So I bought a pair of Ray Ban Aviators that turned out to be fake(pics included)

[tboo]

I bought a pair of new Ray Ban Aviators off Ebay last week. The were advertised as authentic Ray Bans. When I got the glasses something about them just didnt seem right. They didnt slide on my head as easily like the pairs Ive tried on in stores. They also looked a tad different on my face. After doing some digging I discovered mine were fake. In most respects mine had all the right markings in all the right places except one. They key was on the forehead bar. The etchings on mine say " B&L Ray-Ban Italy" on the top of the bar. There are many things wrong with this. This is definitely NOT marked on the bridge bar of authentic Ray Ban Aviators. B&L [Bausch and Lomb] are the American company who used to produce Ray Ban sunglasses. They sold the Ray Ban brand to the Italian Luxottica group in 1998. The equivalent mark on current, authentic Ray Ban Aviators is on the UNDERSIDE of the bridge bar and only says 'Ray Ban' plus a numerical code.
On vintage Ray Bans, manufactured by Bausch and Lomb, the inscription on the topside of the bridge bar is 'B&L RAY-BAN U.S.A.
I then bought a legit pair for comparisons. After getting the legit pair I have to say I'm really impressed with the effort put into the fake sunglasses. The best part is I confronted the seller on the fakes. She immediately refunded my money & said I can keep the sunglasses. No apology, though.

Ive included some pics of the fake & the real deal. The fakes were silver frame with mirrored lenses. The real are gold framed with green tinted lenses.

Fake box on top. Real on the bottom. The real had the bar code sticker. The fake didnt.

Fake manual on the right. Real on the left.

Fake sticker that came on lens.

Real lens sticker.

Real lens cleaning cloth on the left. Fake on the right.

Fake case on bottom, real on top.

Real Aviators

Fake Aviators

Real on left, fake on right.

This came attached to the frame of the fakes. I had to cut it off. Nothing like it came with the real glasses.

 

[BoomerD]

And you're surprised that you got "knock-offs" on E-Bay why?

Seems like E-Bay has gotten so that almost everything sold there is either cheap Chinese-made imitations of the real item, or scammers who sell you junk instead of what they advertise.
I haven't bought anything there in years. Too many scammers and rip-offs.

 

[KaOTiK]

Hope you reported her to Ebay and Ray ban

 

[brtspears2]

That is a pretty good knockoff. Does the fake one have the etched RB in the left lens (at about the 9, 10 oclock position?)

 

[TheVrolok]

And you're surprised that you got "knock-offs" on E-Bay why?

Seems like E-Bay has gotten so that almost everything sold there is either cheap Chinese-made imitations of the real item, or scammers who sell you junk instead of what they advertise.
I haven't bought anything there in years. Too many scammers and rip-offs.

This. I only buy small/cheap/crappy things off Ebay, sometimes wholesale stuff, but nothing "expensive" or "nice."

 

[Pray To Jesus]

What was the price difference?

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Did you put them on and watch Top Gun yelling " I feel the need, the need for speed "

 

[TekViper]

Star trek next generation 49disc box sets on ebay are 99% fake.

Fakes that you will find all over ebay:
http://www.dvds-box.com/images/2 STAR TREK-49DVD_4.jpg

Real Version:
http://www.moviesonline.ca/AdvHTML_Upload/stng-pic1.jpg

Chinese knockoffs are getting too good. I am sure most people don't even know they are not genuine. :-(

 

[darkxshade]

You should still report her, she apologized and gave you the glasses free because these actually fool a lot of people who don't know any better and if her feedback doesn't reflect this with complaints, people will continue to buy from her. And since knockoffs cost a lot less to produce, she can afford to take the hit every time she is caught and still make out like a bandit.

 

[OutHouse]

should have bought the real ones the first time. ebay is almost as bad as craigslist with fake/scams.

 

[tboo]

That is a pretty good knockoff. Does the fake one have the etched RB in the left lens (at about the 9, 10 oclock position?)

Yes it does. They also have the RB etchings in the nose bridges(which are correctly crimped on). Also the correct etchings are on both temple bars.

 

[tboo]

What was the price difference?

About $40.00

 

[tboo]

And you're surprised that you got "knock-offs" on E-Bay why?

Seems like E-Bay has gotten so that almost everything sold there is either cheap Chinese-made imitations of the real item, or scammers who sell you junk instead of what they advertise.
I haven't bought anything there in years. Too many scammers and rip-offs.

Im only surprised at the quality of the "knock offs."

 

[Gothgar]

Who was the seller?

I think I might buy a couple pairs then msg her that they were fake... tons of free (almost) Ray Ban's ftw?

 

[frostedflakes]

Yeah in the future I'd stay away from eBay for stuff like that. Bootlegs are so prevalent on there. Live and learn I guess.

 

[dud]

Star trek next generation 49disc box sets on ebay are 99% fake.

