Before you buy a Montblanc pen on eBay can you be sure that it isn't a counterfeit? Here are some tips to help you avoid losing money to someone who is selling counterfeits. When you are looking for a specific pen beware that most counterfeits will be sold on a 1, 3 or 5 day listing, by a fairly new seller with either no feedback, or very few feedback that has recently been left over a few days for buying 1p items. Look out for new sellers who have listed several identical counterfeit pens for very low prices. Some even show pictures of genuine pens but send counterfeits after you have won the auction and sent payment. So always check a sellers feedback before bidding to see if he has sold similar pens before and received negative feedback for selling fakes. You should ask yourself where all of these pens are coming from if they can be sold so cheaply. They are counterfeits made in China. Unfortunately the presence of a serial number is not a guarantee that the pen is genuine, as most counterfeit pens have fake serial numbers on them.

The latest trend is for scammers to hijack an innocent eBayers account, then to copy completed listings and list them as multiple Buy it Now listings selling the pens for less than £50 on 3 or 5 day listings. Although they say they accept PayPal as a payment method, these scammers are fraudsters with no items to sell. 3 or 5 days is a very short period for ebay UK to react and you will receive nothing if you send any cash. Always use PayPal as your payment method, so that you have some protection, and if the seller says that his PayPal account isn't working then don't pay by an alternative suggested method. Instead, report the seller to eBay for not accepting the required payment method.

I will try to help you to see the differences between fake and genuine modern Meisterstucks. If you look at the spacer underneath the bottom of the clip (the bit that keeps the clip away from the barrel) you will see that it has been placed on separately. The end and sides of the clip aren't 'folded in' to make the spacer. This is the same for all Meisterstucks. When you unscrew a Meisterstuck ballpoint, (twist action) the brass screw thread protrudes out of the bottom of the cap, and screws inside the barrel. The cap doesn't have a screw thread inside that screws onto a resin screw thread on the top of the barrel. When you remove a refill from a Montblanc ballpoint, the spring will not come out, as it has a flared top to keep it inside the bottom of the barrel. The fail safe test for most counterfeit Montblanc ballpoints if everything else looks right, is that a genuine Montblanc ballpoint refill won't fit into them as it's slightly larger than the copies that the counterfeiters make. So I would recommend that you always have a genuine refill on hand to try out in any suspect ballpoint. Unfortunately, the latest counterfeit Starwalker ballpoints pass this test.

For metal Solitaire Meisterstucks the metal always continues up around the sides of the snowcap top, past the clip band. Montblanc don't make Solitaire Meisterstucks that have black snowcaps with no metal around them. Nor do they have black resin bands between the silver or gold bands around the base of the cap. In fact Montblanc don't make any coloured Meisterstucks that have black snowcaps.

Before you buy a fountain pen please look at some genuine Montblanc nibs on the Montblanc web-site, or on the German fountainpen de site. Montblanc don't make any nibs that say Iridium Point Germany (or even Italy - a dead giveaway!). For modern black resin Meisterstucks the nibs are usually 14ct gold with a platinum inlay. They have Montblanc, 4810 (the height of Mont Blanc in feet) and the snowcap engraved on them, plus 14ct (or 18ct). The 149 has an 18ct gold nib, and the Solitaires have 18ct nibs like the one below. The Limited and Special Editions have specially designed 18ct nibs that refer to the edition. All new Montblancs now have the trademark 'Pix' on the inside of the metal clip shaft. So if you buy a new pen that doesn't have the word 'Pix' on the inside of the clip then it is a counterfeit.

One of the most commonly seen counterfeits of a Limited Edition pen is the Writers Edition 'F.Scott Fitzgerald'. So if you want this pen please make sure that you know what a genuine one looks like in every detail. Specifically the counterfeit won't have the correct Montblanc platinum and gold nib, the silver bands are a different width, and there is an extra one around the base of the forepart next to the nib. The counterfeits will usually show black resin through the marbled white resin where the barrel pieces join. I have seen a seller on eBay UK list a counterfeit Fitzgerald with library pictures of the genuine pen, then put in a last picture of his counterfeit that is slightly out of focus and has the extra silver band plus a gold nib rather than the platinum one. Any F.Scott Fitzgerald pen not in it's original book box packaging should be considered a serious risk. The genuine version is pictured below. Please note that all Montblanc Limited Edition pens are only made in one colourway. Alternative colour choices are always counterfeits. The Greta Garbo only comes with a cream cap and a black barrel and, although there are also two very expensive diamond editions of it, the standard shape doesn't come in any other colour. Montblanc only made the Greta Garbo as a twist action ballpoint and a fountain pen. So all Greta Garbo rollerball style pens, or those called ballpoints that have removable caps rather than a twist action are counterfeits. Also, the genuine Greta Garbo fountain pen only accepts small cartridges. It can't accept a converter because of it's shape. All Montblanc Greta Garbo pens come with a special large square leather case that opens down the centre. So any Greta Garbo's that come in other types of Montblanc style boxes should be considered counterfeits.

