Counterfeit Products Not Unusual on eBay and Amazon

Photos help consumers identify counterfeit products

Los Angeles, CA, February 12, 2014  – Consumers are being easily fooled by a global avalanche of counterfeit products from internet sellers including eBay^® (EBAY) and Amazon^® (AMZN). While most consumers are familiar with counterfeit Rolex watches and Coach Handbags, the exploding counterfeit product industry is producing thousands of counterfeit products the average consumer wouldn't even suspect. Can consumers expect protection from resellers of counterfeit products who use internet giants eBay and Amazon to flood the internet with billions of dollars of counterfeit products?

“Probably not” says Craig Crosby, publisher of  the popular consumer protection website, The Counterfeit Report^® (theCounterfeitReport.com). “We see and purchase counterfeit products listed on both sites.” Consumers buying the same products are easily duped into believing they are buying the authentic item when in fact, they are not.

Could you identify these counterfeit products?

(photo credits: The Counterfeit Report)  media photo link

Popular hard-to-identify counterfeits include Gillette^® razor blades, Otterbox^® cell phone cases, knives, and a variety of perfumes and colognes. Dishonest sellers often use the manufacturer’s photo in their advertisement, making it impossible for consumers to identify an item as a counterfeit from the listing photo. “It's really quite simple for us to find counterfeit products without much sleuthing, and we have yet to receive an authentic product when we set out to purchase a counterfeit from eBay or Amazon." says Crosby.

Is everything on eBay counterfeit?  "Absolutely not" says Crosby, there are plenty of honest sellers selling genuine items, but beware, many sellers are knowingly or unknowingly selling counterfeit products.  Some counterfeits are obvious if the advertiser uses an actual photo of the product; other telltale signs may be the price, color or model not offered by the manufacturer.  For example, a product represented as a Monster^® Tron T1 Headphone set advertised on Amazon for $445.00 was never produced by Monster -- it is a fake. (view the report)

If "a picture is worth 1000 words" The Counterfeit Report website certainly holds this true by helping consumers identify counterfeit products with thousands of photo examples of counterfeit products. The Counterfeit Report is actually showing consumers the sophistication of counterfeiters and their ability to create visually identical counterfeit products. However, consumer awareness is only part of the global solution. Counterfeited products are very deceptive, and consumers often unknowingly purchase hazardous or deadly products. “If it's manufactured, it's probably counterfeited, and will likely fool you” adds Crosby. Many counterfeit products are identified when they are returned to the manufacturer for warranty repairs, leaving the consumer out their investment and without a product to return to the seller. "It's the consumer who ultimately gets hurt and in some cases, fake can be fatal” concluded Crosby.
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