Buying items from ebay?

[LacusClyne]

i had been wanting to go up to ebay to find some ayu singles. but i'm afraid of meeting dishonest people. can anyone list those good sellers that you had encountered with? and those bad sellers too.

and maybe a little guide on how to avoid fake products, there should be other members who need this too.
in my case, i thought it should be better if the (japan version) that the sellers claimed comes with a picture of the whole cd case, with the obi, booklet, both side of the cd.
and it's the best to buy from those at least 99.99% positive feedback?
am i right?

[immel]

95%+ positive feedback should do, kind of ... but most sellers have 98%+ (that goes for bootleg sellers aswell, that they sell bootlegs doesn't mean they are less trusty, they still ship you your CDs and, according to eBays policy, should receive positive feedback).

My guide for avoiding fake products, when it comes to CDs is... to avoid eBay unless you know what to really look for... or look out for this:

No errors in the stated tracklist.
Good pictures.
It should at least be claimed to be the original Japanese product.
It's good if the CD numbering is written, like AVCD-#####... AVCD means that it's original and that it is Japanese, AVTCD is for overseas. Anything else, or nothing, means it's bootleg.
On eBay you can never be completely sure, don't buy from any big eBay stores unless you really know what you are doing, they can have fakes , only sellers that sell a few random CDs, make sure that their location is NEVER Hong Kong (HK) ... the land of bootlegs.
Look for sellers who seem to have products that are the real thing, if they provide many pictures, good information, a price that seem to be normal and not as low as it often is for bootlegs, then it's only up to you to decide if you want to go for it.
The most common CDs that you'll see, which is almost never a bootleg, is kanariya or Fly high, because of their plastic inserts that can be hard to fake... I think.

There's probably some more things I usually think about but have forgotten right now, I usually am able to judge quite quickly if I want to trust the product/seller when I look at one so just use your sense and decide for yourself what you really want to trust.

Buying CDs isn't the best thing though, if you aren't looking for the out of stock ones, they can be a bit easier to know when they are real because those are more common to be up for sale by for real as they actually have some value.

[LacusClyne]

the top of my wanted list are thosee 3 inches cds. which should have lower chance of bootleg right?

[immel]

They have a way lower chance, because they look so different and are harder to fake, with all the paper wrapping etc.

When you find them you can be pretty sure they are not bootleg, if it's important to you that they are the Japanese versions, make sure they are befor you bid, some have Taiwanese and other overseas versions aswell. Also, remember that if they have damages they can often be pretty apparent as paper is a very weak material.

If it's stated to be from Japan, and the code is like AVDD-##### you can be pretty sure it's original . I'm pretty sure that the copies I have from eBay are originals, but hey, if you didn't buy it in store when it was new, how could you possibly be 100% sure? hehe.

(yes, it's AVDD for the 3" ones)

[~angel*ayumi~]

If you have something particual in your ebay watchlist you can sure always ask us about experiences with the seller ;9
i bought alot at ebay.

Here are some sellers I remember that was nice to deal with:
best.friend.in.tochigi *or something like that*
ayumi_showcase
lethglace *or so*
misskey
jrc_dictator *or so Oo+

[immel]

while ayumi_showcase is trusty it's so freakin overpriced.

letheglace and misskey are really nice, it's two of the people I bought the most from.

[sexysaucestar]

Originally Posted by ~angel*ayumi~

If you have something particual in your ebay watchlist you can sure always ask us about experiences with the seller ;9
i bought alot at ebay.

Here are some sellers I remember that was nice to deal with:
best.friend.in.tochigi *or something like that*
ayumi_showcase
lethglace *or so*
misskey
jrc_dictator *or so Oo+

I've also bought from ayumi_showcase, letheglace, and misskey. Miwako (misskey) is pretty awesome, so if you buy from her, you're sure to get quality products.

[nodoka]

I think that your reasoning is right but I still wouldn't buy from ebay because even though they might have posative feedback, it might be from people who can't tell the frauds from the real. I buy all my stuff from yesasia except for the goods that aren't there(like tour stuff), that stuff I think is ok to buy on ebay.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by nodoka

... it might be from people who can't tell the frauds from the real.

That's why you ask them what the stock number is on the CD they're auctioning off, and why asking for photos (especially of the back & spine) is so important. Both were mentioned earlier in the thread.

There's no reason to be afraid of eBay if you know what to look for. Check the bootleg guide nick made at eneabba.net for more info, and go ahead & post auction links here for our opinion if you're not sure if it's real or not.

[LacusClyne]

what about those red color AYUPAN bags? i thought they look so cute, and i wanted to get one. but there are sooo many....i'm doubting whether they are original or not...

[immel]

^If they are cute and you want one, why do you care? .

Are there known to be "bootlegs" of them? What does the real ones look like?

[sexysaucestar]

Originally Posted by LacusClyne

what about those red color AYUPAN bags? i thought they look so cute, and i wanted to get one. but there are sooo many....i'm doubting whether they are original or not...

What do you mean by "red colour Ayupan bags"? o_O Do you have a picture?

[Delirium-Zer0]

I haven't seen any bootleg ayupan goods on ebay yet, but plenty of bootleg ayupans. (Ask for a photo of the bottom of the feet on those... you're looking for a "(c) axev" mark on the ayupan if it's real). But so far, yeah, only real goods like sticker sheets, pencil bags, ledger sheets, t-shirts (rarely but they do exist), the three christmas boxes... and Prime bought my daughter an ayupan clock... all that stuff that I've seen has been real.

[LacusClyne]

Originally Posted by soysaucestar

What do you mean by "red colour Ayupan bags"? o_O Do you have a picture?

this one, i saw a lot of this.

link on ebay

Hong Kong Road.
Cheap, reliable. Everything I ever bought from them have come with their obis and in amazing condition. (And not bootlegs.)

[sexysaucestar]

Originally Posted by LacusClyne

this one, i saw a lot of this.

link on ebay

Ooh I see. I guess those auctions don't show up for the main eBay site because I definitely haven't seen those up for auction at the site (unless I've looked past those links before).

They should be authentic; pretty cute bags! If only I didn't already have so many bags >_<;;

[LacusClyne]

you don't see them???

hmm...when i go up to ebay, i will use the advance search engine and serach for 'ayumi hamasaki', which can be send to singapore....and ther will be plenty of pages....and at least 20 of this bags will be there!

[LacusClyne]

i was looking through ebay and i saw thess fans which the seller claimed to be from 2001 Dome Tour. but i remembered reading somwhere that these pictures are fake, so i assume these fans are fake too?

Link

[immel]

They are from Dome Tour 2001, but if they are originals from the actual dome/avex store or bootlegs... there's nothing to do to be entirely sure.

misskey is trustworthy though, I was buying one of those fans from her once but I ended up changing my mind... that was some time ago.

[~angel*ayumi~]

They seem very real to me^^

Why should someone make bootlegs of a fan Oo