Well, sadly, eBay, in their woefully overzealous, ignorant and misguided efforts to be "politically correct," have banned the sales of magazines because Mr. Cho MIGHT have used a magazine he purchased on eBay to murder all those unfortunate victims at Va. Tech.  So......this guide  no longer has any relevance for eBay buyers.

Unfortunately, many eBayers, either out of ignorance or lack of scruples, will offer for sale after market magazines and misrepresent them with photos that are out of focus or give vague, non-specific descriptions.  In order to avoid a disappointing situation. always use the "ask seller a question" feature and request specific information about the item you're bidding on.  If you receive one of the old standby replies, such as:  "I'm selling it for a friend," or "It was purchased as part of a lot," or "I'm not sure, it came from a gunsmith's estate and was labelled for such and such gun,"  chances are you're not buying an original magazine and the seller is using the old ploy of "I don't know..."    Reality is that there are many scam artists and less-than-ethical persons on eBay who abuse the trust of others by describing items with half-truths, vague, ambiguous descriptions or the old favorite, the out-of-focus or ridiculously dark photo.  The best course of action is, if you can't get a straight answer from the seller, avoid them like the plague.  Caveat Emptor!