Hello, I am an active Ebay seller/buyer, most of the transactions on Ebay happen in good faith, but recently I bought a lot of shake flashlights on eBay that turned out to be fake. The shake flashlights are a hot item right now but unfortunatly imposters have begun to appear, before bidding on another shake flashlight I wanted to know more, what to ask and what to look for.

A seller's feedback can be very helpful and tell you alot, most reputable sellers will have a positive feedback rating of at least 98% and well established ebay sellers will show a feedback score of a 100 or more, this is how many other eBay members have left them positive feedback. If you do your research customer feedback doesn't lie, first view the sellers other items, this is an ebay search like any other and in the search options you can check COMPLETED LISTINGS and show items that have ended. Has this seller had listings for more shake flashlights recently, if so you as a buyer should check the feedback profile to see the recent ratings and the feedback received, if its positive you can bid with confidence. If someone has chosen to keep his feedback private then it is buyer beware. The auction will also provide other useful information, what is the return policy, is the seller eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection?

The shake flashlight is based on the principle of Electro-Magnetic Induction discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday. A Faraday flashlight has an LED bulb, circuit board, capacitor, magnet, and usually small battery cells. Some of the flashlights being offered are fake and usually will not have a capacitor or magnet, where Magnetic-Induction lights have a magnet that is strong enough to pick up a table spoon. The capacitor is normally about the diameter of a double A battery but only about one third the length. With only the small cells to produce power the flashlight will soon die. In the following picture the Capacitor is green and can be clearly seen.

Don't be afraid to ask questions or for detailed photographs, after all, it is your hard earned money.

I hope you found the information helpful and please remember to vote.