Fake Skin Care Products
A few years ago I thought I’d look to see if my favorite moisturizer Clinique Moisture On-line was for sale on Ebay. Since this is one of my skin care staples, I thought I could save a few dollars this way. Sure enough someone was selling it, and the person had excellent feedback, so this seemed like a great deal. When the product arrived, it was in the correct jar, however the cream inside was different than the true product - its smell and consistency were different. Luckily I had used the product before, so I knew what to expect. And luckily I was able to return the product for a full refund. The seller told me he had purchased a bunch of Moisture On-lines from someone else, so he didn’t even realize they weren’t the real thing! Since Moisture On-line isn’t exactly expensive ($32 or so) it never dawned on me that someone would go out of their way to fake the product.
Also, Moisture On-line comes in a jar packaging, so it’s super easy for someone to reuse the jar, and just fill it with any cheapo cream. Never buy skin care products that come in a jar on Ebay!!!
Real Skin Care Products and Makeup
I have bought some legit makeup on Ebay. I buy those mini Lancome Juicy Tubes that come as gifts with purchase. Since they only sell for $7 or so, and they come in closed packaging, it’s highly unlikely some scammer is making fake mini Juicy Tubes! And I think the gift with purchase sets people sell are real too - even though some of the products are tiny jars.
I can’t say with certainty, but I would guess most products by companies like Avon and Arbonne are real, because the sellers buy the products from the companies at a discount, and then they can sell them to the public. So if the price is comparable (or a few dollars less) than what something sells for at an Avon store or website, it’s probably the real thing. However, again people can refill jars and pump bottles, or they can use them a few times and then sell them.
Other companies, like Jane Iredale, sell their products at a wholesale price to different independant stores and spas, who could then turnaround and sell them on Ebay. Most of the Jane Iredale stuff on Ebay appears legit, and you can possibly buy it cheaper there because the markup is about 50%, so Ebay sellers may only be marking it up 25% but still be able to make a profit, while passing the savings on to you. Whether or not Jane Iredale, and other companies that sell in wholesale approve of this, is another issue.
Fake Makeup
Makeup is pretty cheap, so you wouldn’t think there would be a need for fakes. I was astonished to read about all the fake MAC makeup that’s being sold on Ebay. Pursebuzz.com shows you how to spot the MAC fakes. Since MAC, and most department store lines are only sold at their own stores, department stores, and retailers like Sephora and Ulta, if you see brand new products on Ebay for way cheaper than retail, then that’s pretty fishy. It’s possible someone just bought the products from the store, and changed their mind and want to sell it. However, if an Ebay seller consistently sells the same type of items over and over for way cheaper than retail, the items are probably stolen, fake, or the whole auction is a scam and you won’t even get the item.
With the MAC Fafi collection, I think people bought everything they could get their hands on, so that they could sell it to people seeking the sold-out items. Again, though, I would be wary of buying a highly sought after item, fearing it would be fake. Ohhh, and I just remembered that I used to have a PPID/MAC Pro Card about 10 years ago when I did fashion photography. So with that 30% or 40% savings for industry professionals, that could explain how legit MAC makeup does end up on ebay for below store cost.
The bottom line
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!!! Just know that there are a lot of scams on Ebay, so if you really want to save a few dollars with skin care and makeup, be cautious. It’s amazing how far fakers will go to make a few dollars. I like Juicy Couture charms, and they aren’t too expensive - $42 for the basic ones. I bought one on Ebay for $35, and it turned out it was fake! Luckily I got my money back on that one too!! The first tip-off was that the picture in the auction was the official picture from the Juicy website. It’s always suspicious if the auction has no picture, or if the picture is not one that was taken of the actual item. When you’re searching for a product on Ebay, after you type in something like “arbonne,” on the left side of the page will be links to articles about how to spot scams and fakes about that particular type of item.buprenorphine detox