Counterfeit Limited Edition pens won't usually be in their original special boxes or cases, instead they might come in an ordinary Montblanc box that someone has sold on eBay. Counterfeits sometimes also come in Montblanc leather goods boxes with Solitaire Leather Goods warranty cards and booklets. Genuine Montblanc pens should have a Writing Instruments Service Guide booklet, or International warranty. But sellers of counterfeits also buy boxes and Service Guide booklets sold on eBay. No genuine Montblanc boxes contain white satiny material with a white satiny band over the pen. This box is a Chinese fake and is almost always guaranteed to contain a fake pen.

Montblanc don't usually make rollerballs in their Limited Editions although they do make rollerballs in their Special Anniversary Editions. One notable exception so far is the Dostoevsky Writers Edition. So if you see any other Limited Edition rollerball on eBay then it must be counterfeit because Montblanc have never made one.

To see good detailed images of other ranges such as Boheme, Starwalker, Scenium and Noblesse Oblige go to the Montblanc web-site before you buy one. You can also find some good close up pictures on many of the genuine listings on eBay.com or eBay.de. The Montblanc Boheme range has different coloured jewels on the clip, and the colour of the jewel depends on whether they have gold or platinum coloured accents. Also the Montblanc Boheme fountain pen only comes with a retractable nib. That was the whole idea for Montblanc making this range.

Montblanc make the Starwalker as a twist action ballpoint, a fountain pen with a short rhodium silver coloured nib, and a fineliner with a spring action tip. Although the fineliner can also take a rollerball refill, it isn't sold new like this. So you can assume that Starwalker rollerballs on eBay are fakes, unless one has specifically had it's fineliner refill removed and replaced with a rollerball version at the point of sale. When you look at the tip end of Starwalkers, the writing tip of the refill only just protrudes out of the end of the barrel. If you can see quite a lot of pointed refill tip then the pen is likely to be counterfeit, as this is one sign of a fake Montblanc refill. Any Starwalker types with different coloured, marbled barrels are definitely Chinese fakes as Montblanc have never made the Starwalker with a marbled barrel, nor a partly marbled barrel. Although they have recently produced a blue Starwalker. Currently there are some very clever counterfeits of the Starwalker on sale. Unusually these even accept genuine Montblanc ballpoint refills. The only apparent difference that can be instantly spotted is a slightly off-centre snowcap, or a larger one than the genuine version, floating inside the perspex top. These often fool eBay UK into assuming they are genuine so they don't remove them when they are reported. I personally wouldn't currently buy any Starwalker rollerball or ballpoint on eBay UK unless there was a picture of the warranty certificate, and I had confidence from the sellers previous feedback.

When you go to the Montblanc web-site, if you require a copy of the latest catalogue, they will send one to you. Also, you don't need to buy your Montblanc bottled ink, cartridges, converters or other refills on eBay at higher than retail prices with high P&P. You can order these consumables by telephone from any Montblanc boutique or department store concession, at a fraction of the cost and for a lot less P&P than the sellers on eBay UK charge. At the time of writing Montblanc bottled ink currently costs £6, converters cost £5.30 and packs of 6 cartridges cost £2.15. Montblanc will post them to you for £1 or £2 P&P. This also helps you to guarantee that you will receive a genuine ballpoint or rollerball refill that hasn't been used, also that bottled ink is genuine Montblanc ink, and is not a refill of a different brand, or watered down old ink.

There are also lots of counterfeit pen pouches or cases on eBay. Compare the following 2 examples: The first one is a genuine Montblanc and the second one is counterfeit. Please note the longer flap on the genuine case, with the loop sewn in much further down the case. On the genuine case the loop is one wide piece of thicker leather sewn into the seam on the lower part of the case not like the counterfeit that has two small and thin pieces sewn together then sewn into the top seam.

It doesn't take much practice to spot the differences between a fake and a genuine Montblanc. Take your time, look out for the pitfalls and you might own your genuine Montblanc sooner than you think. Good Luck!