Ray Ban sunglasses are a staple in every sunglass collection for people who like nice things, but who honestly wants to spend the full price for these nice things? That's what TJ Maxx, eBay, and Amazon are for amirite?
Being a proud owner of two pairs of beautiful Ray Ban Clubmasters which together with full retail price of $480 all together, I want to say, no, I did not spend all dat cash monies for just 2 pairs of sunglasses thanks to the wonderful world of eBay. Being on the roll that I was, I was on my next quest for the classic Original Ray Ban Wayfarers, costing approximately $155 through mass retailers, I was aiming for the best price possible. I thought I had known it all, the finish, little specs and details that a lot of people don't know about, yada yada, UNTIL I purchased what I *thought* was a genuine 100% authentic pair, which (tear tear) it was not.
Nowadays the counterfeiters are getting really damn good at making quality Ray Ban fakes and selling them at discount retail prices that still aren't worth that price being that they're fakes - the goal of this post is to give you the know how for telling the fakes out of the excellent quality ones.
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One thing I should mention is that before you even bother looking for a pair of your own is to know the perfect size for your face, with the original wayfarers it's simple enough. They come in two sizes:
One thing I should mention is that before you even bother looking for a pair of your own is to know the perfect size for your face, with the original wayfarers it's simple enough. They come in two sizes:
50mm - 22mm (Standard)
54mm - 18mm (Large)
The size between the two of these sizes are VERY distinct so you shouldn't have any issues with deciding which would be the best fit for you. What is important is to understand the feel of the Original Wayfarers on your face, notedly the signature tilt of the frame. There is no mistaking the feeling of these sunglasses on your face because you WILL feel the bottom of the frame touching your upper cheeks snuggly. If you were told you are buying/have bought the Original Wayfarers but do not feel that snugness, you unfortunately have a pair of fakes.
The only time you shouldn't feel it while still wearing authentic sunglasses are if you purchased the New Wayfarer design or the folding design, but that's a WHOLE different story that will be briefed upon slightly, later.
Here we have the counterfeit sunglasses I recently purchased off of eBay, complete with box, case, pamphlet and all that. The finish is beautiful, no mould edges, the case complete with the Ray Ban signature on the button and gold Luxotica emblem.
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If you have already purchased the pair and have it on hand, continue reading here...
If you are thinking of purchasing, scroll down further!
What to look at first is the case - look at the finish and the button.
Here are two black Ray Ban cases side by side. Can you tell which one is real and which one is fake? Probably not unless I tell you. The one on the right is the real one, the left one fake. Note the finish between the two, the real one has a softer finish and the fake one has a significantly shinier finish. The button on the fake one is turned around sideways. With real cases you should not be able to turn the button whatsoever, it will be well set into the case. With the fake one, with a little bit of effort you should be able to turn it 360 degrees and that is no bueno!
If you have a fake case you should wonder to yourself what else is fake in this set.
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| These are two genuine cases that I own. They have the same soft leather finish. |
Look at your sunglasses now. The slightly scary thing about these real as hell fake pairs is how sturdy and well made they are, including the signature Ray Ban 7 prong hinges which are exclusive to the Original Wayfarer style - the New Wayfarer style has the 3 prong hinges going on now. As I said before, if these are not the distinctly different New Wayfarers and they have the 7 prong hinges, these are very high quality fakes.
The picture below shows the fake Ray Bans with a spot on Ray Ban arm logo, but what you should notice about this picture is the angle from the frame to arm. Mentioned earlier, what causes the frame-to-face snugness is the acute angle which the fake pair does not have. Even though I do not have a pair of Wayfarers of my own at the moment, I have tried on the pair I do plan on getting in stores multiple times. I always suggest going to Sunglass Hut or Macy's and trying them on yourself to understand.
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| Image taken from Google |
Here is what they SHOULD look like on your face, you can see that at the bottom of the frames, there is little hover space between your upper cheek close to your nose.
