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Spotting fakes?

post #1 of 7
9/8/06 at 5:54am
Thread Starter 
Is there any particular way to spot fakes? Ebay has some great deals. Too good to be true? How does one tell?
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post #2 of 7
9/10/06 at 1:09pm
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When it's on eBay, there's little to go by other than the price being asked for, and to a lesser extent, the seller's rating. Anything that seems too good to be true most likely is.

If contacting the seller, you can ask for pictures of the bottle and packaging. Most sellers just rip pics off other sites. I've seen fake Creeds that come in reproduced boxes. The often velvety logo on the box may be just a matte square, trim and accents on the box are different colors, etc. One bottle of Green Irish Tweed I saw being sold as an EDP, had an obvious stamp on the bottom of the bottle showing that it was a decant of an EDT.

Look for anything irregular about the bottle. Go to a store you trust first, familiarize yourself with the bottle. Is the logo etched or a sticker?, etc.

...and there's nothing stopping people from filling real bottles with fake juice too.

I'm sure other members here will have better tips.
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post #3 of 7
9/27/06 at 12:26am
Fakes would usually have sub standard bottle n' cap, cos thats the most expensive component in an eau de parfum. You can easily make out fine quality glass from cheap glass. Very often, the outer packaging [the unit carton] looks better than the original; meaning you may find extra gloss on the packs, or hot foiled text/brand embossed on the carton or maybe an uv coat to highlight a design element on the pack. These are quick give-aways. Finally, the fragrance itself would definitely be the differentiator. For anyone who can smell his/her fragrance, no counterfieter in the world can fool him/her with a fake.
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post #4 of 7
10/2/06 at 12:15am
Sometimes it's impossible to tell until the item is received. I haven't gotten any fakes yet on Ebay but I HAVE gotten old stock which can be slightly different in smell to off-the-shelf stuff at the local frag' store.
Feedback is very important with the so-called power-traders with very high positive feedbacks being the best bet (if you are into betting that is!).
Some websites will offer money back and guarantees of authenticity as well. Again, this in combination with a high positive feedback should reduce your risk factor. On Ebay it is well and truely 'buyer beware'.
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post #5 of 7
10/2/06 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
I suspect alot of the ebay deals are just old bottles.

SPeaking of feedback - those power sellers are usually horrible. They have terrible feedback. WHen you have ten thousand feedbacks and only 97% positive that means that you are fucking up a massive number of orders.
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post #6 of 7
10/2/06 at 7:09am
What about testers that come in the grey-brown cardboard boxes? Are they really testers or fakes? I bought such a packing from Direct Fragrances (UK retailer) and hope it is OK, since they sell it via Ebay.
Alica
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post #7 of 7
10/2/06 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 
Testers often come in plain boxes like that. I guess the best way to tell is compare the scent to one in the store, except if you bought something old it might smell a little different anyways .
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