographs are the only way of viewing the item you are buying
Beware of generic photographs that come from an official website that sells the item in question
If possible ask for detailed pictures of the item you are buying
Even if photographs show warranties, dust bags, receipts, remember that all of these can be faked too
seller’s contact info
If the seller is advertising goods that are clearly not personal items or advertises itself as a "store" be sure to carefully inspect the contact information
The more information, the better
consistent selling and high inventories
Be wary if a seller consistently sells the same item, especially if that item is rare
Be cautious if the seller has large quantities of rare items. This is unusual - people don’t own half a dozen authentic Birkin bags
High volume sellers often try to pretend to sell only a few items - check their seller's history
If you know a manufacturer only sells through authorised distributors ask yourself, and the seller, how an unauthorised distributor obtained the goods
feedback/rating
Always read feedback from other buyers
Positive feedback can be fabricated, but it is harder to remove negative feedback
Therefore it is suggested to take a single negative comment more seriously than half a dozen positive ones
When dealing with high volume sellers, use 97% positive feedback as a threshold
Conduct a Google search to see if there are any other complaints about a seller (in blogs or other community sites for example)
payment verification
Using PayPal as a method of payment means that the seller has an active bank account - but this is not fool-proof
If necessary, request verifiable bank details
The VeriSign logo is also a sign of authenticity to look for
For higher value items, ask that your payment be placed in an online escrow account whereby the money is released only after you have received the product and have verified it is authentic