Hello, I'm a fragrance collector from Northern VA.  I love different fragrances and the complexities of the way they dry down.  Fragrance making is a craft.  And in the case of Creed, its one that has been perfected over 200 years of fragrance making.  Creed fragrances are some of the best in the world, in my opinion. 

This is a guide to help you make an educated purchase of a quality Creed fragrance....and not one of the many, many counterfeits out there.

Counterfeit 4oz Creed Fragrances are running rampant on eBay. 
Creed is a fairly expensive fragrance to buy.  But for that expense, you are getting a quality fragrance that on most people lasts 6-10 hours and smells exquisite.  Of course, when something is expensive, people turn to eBay.  This in itself is not that bad of a move because there ARE some reputable sellers on eBay.  But these reputable sellers are usually those who are part of a eBay store, with thousands of sells under their belts and usually charge over $100 for a 4oz or even a 2.5oz bottle of Creed. 

But there are even more sellers on eBay that are selling very, very convincing fakes.  I know by experience.  I thought I'd try to get a good deal on a bottle of Green Irish Tweed for under $100.  I received the fragrance and the packaging looked authentic, the inserts that came in the package looked authentic, the bottle looked authentic BUT when I sprayed the fragrance to test it, it was DEFINITELY not Green Irish Tweed.  It wasn't like there was plain water in the bottle...the stuff had a scent, but luckily I've used GIT before and quickly deemed it a fake. Now, the seller who peddled this fake said the fragrance was 100% original in a factory sealed box.  100% original does not mean 100% authentic.  But even those sellers who claim their product is 100% authentic does not mean it is.  These sellers use wording to make you think they are calling it authentic, so disputing the auction with eBay is made much harder.

 Most times, it is pretty easy to spot a seller trying to sell a fake.  They usually only have several sells (anywhere between 1 and 50) with 100% approval...but this is because every time someone calls them out as selling a fake, they close their account and start a new one.
Their auction pages are "homemade" looking.  They don't have a company logo, or anything like that on it.  They're pretty simple.  These sellers usually post multiple auctions of the same Creed fragrance using the same picture.  These pictures may be taken by the seller, or maybe a generic picture they could have snatched off of Google.  They also usually have other Creed fragrances being auctioned as well.  Everything just looks so perfect, and even what you get looks impressive. 
But I bet you aren't looking to buy just a good looking bottle in an impressive box....you are looking to buy a great smelling fragrance that has several hundred years of tradition behind it...right? Of course not.

So don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting a good deal buy paying between $50-$100 for a fragrance that sells for $225 from Neiman Marcus.  If you absolutely need to buy a Creed Fragrance off of eBay...only buy from reputable eBay stores that have iron clad return policies with a 100% authenticity guarantee.  And even then, look through the seller's feedback history...if there is any question of authenticity in ANY feedback, don't bother with that seller...its isn't worth your time.  If you try to return your counterfeited product, the seller will deny it and will even call YOU a scamer!  How absurd is that?  But hey, who knows...maybe some of these sellers don't know they are selling fakes...but I highly doubt it.  I am 100% sure that more than 95% of the 4 oz Creed fragrances being sold by independent sellers on eBay are very, very well made fakes.  Don't be naive and think that well this guy had 1 bad buying experience and thinks all sellers are peddling fakes...this is not the case.  If this was the case, then why are there so many other guides out there warning you about it?  You go to any fragrance enthusiast's website and you will find hundreds of stories warning people of the fakes going around on eBay. 

The Creed fragrances I've seen faked the most are Millesime Imperial, Green Irish Tweed and Silver Mountain Water.  This is because these three fragrances are Creed's top selling fragrances and are very popular world wide.

So my advice to you is to do the following if you are in the market to buy a good quality Creed fragrance.
1.  Only buy from eBay stores.  These are the non-auction sellers that have a buy it now listing and have THOUSANDS of sells with "professional" looking pages.  They are usually over $100 for a 4 oz. bottle. 
2.  Buy a tester.  I know you want that 4 oz. bottle (with a cap, lol), BUT, testers and the 2.5 oz. bottles are generally not the ones being couterfeited.  Remember, you are buying a fragrance...not an impressive bottle!
3.  Not to knock eBay, but if you can afford to buy Creed for $100+, then buy from a discount perfume website.  You are much better off that way, and those companies have return policies that actually guarantees that you get your money back...unlike independent eBay sellers that can swear up and down that they will give you your money back and the leave you high and dry when you try to return a fake item.  I'm not saying to pay FULL price...there are discount places out there that aren't out to get you. 
4.  If it seems to good to be true...it probably isn't true. 

Please don't take my words with a grain of salt.  I'm only trying to inform YOU, the buyer about the dangers of buying from these sellers that are making loads of cash off of uninformed buyers.

With this said.  Good Luck, and keep your eyes open!