Every decent seller of genuine sunglasses is alarmed by the number of eBay members who sell fake sunglasses. There's more to that, many of these replica vendors have a feedback value of over 90%. There are a few well known techniques used by these vendors to raise their reputation, for example they can sell a few hundreds e-books for a cent or two each. It's being addressed by eBay at the moment. For now they just get away with ripping people off. So I thought to help you in avoiding bidding for replicas on eBay. If you follow my tips you will greatly minimize the chances of buying a fake.

1.Most official resellers who sell genuine sunglasses would let you know that what they are selling is authentic. So look for guaranteed authenticity.

2.Brand new sunglasses are always packed in a box and supplied with cleaning back and warranty card. Don't trust any seller who doesn't provide those items. The one and only case a seller can lack some of these items is when the sunglasses are not brand new and that cant be a good deal anyway. The vendor is highly unlikely to have a good explanation in any other situation.

3.Authentic sunglasses package usually has labels on every item supplied in it. For example Oakley has the "Genuine O Software" label sewn on the cleaning box.

4.Since many fraud sellers are aware of what a buyer is going to look at first, they try to either fake a box supplied or use a box from a different model. Check the barcode to match the sunglasses. I've seen many replicas packed in original boxes, which had barcode labels torn off.

5.Another good replica indicator is the price. It shouldn't be far away from the average eBay value. For example, usually Oakley sunglasses are sold for over 50 USD. Anything below this price should be treated more carefully.

6.In the age of Internet every sunglasses company has its own website. You should take advantage of it. Browse the official website and make sure the model listed on eBay matches official one in color. It's amazing how many vendors sell wrong colored sunglasses.

7.Make sure that the vendor doesn't use official photos. Well, in that case you should ask to email you a few real photos. When you get the pictures, look carefully for anything unusual. Avoid any stickers on the glasses or either of the lenses. Fraud vendors build fake authority by doing that. Don't buy it!

8.You can safely skip any item with words like "-style" in the title. That word is just screaming that it's a fake item.

9.I've seen quite a few vendors who list models which don't actually exist. So check the model against official websites.

10.If you're not sure about authenticity of the sunglasses you've bought, get them checked by manufacturer. Most of them provide this service totally free if you mail your glasses to their head office. Also any official dealer would verify the sunglasses for you as well.

11.My last tip is to ask the seller if something is not clear for you in the listing. Official vendors won't avoid providing authenticity proof. Don't bid if the seller doesn't reply to request like that.