I purchased a Koyo radiator off of eBay today. Two people have told me that they think I purchased a knock-off. What do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWN%3AIT

 

The seller is reputable and the price isnt that cheap to be fake. Ask the seller if it is authentic. I have never been lied to about a knockoff and usually on Ebay honesty sells more even if it is fake since they cater to the smaller- wallet crowd.

 

^ Thanks for the quick response. Invision has a sale going on this radiator. The price he PM'd me was slighly higher than the price I got it for on eBay. Since there isn't a big price difference, and since the part numbers seem to match, I don't understand why someone would think it was a knock-off. Maybe just hating?

 

In general there is a whole lot of knock-offs sold on eBay. Since the buyer can't inspect the item before buying, fakes are abundant. The number of knock-off car parts on eBay is probably huge.

 

Understood. When I receive the item, shouldn't I be able to determine whether it is authentic or not? If it is a knock-off, I have three levels of "protection": eBay, Paypal, and American Express.

 

I always follow the "store" link (Sellers other Items) when I buy something like that on Ebay. If there's no store or real website backing it up, I won't buy it.

As to whether you'll know it's fake or not, it depends. The chinese are great at making nearly perfect copies of things. You may not know it's a copy till a couple years go by and a weld fails or it corrodes pre-maturely.

 

Those fake chinese copies even have identical labels and boxes all over them. Also, the price doesn't matter. They will sell them for $10-20 below average pricing and people still buy them. The tial wastegates they used to sell that were completely fake used to only sell for $20 less than the real ones were.

Here's a link from Tein just so you can see how identical the fake stuff looks:
http://www.tein.com/counterfeit/warning.html

Solution: don't buy from ebay.

 

Sorry...but I think that solution is whack. Not everything on eBay is a fake. There are some very good deals on authentic merchandise. I have purchased a REAL Saeco espresso machine, REAL Sony digital camera, REAL MB Quartz speakers, etc. etc. etc.

Bottom line: one bad apple does not have to spoil the entire basket.

 

ebay's full of fake products. just be careful when shopping on ebay. buy from reputable ebay stores.

 

Yea, but it's hard to fake a sony digital camera. #1 it's a complex item to duplicate and #2 sony is a large company that will probably do a better job protecting their stuff.

However, making a fake exhaust, intake, springs, etc, etc is super easy. They even knock off japanese electronics (apex turbo timers). Most import performance companies aren't large, don't have the $$ to protect their name or the resources to find / pursue people who sell fakes.

Some stuff is worth buying on ebay, but not alot. With shipping + risk it is often not even worth it anymore. You can get alot of stuff locally or from a reputable shop for a price that's not too much more. You risk lost/damaged packaging, outright fraud/scams, fake products, non-working products, huge hassles if you get the wrong item, damaged item, or defective item.

Shopping on ebay for some stuff is pretty much equivalent to buying your stuff in a swap meet. I wouldn't buy name brand stuff at a swap meet.

I do know of people who sell refurbished items as new on ebay. I guess most people don't know the difference. Then again, if I bought a refurbished item, I'd like to know it beforehand.

ebay is shady. Good luck man.