A big issue with fake "brand name" guitars has been growing on Ebay.  The majority (about 95%) of these fake guitars have been coming out of China.

The most common copied brands are:
Gibson / Epiphone Les Paul (standard and custom), SG, Flying V, and ES, Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster, Ibanez Jem and K7, Washburn, Dean, Jackson, BC Rich Warlock and Mockingbird, Ovation, Gretsch, Martin and PRS.

Also, please don't be fooled by them being less popular guitars such as 7 string, 12 string, 5 string bass, acoustic electric, and/or hollow body / semi hollowbody guitars.

It is pretty easy to spot out this scam. Here are a few ways that you can spot them out:

1. The listing is from China

2. They give % discounts in shipping for larger purchases

3. They have many of the same listing over and over again with the same pictures from different sellers.

4. They are very broad about the guitar you are purchasing (if they mention anything about it whatsoever)

5. They talk about China's culture more then the guitar (I know, it's funny but TRUE)

6. They have private feedback (they do this because of people leaving feedback about being scammed)

7. They have ridiculously low selling prices (sorry, you can't get a new Gibson for $2.88)

8. Don't be fooled by them being verified, a powerseller, and or having an about me page!

9. Nine times out of ten, the guitar is in the wrong category

10. Poor English in the title is a dead giveaway of a scammer (example: very fashionable beautiful guitar gibson and, fair sounding music instrument martin guitar, are 100% scams)            update as of 8/11/06

11. 99% of the time they quote huge shipping prices in British Pounds aka GBP (price normally 170-190 GBP, That's $319-356 USD!)             update as of 8/11/06

12. The scammers have been trying new tactics to completely scam people like you. NEVER purchase from an international seller which refers you to buy from their website (they do this to cut down on the negative feedback they receive to scam as many people as possible under once account before getting kicked off)             update as of 8/11/06

13. BUYER BEWARE!!! Dishonest people in the USA have now been purchasing these scam guitars on Ebay and reselling them on ebay as authentics to unsuspecting buyers             update as of 8/23/06

14. If you are still not sure about the authenticity of the guitar you will be purchasing, ask the sellers specific questions and follow your gut instincts.

Knowing full well that I was going to get scammed with a fake Les Paul even though the seller, again from China, stated it was the real deal, I purchased one to inspect the quality since our company sells guitars as well. Not to our surprise, the guitar was indeed a fake. A low quality fake at that. The finish was cheap, the tuners were student grade at best, the humbuckers were weak, the neck was not set in correctly, the inlays were sketchy, the hardware was junk, and the body was made from plywood! Not exactly a grade A Gibson huh?

Please just be safe on Ebay and have fun!

-Factory Direct Music

PS. If your looking for great quality guitars at unbeatable prices, you should check out "Stellar Guitars" in our Ebay Store.

PLEASE READ: It appears that the scammers are the only people who are not finding this guide helpful. This scam is effecting 100's of people daily. Please vote "Yes" for this guide below to give this guide better visibility to help others from getting scammed and make the Ebay community even better!

It has recently come to our attention that a company has plagiarized our work on writing this guide. Plagiarism is not only illegal but unethical as well. If you come across a guide that is basically a clone of this guide please vote "NO". In our own humble opinion, this company is just as bad as the scammers on ebay.