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A simple guide for first time buyers on eBay.
People sell on eBay to make maximum profit.
You buy on eBay to get a genuine bargain.
These two principles are completely incompatible!
Not 100% sure on what you are bidding?
THEN DON'T BID!!
Are you looking for a guaranteed genuine Hermès designed and manufactured silk scarf? Those characteristic forward rolled hems on heavy twill silk fabric, with rich designs and depth of colours? Quantities of fakes are sold every day on eBay. Read this guide first to avoid being one of the unhappy Buyers.You buy on eBay to get a genuine bargain.
These two principles are completely incompatible!
Not 100% sure on what you are bidding?
THEN DON'T BID!!
Please note that:
a: this guide, the authors and anyone else involved in this production have absolutely no link, association or contact whatsoever with Hermès Paris or any other of its worldwide associated companies. It has been produced purely as an aid to new buyers, to help them avoid the pitfalls of buying reproductions of these high end designer goods on the Internet, masquerading as the genuine item.
b: the items over there on the right hand side of the page are automatic selections by eBay, are not endorsed as being genuine in any way and should be treated with all the cautions as laid out below.
a: this guide, the authors and anyone else involved in this production have absolutely no link, association or contact whatsoever with Hermès Paris or any other of its worldwide associated companies. It has been produced purely as an aid to new buyers, to help them avoid the pitfalls of buying reproductions of these high end designer goods on the Internet, masquerading as the genuine item.
b: the items over there on the right hand side of the page are automatic selections by eBay, are not endorsed as being genuine in any way and should be treated with all the cautions as laid out below.
So here are the Ten Rules:
1) The only 100% guarantee you will get is from a Hermès Boutique. Buy anywhere else and you will have to make a character assessment of the Seller. Just the same as if you were going into a shop or looking at produce on a market stall.
2) The Internet is an ideal market place for the sellers of cheap imitations and fakes of all designer goods. And it has been inundated with cheap reproductions of Hermès designs.
3) There are many scarves out there that say Hermès Paris on them. Unfortunately that does not make them genuine.
4) Well known FAKES. If you are not familiar with designs and their names, then it makes sense to LEARN ABOUT THEM before you buy a scarf. It only takes a few hours of checking Hermès and other scarf collector websites. This is even neglecting the "in the style of Hermes" scarves which are very common.
TREAT WITH EXTREME CAUTION any of the following designs. They are very common on eBay and available as "Hermes Replicas" wholesale:
Astrologie (Hors et Dies)..............Photo accurate
A Walk in the Park
A Vos Crayons...............................Many fakes on flimsy material, shavings often only from one pencil colour.
Balles de Golf.................................Colours are slightly out but photo accurate.
Balles de Golf.................................Colours are slightly out but photo accurate.
Bouteilles a la Mer........................Artwork is simpler and not so many colours used.
Caleche Elastique..........................Fakes overprint two colours to make a third.
Cappucines
Cappucines
Cheval Surprise.............................Should have title of the scarf in the top coloured frame.
Cirque Molier................................Several photo accurate fakes. Hermès don't make a pink version with light blue shadows. Cirque Molier
Cliquetis.........................................Several photo accurate fakes. Also obvious fake with big bold HERMÈS all over it! Cliquetis
Cirque Molier................................Several photo accurate fakes. Hermès don't make a pink version with light blue shadows. Cirque Molier
Cliquetis.........................................Several photo accurate fakes. Also obvious fake with big bold HERMÈS all over it! Cliquetis
Dans les Branches de l'Ombu.......*Best Fake Summer 2006* .... people with green faces = fake. Dans les Branches de l'Ombu Part 1 and Part 2
Donner la Main..............................Photo accurate on very shiny material.
En Duo............................................Wholesale cheap fakes, genuine version should have contrasting hem.
Ex Libris.........................................Now re-appearing as vintage scarves on eBay.
