You scroll up and down ebay's pages, winding through the endless listings of sunglasses. You search, you compare, you scroll, on and on, and then finally...you click ..."buy now"...KABOOM...you just bought a fake. But how were you supposed to know? It's not always easy. But with some guidlines, you can better protect yourself as you troll the endless mine fields of fake merchandise on ebay.  

Let's start with saftey.

  Fake sunglasses do not protect your eyes. They lack the special lenses that have passed the British Standard test. Your eyes will not be protected from the harmful UVA and UVB rays scorching from the sun. And dark lenses alone do not matter.  They can actually be more brutal, since they force the pupil to peel open to allow in more light, and more of those blazing UV rays. That is actually more ultra-violet light burning your retinas than if you wore no sunglasses at all.

  Fake sunglasses will put your vision at risk.

  100% of all fake polarized eyewear does nothing to protect your eyes. Even it says so.

  So to weed out these fakes, Fattini Fashion has some key points for you to look for:

  1. Price: Despite the great deals on ebay, authentic designer eyewear will still never sell for next to nothing. Most online sellers of authentic merchandise purchase off-season eyewear discounted in bulk. Now along with that, selling online costs a fraction of what it costs to run a brick and mortar store. The online seller does not have to pay a premium for a fancy location, or any location. Does not have to buy display cases, racks or registers. Does not have to spend thousands of dollars to market their store and their products. And in most cases, does not have to hire any employees. Therefore, ebay sellers can pass on that savings to you.

  But authentic designer eyewear will still not sell for next to nothing.

  At times you may get lucky and score a pair of Gucci glassses at an ebay auction from a reputable seller, but that is rare. The seller may gamble with you. But even then, designer eyewear will still never sell for next to nothing.

 If it looks to good to be true it is.

  2. Point of origin: Where were they made? Well, they should not say Made in Taiwan etc. Most of all the top brands are made by:

    a. Safilo Group: Italy

    Safilo, Oxydo, Carrera, Blue Ray, Gucci, Dior, Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino and Marc Jacobs.

    b. Luxottica Group: Italy

    Ray Ban, Revo, Persol, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Donna Karen, Versace, Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren.

   c. Marcolin Group: Italy

   Roberto Cavalli, MontBlanc, Ferarri, Tom Ford, Allison Spa, Gianfranco Ferre, Missoni, John Richmond, Romeo Gigli, Fendi, Coach, Calvin Klein, Nike

  3. Weight:  Fake sunglasses are made with cheaper materials and are lightweight and tend to rattle.  Authentic sunglasses are made with better quality materials and should have some weight to them. Hold them in your hand and feel for some resistance. Their may be a slight rattle, but not too much. If they feel too flimsy they are probably fake. 

 4. Quality: According to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), counterfeit sunglasses shatter easily and the screws loosen quickly. But you don't need to wait for your glasses to fall apart to realize you have been ripped off. Fold and unfold the arms. The joints should feel strong. There should be nothing loose and almost no rattle. The hinges should feel stiff but smooth.  

 5. Model: Everything about the sunglasses should be written on the arms. The brand, model number, the color code, and the factory of origin.

  Example: Gucci Made in Italy GG 1825/S Strass LEUMH 120

 6. Details: Look for tiny brand details. In the above example, I used Gucci's 1825/S model. On that particular model, on the tiny nose pieces, the GG logo is stamped. This feature is so tiny you would never know it was there unless you really looked. These tiny details are a waste of time and money for the counterfeiter. They will overlook them becasue they assume you will too. The logo font is another tell. It's a detail that a fake might have wrong. Study every millimeter of your product and look for the details, and familiarize yourself with them.

 7. Accesories: All authentic eyewear should come with a case, dust cloth and the factory paperwork (refer to point of origin for factory/brands), and usually the factory plastic bag with tags. Not all authentic eyewear will have the original plastic, but they should have everything else. And all the accesories should have the brand name or logo on them. And just like the eyewear these accessories should be of high quality.

  8. Seller: Research who you are buying from. Read feedback. Look for things like, "Thanks for the refund" again and again. Many sellers sell fake merchandise with a money back guarantee, and an inflated shipping rate. They will offer a refund on the purchase price but not on the inflated shipping rate. They will make money on the shipping, over and over.

 9. Compare: Go to the mall where they sell designer brands and try on the eyewear. Get familiar with all the above points. Compare a cheap or fake pair of glasses to them. The more you handle these brands the easier spotting a fake becomes.

 Now fake sunglasses may have one, or even a number of these points. But very few fakes will have all of these points.

  This is a foundation to start with. I'm sure I have left out many more factors and details, but this should be a good fundemental point of reference. There are other guides on ebay that may have other details that I do not have here, check those out too. Learn as much as you can because nobody wants to be ripped off. You work hard for your money, don't let some shady seller swindle you out of it.

We hope this helps. If it does, please click "yes" at the bottom of the page.

[further thoughts]

Why buying fake merchandise is a bad idea.

1. Counterfeiting robs the U.S. alone of more than 200 billion a year. This is affects us taxpayers.

2. Terrorists profit from counterfeit merchandise.

3. Many of these factories use children. I personally do not want to wear anything assembled by the feeble hands of an 11-year-old starving Chinese girl.

Thank you for reading. Fattini Fashion