BEWARE OF FAKE iPODS ON EBAY ! ! ! : eBay Guides

Fake iPods have been cropping up in eBay searches for quite a while. Despite eBay getting tougher on those selling counterfeited items, there are still a few fake ipods slipping through the net on eBay. Therefore I have set up this guide to help buyers avoid such items.

Since I have a lot of experience in this field, so I thought it would be best to put together a guide to prevent others from wasting their time and money on counterfeits.

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How do you tell if a seller is selling a fake or genuine iPod in the listing:

1. Check the seller's reputation, check the feedback for the "iPods" he/she has already sold on eBay. Look at the seller's negative feedbacks and check what they were received for. By checking the feedback history, you can get a decent idea from other eBayers whether the item is a fake or if it is actually genuine.
2. Check the price, if it is way lower (under 60% of Apple's price) than the price Apple are selling it at online, then the chances are the item will be a fake. If it is under auction then you can not use this method to tell whether it is genuine or not. Remember that Apple don't give sellers that much profit margin on there items, so the prices should be near to that of the Apple Store.
3. Beware of listings that make an obvious attempt to avoid using the brand name (Apple). Note: if the listing mentions that the item is an OEM version, this is just an elaborate way of saying its fake.
4. Watch out for listings that use listing titles such as; "Nano style MP3 player", or "Shuffle Style MP3 player is another". Items that advertise themselves like this will be fake. Also, items that advertise themselves as mp3/mp4 players and don't have "Apple" in their title will be fakes.
5. Another main giveaway is if the box reads "MP3" across the side of it, this means that the item is a fake. Apple have never ever used "MP3" on any of their iPod's packaging. They use their brand name instead.
6. Finally, compare a picture of a real iPod to the picture in the listing, look for any give away signs.

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If you have already bought the "iPod" and are now unsure as to whether it is genuine or not. There is one test for it that will never fail:

1. Get the serial number off of the iPod (it will be engraved into the underside of the iPod).

2. If there is no serial number on the back of the iPod, then the "iPod" is definitely fake, no question about it.

3. If you have the serial number, Download iTunes for free from the apple website.

4. Now try registering an account with iTunes, for this you will need the serial number. At registration, type in your iPod's serial number when it is needed. If the serial number is rejected, triple check that you have entered the correct number. If it is still rejected after this, the item is very likely to be fake. Just so your case is fool proof, you could always phone Apple customer support just to check that there wasn't a technical fault.

5. If the serial number is accepted, then the iPod is genuine.

Hope this helps