How to spot fake SanDisk, SD, and other memory cards : eBay Guides

This is a guide to help spot and stop fake memory cards. I'm not saying ebay is a cesspool of breeding fakes, but there are people out there who would take your honest money for an unhonest product. Unfortunately there is no software which will test the card, and ensure that it's genuine. You must manually scrutinise to get some idea of it's genuinity. It could be hard to spot a fake so you must pay attention to the little details.

Why should you care?

• The quality of the card, not getting what you paid for.
• No warranty, you're out of luck and out money.
• Fake cards may have parts that dont fit. Meaning it won't even work from the begining.

Example 1:


Notice the fake card does not have notch in the bottom (boxed in red).



Example 2:


Sorry for the blurry image, but try and notice the little blur that says "TM" printed by the CF. The fake one to the left has a misprint.

Example 3:

The Card to the left is fake, while the genuine card to the right is real. The fake card does not have a serial printed on the bottom, if you look closly the genuine card has a serial number printed on the bottom.



It comes down to just quality, the cheap fakes will almost never make their products exact. If you suspect the product is a fake, or the seller isn't trustable, go with your instinct or research the product you wish to purchase a little more. Don't waste you money, or time.

I hope you have found this guide helpful in the least.