Other details such as the size and even the letter between "Hand Made in Italy" and the CE symbol makes it spot on. The box seems pretty legit too.
Now onto one very, very important detail that I hadn't known about until I started doing extensive research (like I do about absolutely everything) - the left lens etching.
Along with the 7 prong hinges, they have done very well to include the "hidden" RB etching into the right lens. The only flaw in this is that it is also one of the biggest signals that shows that your Ray Bans are fake. Softly scratch at the little etching and think about how it feels. Does it seem rough? Are little bits of the lens scratching off with your nail? If that is the case you absolutely have a fake pair.
Above is a pair of my real Ray Ban Clubmasters, you can see the etching is smooth, scratching the etching very softly, I hardly feel anything, nothing is coming off the lens. The etching should be completely uniform in depth, no bits that haven't been completely gone through.
If your pair you have on hand fit within all these guidelines, you have a fake and I am genuinely sorry. If you purchased them off of eBay within the past 30 days, you ARE eligible for eBay Buyer Protection and my suggestion is to open a case as soon as you can so you can settle this and get your hard earned money back to go towards a real pair that you deserve!
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If you are currently on eBay looking at the thousands of options, this section is for you.
This section will include lots of picture that I have taken off of eBay to show you what exactly to avoid.
Here are a few things that you MUST keep in mind in order to lessen the chances of you buying fakes:
- Do not buy from a seller that has less than 200 positive feedback. I made that mistake myself and even though I thought it was a little shady, went for it anyway. My belief is that they probably have gotten caught on prior eBay accounts for selling fakes and so they deactivated their account and just made a new one (the seller I bought from swiftly deactivated their account after I sent them a message about the authenticity of their item) - The more positive feedback, the better! Seriously, when someone has more than 1000 positive feedback, you are in much safer territory.
Seller information
100% Positive feedback
Seller information
******* (0 ) DEFINITELY AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Do not buy their product if any part of their sunglasses are wrapped with plastic. Whether it be a ziplock bag or plastic around the arms of the sunglasses, these are a sign that these are mass made. (Images taken from eBay)
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- Look at the sticker on the left lens. If it's not a bright shiny gold, it isn't real. This doesn't include the polarized lenses, but with a lot of the pictures you will find, you will see pictures with the G-15 Lenses sticker, these will be very gold. (Images taken from eBay)
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| The two above are real. |
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| Fake! |
- Be very hesitant about sellers who do not use images of their own. Even when one claims 100% authenticity, doesn't mean it's true. The seller I had purchased my fakes from had claimed 100% authenticity or my money back and welp, that obviously wasn't the case. When using images that are not their own, you never know what to truly expect to get. Also, if someone says "what you see is what you get" that may be a sign of a loophole that takes away any obligation they have towards an authentic vs. non authentic item.
- If the price is too good to be true, well it might just be. These sunglasses sell for a base fee of $155, if they are taking offers for $50 or less, it should be pretty obvious, no? The pair that I purchased were $65 and though that can sometimes be a good price for an authentic pair if you're lucky, it still can be pretty shady.
- Going along with the truthfulness of listings, even if there is a back story behind it such as "I bought these for $200 in store and wore them once or twice" doesn't mean that it's true! Unfortunately with reality, people can really suck and that's the fact of the matter.
- The sunglass case that it comes with can show a lot more than you think. If you bothered reading the section for people who already bought and received their sunglasses, look VERY closely at the images that people post on their listings. If you can zoom in and see that a case is too shiny, or if the Ray Ban logo button is turned crooked, that's a huge sign that they're fake.
If you still aren't sure, here's a lovely video I found when I Googled "good quality fake ray bans"
I can't guarantee that because you read all of this that you still won't receive fakes when you excitedly open that package mixed up with the rest of your mail but these are what I have noticed and collected from closely scouring the world of eBay. I hope this was all very informative and I wish all you sunglass lovers the best of luck!
Leave feedback and tell me what you think and if this helped you out! xoxo Alma
