If it Looks Too Good Be True it Probably Is.

I know that in the last few years there have been many complaints of fake amd fraudulant items being sold on ebay.  We normally hear about these types of complaints when the merchandise in question comes from a very high value Manufacturer like Coach, Gucci and Dooney & Burke.  But the upscale brands are not the only thing being knocked off. There are also many retail brands which are widely known but not as expensive being copied.  Many times the seller is not even aware that the products they are carrying are fakes.  I sell Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.  When I first started selling on ebay I just sold Victoria's Secret Bras, Panties and Apparell.  In the last year or so we have started to evolve our business to carry some Beauty items.  We started mainly with VS and then started to add B&B Works.  As soon as I did this I started receiving emails from "wholesalers".  The first email asked me if I would like to a purchase some Victoria's Secret & Bath & Body Works Beauty products from them. Because it was my first order I was told I could purchase 100 pieces for $100 dollars. (this did not include shipping) WoW! What a deal! I thought but yet it nagged at me.  I have worked in retail for a long time so I'm aware of a lot of the scams out there. I started asking questions of this company.  They brushed everything off.  They had no logical explanations until one representative told me the products were coming from over seas.  They offered me some customer testimonials.  I tried contacting these customers but received no response except for 1. She was a former ebay seller. She said that yes the products were nice and reasonable.  She said they were also shipped timely and that the people were nice and friendly.  Finally I just flat out asked her "are these real?" She admitted that no they were not but "most" of her customers never questioned her on it. She said they were very convincing fakes.  She told me she had been selling them on ebay for 3 years with no problems. Well she must have hit some because she is no longer here.  I now do not even bother opening these emails.  My products are purchased directly from the store.  I have recently noticed a few sellers placing warnings in their descriptions about fake items being shipped in from overseas so more and more people are becoming aware of this growing problem.  I guess the moral of this story is....If it seems to good to be true - It probably is.  Sellers have to make a profit.  There are many fees we have to pay and ebay is a very competitive marketplace.  The items we sell are marked down as far as we can mark them without losing money.  If you come across products that are priced significantly lower than others in the same market be wary.  If you purchase it you may wind up with a fake.  A good fake but a fake none the less.  If you are giving it as a gift and you don't notice it's a fake but the gift recipient does, it couldl make for an embaressing situation. Spotting these fakes are not easy.  The packaging is normally very similar.  The scent normally gives it away.  It's different than the actual product.  I have also seen fakes in convincing packages but the bottle/tube/etc is not made well.  My friend had ordered a Body Butter that she suspected was a fake when she received it.  She put it aside and a few days later went to pull it out of her cabinet.  It slipped out of her grip and fell about an two inches and hit the side of sink.  She told me the whole side cracked and the body butter was so think it starting running out of the crack.    Just wanted to give the ebay community a heads up.  I see more and more of these popping up and receive at least 3 emails a week (Way more than I received a year ago this time) offering outrageously low prices on the items I sell.    

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Safe Shopping and Happy Ebaying to All! :)