Oakley and eBay

I have found through my two years at the O-Review and also through people that I have met and talked with about Oakley, that a good deal of Oakley enthusiasts use eBay as a way to buy their Oakley gear.

I personally find most of my gear through eBay. I have come across some great deals but at the same time I've seen a lot of people get ripped-off. For this post, I have decided to create a mini tutorial on buying Oakley gear off of eBay.

Rule 1: Never believe that an item is "rare" based upon the description.
Everyone and their brother state that the Oakley item they are selling is rare. I've seen someone call a stock white Gascan rare. If the item is rare, then why are there 50 like it up on eBay right now? The word is overused and has almost lost all meaning when it comes to Oakley items. You'll know an item is rare when you see that the price the item is selling for is a good deal above retail value.

Rule 2: If the sunglasses have a sticker on them, THEY ARE FAKE!
Oakley has never and will never put a sticker on the lenses of their sunglasses. It goes against everything they are. Oakley prides themselves on having the best optical clarity of any sunglasses-maker, so why would they distort that by popping a sticker up in the middle of the lens? Rule 3: If you are not sure of the authenticity of the item, do your homework.
The O-Review catalog is available for anyone to use. The watches and sunglasses sections are nearly if not totally complete. Colorways and pictures are even available for almost every frame. If the item someone is trying to sell you is not in the catalog, then they are most likely fake. Also, if you are a member of the O-Review, then you can post the item's picture in the "Fakes on eBay" thread and allow members to tell you if they are fake or real. Your default action if you are not 100% sure if the item is real or not should be to assume it's fake and move on.

Rule 4: Be wary of auctions that do not hide your I.D. if the item is selling for a large sum of money.
People are always trying to scam you, so be careful. If your I.D. is visible on an auction that is selling for over $200, you will most likely receive a "second offer" e-mail from various scammers. They all tend to run along the same lines of "Oh, the winner of the auction didn't pay so I am offering it up to you for the highest price you bid up to." DON'T DO IT! Unless you recieved the same exact message and offer from the same user I.D. as the owner of the item IN YOUR EBAY ACCOUNT INBOX on eBay.com, then it is a scam and you need to ignore them.

Rule 5: If you spot a fake, report it immediately so that others don't get ripped off and to maintain the integrity of the Oakley brand.
This can easily be done through the Oakley website link designated to report fakes immediately. This is a link to that section.


Thanks and hopefully this helps with any questions you may have regarding eBay and Oakley.