A buyer found the sneakers she wanted, at the right price, with photos that looked genuine. She bought them. They arrived, and they were fake: the stitching was wrong, the box was wrong, and the style code did not match anything the brand had ever made. She had checked the product. She had not checked the seller. The seller's account was three weeks old, had no other listings, and had no reviews. The product photos were real. They were also stolen from another listing.
The seller-history check is the step that catches what the product check misses, because a counterfeit operation can copy a product photo perfectly and cannot fake a history. An account with a real history has a pattern: listings over time, reviews from real buyers, a catalogue that makes sense, and prices that are consistent. An account with no history has none of those, and the absence is the signal.
Start with the account age and the review history. An account that is months or years old, with reviews spread over time, is a different risk from an account created last week with no reviews at all. A new account is not proof of fraud, because every legitimate seller starts somewhere, but a new account selling a high-demand product at a low price is a combination that should make you pause. The risk is not the newness. It is the newness plus the price plus the product.
Read the reviews, not just the count. A seller with fifty reviews that are all five stars, all written in the same week, and all saying the same thing is a seller with bought reviews. A seller with thirty reviews spread over six months, with a mix of four and five stars and a few specific complaints, is a seller with real buyers. The mix is the signal. Real buyers complain about shipping and sizing. Fake reviewers do not.
Open the seller's full catalogue and look at the pattern. A legitimate seller sells a small set of related products, with consistent pricing and real photos. A counterfeit seller sells a little of everything, with stock photos, vague descriptions, and prices that are always the lowest on the page. The catalogue is the tell, because a counterfeit operation does not specialize. It lists whatever is selling, and the list changes every week.
Check the pricing across the catalogue. A seller whose every item is 40 to 60 percent below retail is not getting a good deal from a supplier. They are selling fakes, or stolen goods, or nothing at all. A legitimate seller has some items at full price and some on sale, because that is how real inventory works. Uniformly low prices are a pattern, not a bargain.
The listing photos are the last check, and they are the check most buyers start with, which is the mistake. A counterfeit seller can steal genuine photos from another listing, and the photos will look perfect, because they are genuine photos of a genuine product. The question is not whether the photos look real. It is whether the photos belong to this seller.
Look for the signs. Stock photos only, with no photo of the actual item for sale, is a filter. The same photo used for multiple listings of the same product is a filter. A photo with a watermark from another seller, or a background that does not match the other listings, is a filter. Ask the seller for a photo of the actual item, with today's date on a piece of paper next to it. A legitimate seller will send it. A counterfeit seller will not, or will send a different photo, and that is the answer.
Keep reading: how to spot a fake designer bag, when a dupe listing price is too good, and the counterfeit pattern in a seller catalogue cover the nearby cases in this series.
Age alone is not the test, but a new account selling a high-demand product at a low price is a combination that should make you pause. Look for reviews spread over time, a catalogue that makes sense, and prices that are consistent. A new account is not proof of fraud, but newness plus a low price plus a popular product is a risk.
Read them, do not just count them. Fifty reviews that are all five stars, all written in the same week, and all saying the same thing are bought reviews. Thirty reviews spread over six months, with a mix of four and five stars and a few specific complaints about shipping or sizing, are real buyers.
A little of everything, with stock photos, vague descriptions, and prices that are always the lowest on the page. A legitimate seller sells a small set of related products with consistent pricing and real photos. Uniformly low prices across the whole catalogue are a pattern, not a bargain.
Yes. Ask for a photo of the actual item with today's date on a piece of paper next to it. A legitimate seller will send it. A counterfeit seller will not, or will send a different photo, and that is the answer.