Fakes that you will find all over ebay:
http://www.dvds-box.com/images/2 STAR TREK-49DVD_4.jpg

Real Version:
http://www.moviesonline.ca/AdvHTML_Upload/stng-pic1.jpg

Chinese knockoffs are getting too good. I am sure most people don't even know they are not genuine. :-(

Many items on eBay are not authentic ... and many people (including buyers) know it. Ebay turns a blind-eye to most of these auctions. Go look for a DVD set of just about ANY show or movie and you can find MANY obvious copies/take-offs of the originals ... but eBay does nothing about it because if they did it would hurt their bottom-line.

 

[zeelandia]

Curious, how much were the fake ones?

I go fishing all the time and I've replaced my sunglasses quite often. I wouldn't mind a pair of fakes just for the purpose of losing them later.

 

[Arkaign]

Curious, how much were the fake ones?

I go fishing all the time and I've replaced my sunglasses quite often. I wouldn't mind a pair of fakes just for the purpose of losing them later.

This. I bought a fake Movado watch that looked really good on Mulberry street in Manhattan many years back (I knew it was a knockoff buying it for $10 lol), and that damned thing lasted for years and worked and looked fantastic. I then went through several $50+ Fossil watches, all of which fell apart or stopped working within months.

 

[CZroe]

Before fake GBA games were all over eBay, I encountered one that had a Tri-wing screw, shrink wrap, manual, and everything. Even the "AGB-##" was impressed into the cardboard sliding tray. Counterfeit games usually were sold as new without boxes or with folded boxes and usually had a normal screw on the back. The manual had pages from a different game in it, some upside down. You could see scanned dirt flecks in the manual and box. The shrink wrap was hard enough to cut yourself on the edges. The impression on the cardboard was a bit TOO sharp and perfect (I had a genuine import game to compare it to). The plastic on the game pak was different around the "Gameboy Advance" logo. The label was a bit too small and crooked. There was no silk-screening on the PCB (the only thing it conformed to on the lists of counterfeit signs people later developed). The high-score didn't save due to it being hacked to use a different save type (found a SRAM battery inside when the real game used EEPROM). I paid extra for a sealed import copy and got ripped off. About that time, it became clear that buying original GBA games on eBay was nearly impossible.

 

[tboo]

Curious, how much were the fake ones?

I go fishing all the time and I've replaced my sunglasses quite often. I wouldn't mind a pair of fakes just for the purpose of losing them later.

$49.00 shipped

 

[BoomerD]

$49.00 shipped

Are you claiming that you didn't suspect they'd be fakes for that price?

Retail is at least $139. (depending on model and lens)

 

[Alone]

Note to self: Buy hordes of fake merch and message them saying they're fake. Get refunded, keep said horded gear.

EDIT: Brb, trolling eBay.

 

[Arkaign]

Before fake GBA games were all over eBay, I encountered one that had a Tri-wing screw, shrink wrap, manual, and everything. Even the "AGB-##" was impressed into the cardboard sliding tray. Counterfeit games usually were sold as new without boxes or with folded boxes and usually had a normal screw on the back. The manual had pages from a different game in it, some upside down. You could see scanned dirt flecks in the manual and box. The shrink wrap was hard enough to cut yourself on the edges. The impression on the cardboard was a bit TOO sharp and perfect (I had a genuine import game to compare it to). The plastic on the game pak was different around the "Gameboy Advance" logo. The label was a bit too small and crooked. There was no silk-screening on the PCB (the only thing it conformed to on the lists of counterfeit signs people later developed). The high-score didn't save due to it being hacked to use a different save type (found a SRAM battery inside when the real game used EEPROM). I paid extra for a sealed import copy and got ripped off. About that time, it became clear that buying original GBA games on eBay was nearly impossible.

My brother just got a fake Tetris DS off of ebay. it was a reaaaaaaaly good fake, but there were some oddities that gave it away. The colors were the big one, just a bit off. Other than that it was almost bang-on.

 

[Imp]

There are a bunch of non-ebay, online retailers that also sell fakes, so if you want piece of mind, just go to Sunglass Hut or Lens Crafters; they're both owned by Luxxotica, I belive. I bought my Ray Ban Aviators last September from a Sunglass Hut. Effing expensive, but I wanted to be "jus like movie sta!".

I have that exact arista/green pair. Hope you bought them for fashion over function because they suck at blocking stray light coming in the sides. Oh, and they reflect the sun directly into your eye when the sun's low in the morning or late at night.

Also, that's a really nice fake case. The real Ray Ban case is turd and starts cracking at the tab and the back corners from daily use.


For those who want fake sunglasses, watch out. Fake sunglasses may not have a protective UV coating, so your pupils will dilate due to the shading, and let UV pour right in. Think you're ok if the lens is plastic since plastic naturally blocks UV?

 

[Alone]

For those who want fake sunglasses, watch out. Fake sunglasses may not have a protective UV coating, so your pupils will dilate due to the shading, and let UV pour right in. Think you're ok if the lens is plastic since plastic naturally blocks UV?

Nice fearmongering. Many of us regularly walk around outside without sunglasses.