I have been bidding and buying cosmetics on trademe recently. Seems like a lot of people have unwanted pressies on there at the mo. I’ll review my latest purchases some time soon. But I am always always always suspicious of auctions for new and cheap luxury brands.
You can imagine why this is a prob. If it’s not the real product, then what the hell is it? And the thought of some fraudster making a mint out of innocent bidders is infuriating.
But how can you tell? If you’re suspicious of a product you’ve purchased, take it into your local cosmetic counter. I asked a MAC artist at the counter about spotting fakes. She had a couple of stories of people coming in with products that (to her) were obvious fakes.
You can also do a bit of homework before you bid. Study the picture, compare to images of the real product online, and google the product for tips on how to spot common fakes.
Here, here and here are just a few sites with helpful tips on MAC products.
Now I don’t mean to scare-monger, because I have bought some pretty good deals on trademe. But caveat emptor my pretties!
TM is full of fake MAC at the moment. And these sellers are so tricky too, one seller in particular called a bunch of eye pencils The MAC, very dodgy imo.
Great entry! I’m sure the quality is very different too. Is that Aquadisiac on the right? Gawd I love that colour. Although the fake looks like a super bright version of Stars & Rockets.
The right is supposed to be shimmermoss (I knicked the pic from another blog as I haven’t actually come across any fakes myself…that I know of). It shows how easy it is to get duped. But I wonder how much it costs that fraudsters to make them look so much like MAC?
I saw the fake “The MAC” pencils on trademe! The picture even has all the logos facing away from camera so you can’t see what the logog really is. If I spot any more fakes I will let you guys know.