Check this out...

I just bought a fake Beta 58 for $100 bucks.  Sometimes they'll be cheaper than that.  Actually a buddy bought it for me as a gift, and I knew a little bit about the proliferation of fakes coming out of China so I scrutinized the new one upon arrival and compared my findings to the legit mic at a local Guitar Center.   

1.  Is the product less than $120 new?  If the answer is yes than it is probably a fake, but I understand you want the deal of the century.

2.  The real Shure mic should weigh 278 grams or something.  My fake was 240 grams on the postal scale.  (I know you won't be able to spot that from a photo but it's a side note.)

3.  The branding is no where near as clean as the real deal.  I didn't know until I looked at them side by side that the branding on the fake was sloppy.

4.  The the wiring that runs from the diaphragm is much thicker on the fake than it is on the real one. 

5.  I have heard the real warranty card is blue...mine was yellow.  I don't know how they couldn't have figured out to fake that if they've been so good at faking everything else.

6.  I have also read the the real microphone bag is 10 inches long.  Mine was only 8 1/2.

I want you to know that those were the only discernable differences.  My mic had gold xlr pins with the the same base plate numbered 1, 2, 3 with shure stamped across the bottom.  Some guides say that the fakes have silver pins, no numbering etc. 

Oh by the way the fake sounded like garbage.  No bass whatsoever.  Just tinny high pitched garbage.