Feux d'Artifice...............................Plain block lettering in black is a fake. Feux d'Artifice
Feux d'Artifice...............................Plain block lettering in black is a fake. Feux d'Artifice
Fleurs et Carlines II (detail)
Les Fleurs pour le Dire
Les Fleurs pour le Dire
Grande Roue..................................Colours and details off, title is single colour on the fake. Grande Roue
H Cinetique
Hola Flamenca...............................Several photo accurate fakes. Dancer with red hair is a fake. Hola Flamenca
Hola Flamenca...............................Several photo accurate fakes. Dancer with red hair is a fake. Hola Flamenca
Impose ta Chance..........................Thin material, often has Italian seita in corner.
Jumping..........................................Photo accurate, mid-green, navy, white-red and sky blue are very common. Jumping
La Tour Eiffel s'Envol...................Poor quality printing , colours and lose hems.
Les Clefs .....................................Wrong number of keys and rivets around border.
Les Zebres II (detail)...................Their noses and stripes should be same colour. Black stripes and blue or white nose - fake.
Les Clefs .....................................Wrong number of keys and rivets around border.
Les Zebres II (detail)...................Their noses and stripes should be same colour. Black stripes and blue or white nose - fake.
Blue stripes and blue noses - genuine.
Noel au 24 Fakebourg...................Genuine Hermes are soft pastels. Treat bright fluorescents, yellows and reds with caution.
Paddock..........................................Fluorescent background colours are probably fakes. Also light backgrounds with coloured borders. Paddock
Les Parisiens
Paddock..........................................Fluorescent background colours are probably fakes. Also light backgrounds with coloured borders. Paddock
Les Parisiens
Pluie d'Entincelles.........................Should contain five different colours including the contrasting hem.
Promenade de Longchamps..........Fake misses out signature and Hermès Paris. La Promenade de Longchamps
Promenade de Longchamps..........Fake misses out signature and Hermès Paris. La Promenade de Longchamps
Regarde Paris...............................Treat with extreme caution and look at Seller very closely.
Samourai........................................Old style fake with very poor detail and no title. Samourai
Sequences
Soiree de Gala................................Colours are slightly out but photo accurate.
Soiree de Gala................................Colours are slightly out but photo accurate.
Soleil
Springs
Tohu Bohu......................................The letters in the circles should spell HERMÈS. If it spells out SILK then it is fake!
La Tour Eiffel s'Envole
Springs
Tohu Bohu......................................The letters in the circles should spell HERMÈS. If it spells out SILK then it is fake!
La Tour Eiffel s'Envole
La Treve de l'Eau...........................*Best Fake Spring 2006* .....photo accurate but colouring wrong, browns too dark. La Treve de l'Eau
Un Siecle de Courses a Deauville..Natural coloured horses are good, purple ones fake.
Vif Argent.......................................Image on fake is blurred not three dimensional. Genuine version has a contrasting hem. Vif Argent
NEW ALERTS!
Ballet Equestre............................. This is a new release design for 2007, already copied.
NEW ALERTS!
Ballet Equestre............................. This is a new release design for 2007, already copied.
Bolduc au Carre........................... Another fake out of China. The pattern is much simpler and regular.
Pavois............................................ Photo accurate black with green flags, similar to Hermes re-issue. Ask to see photo of the label.
5) This new generation of fakes is photo-accurate with many of the details you would expect on the genuine item, including the Hermès copyright logo.
6) WATCH OUT FOR:
a) New Sellers with low feedback. If they have less than 98% positive feedback then check exactly why.
b) eBay Sellers who say "NO REFUNDS". If you are buying what you think you are, then you are not going to need a refund anyway. So this means that the Seller is on the defensive already.
c) and strangely Sellers with 100% feedback need careful watching. It may be that they give refunds to maintain their feedback score. And many people may not recognize that the scarf is a fake, and so are quite happy. Others may not complain or leave negative feedback because they don't understand how to, or are afraid that it will reflect badly on their own feedback score! Many Sellers of fakes use this "Feedback Blackmail" to keep unhappy Buyers quiet.
d) Sellers who do not take Paypal. Sellers will say that this is because of high Paypal charges. But remember that Paypal may refund if you are not happy with your purchase, or if it has been misrepresented.
