E-Bay Warnings

After all of my Ebay shopping it’s finally happened. I’ve been frauded; lied to;deceived. Someone sold me not one fake brush, but two sets and a brush.

After doing some research this afternoon I’ve found out that there are actually a lot of Ebay victims out there. Victims of what? Fake/Counterfeit cosmetics and beauty tools.

It’s terrible that people of the world have resulted to so much fraud but sadly it is a reality.

Here’s a few tips to try and keep you guys safe from counterfeit/fake items and deceitful sellers on Ebay.

     1. Above all else, read the sellers’ reviews. Even if they have 99% good feedback, there’s a reason they don’t have 100%. Make sure to read all of their negative feedback comments. Sure, some/most are probably just for shipping or communication, but there might be one sprinkled in about how a product was a fake. If they’ve sold one fake they’re sure to sell more.

     2. Examine the picture provided. If all they offer is a stock photo from the internet, message and ask for a picture of the actual product. Ask for close-ups of the all the detailed parts! Branding, handles, crimping, everything! If you’re not sure what the actual product looks like, compare the provided images to online images or images from the actual sellers website.

     3. Make sure they offer a money back guarantee. If they don’t, there’s probably something sketchy going on.

     4. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!

In total, I paid about $15 for all 3 items (2 brush sets and a single brush) including shipping. I thought the prices were too good to be true and it turns out, they all were.

Be safe out there shoppers!

E-Bay Fakes: Eco Tools Brush Set

Today I got a shipment in from Japan containing a recent bundle purchase from Ebay. This EcoTools 5-pc Brush Set was one of the items in the shipment. Since I already owned an EcoTools face brush, I knew they were good quality so I figured getting a good deal on Ebay wasn’t a bad move. After examining the brushes outside of the packaging I realized I’d made a mistake.

Honestly, in the packaging you couldn’t even tell the difference. The big shocker was revealed after I took the brushes out and looked/felt more closely.

In the picture below you can see my singular, real brush that I got from Ulta a few months ago, and the 5-pc fake brush set I got in the mail. From far away, they’re pretty convincing. The only easily spottable difference is the coloring. The real brush is a color in between the darkest and lightest colors from the fake set.

Examining the two face brushes (my real one, the new fake one) up close I realized a huge difference. The real brushes’ handle has an indention so the neck can sit perfectly on top and be level with the handle. The fake brushes’ neck sits on top of the handle, protruding a LOT.

Also, I noticed the real brushes’ bristles are very clean cut and filled in, only spacing out when lied down. The fake brushes’ bristles aren’t trimmed and they’re spaced out funny.

The last thing I noticed was the burned-on logo on the ends of the face brushes. (The fake eye brushes didn’t have a logo and I think they’re supposed to have one)

The fake brushes handles were very rough and light with the logo imprintedvery deeply into the handle. So much so you can even see it a little bit in the photo. The real brush’s logo is just burned on, not so much of an imprint.

E-bay shoppers beware of frauds! It really is heart-wrenching when you find out you spent your hard earned money on a bunch of fakes.

Thankfully, I only spent about $6 on this but it’s still such a let down.

Good luck!