NEVER buy on eBay with CASH or Money Orders. Any purchases made over the Internet should use a credit card - even Paypal purchases, as your credit card company will also refund if you are not satisfied with your purchase.
e) Postage and Packaging which is excessively high, and which is included as a set amount in the listing. You will not get this amount refunded whatever happens.
f) Poor quality photographs, or those that do not actually show any key details should be treated with caution. If the material looks shiny at all then the scarf is probably a fake. And anyway photos are easy to acquire, so may not be of the item that you actually receive.
g) The Seller is not aware of the title of the scarf, yet bought it in a Hermès Boutique? If the Seller is happy to sell you an item at half the boutique price, then you need to ask yourself why? A genuine scarf purchased legally can be returned to the boutique for a full refund! Hermes scarves can only be bought at their own boutiques or in-store counters. There are no Hermès Discount Warehouses!
h) Do look again at the Seller's Feedback, and at what else they have sold before. Several items the same, or from the lists above are HIGHLY SUSPECT. Also look for those "soft positives" - positive feedback that states that the scarf was fake but that the buyer liked it anyway and won't leave a negative.
i) Seller's who have made their feedback PRIVATE are often trying to hide what they have sold previously. If someone had a good feedback score, then they will want you to see it and the nice comments. But these Sellers do not want you to see that they have sold thirty fake "Treve de l'Eau" already!
You can also find out just a little bit more about the Seller at the website: www.toolhaus.org - just type in the Seller's eBay ID in the query box and click "Negative Feedback Received" to see ALL their neutral or negative feedback comments at one go. It cannot be stressed enough just how useful the feedback comments are in making a good assessment of the Seller.
j) Do you know what colours the genuine Hermès scarf you are bidding on was actually produced? A phone call to your local store, or an email to www.hermes.com can be very illuminating. Many newer fake scarves are copies of Hermès designs, produced in colour combinations that Hermès NEVER MADE.
7) Did you think eBay police their own system, and automatically remove any fake items? They certainly have this policy to remove any counterfeit items reported to them but only by the owner of the copyright of the item or their VERO Representative. This covers eBay's legal exposure. But they do not have the personnel or the expertise to do this with FIVE MILLION ITEMS listed every day!. And remember that eBay make their commission on the fake sales too...commissions to the tune of $1.390 BILLION US, just in the first quarter of 2006 alone!
(And by the way Hermès CEO in the USA, Mr Chavez has stated that they are more concerned about the manufacturers of these fakes, rather than the criminals who are defrauding YOU every day on eBay. He believes that this will drive you into his boutiques.)
8) So BUYER BEWARE! eBay is a minefield. This applies particularly to items which have a high mark up value. There are many websites where you can buy these imitations or replicas as they like to call them, IN BULK .... this is where the Sellers get them from in the first place. Be VERY CAUTIOUS of Sellers who have a whole range of designer watches, sun glasses and such items as well scarves... they get their scarves from the same warehouse. There is BIG MONEY involved in this sale of designer counterfeits, and much of this money goes to support organised crime, child labour and terrorism. (Search on the internet for key words "terrorism" and "counterfeit"....)
9) You can get INDEPENDENT ADVICE right here on eBay. Go to the COMMUNITY button at the top of the page, select DISCUSSION BOARDS and SHOES, HANDBAGS and ACCESSORIES.
10) So ask yourself: Would I buy this item at this price off a stall in my local street market? Because underneath the flash computer terminal, that is where you are actually buying from here.
There are thousands of scarf collectors worldwide, looking at eBay at any moment of the day or night. So why are THEY all avoiding the "New in Box" scarf available for a Buy it Now of only $60US? WHAT DO THEY KNOW THAT YOU DON'T?......
Take care out there. Don't rush in too quickly. There will always be other GENUINE BARGAINS to be had tomorrow! Happy Bidding!!
Please click the YES button below if you found this Guide helpful.
Check out this classic case study....................... Classic Case Study
Did you know you can wash Hermes scarves.... Washing your Hermes
And how to take better photos........................... Better Photography
Some scarves do not have titles......................... Scarves with No title
Xavier de Poret classic animal studies.............. Xavier de Poret
Guide created: 06/29/06 (updated 07/23/08)
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