You should know that there are lots of fakes on eBay; therefore if the price of an item is too good to be true (like 1/3 of the normal price or less) then chances are it is a fake. Also check the photos of the item and see if you can spot any inconsistencies on the labels or in the package, some fakes are very easy to spot while others are not so obvious. Items sold as OEM or OEM compatible are usually Chinese duplicates, so try to avoid them if you are looking for a quality product. But most of the time even those Chinese duplicates are quite alright. Sometimes items are advertised as Genuine or 100% original, even though we cant always take their word for it, if the seller has a very high reputation then I guess we can trust that person.
Always buy from a reputed seller with a high feedback percentage (preferably 98% or more) and a high feedback score (preferably with 1000 or more). Look at customer feedback of the seller (better if you can see previous feedback comments left for a similar or same item).
Best way to buy from eBay is with PayPal. One reason : because most sellers only accept PayPal, and next reason : because PayPal provide some protection against fraudulent sales (you can get your money back if you don’t receive the item or receive a fake etc..). In addition, your credit card information is also safe (since the seller is not given that info). But to make a PayPal account you need a credit or debit card. AFAIK you cant connect a bank account in Sri Lanka.
Few eBay sellers accept direct money transfers through services like Western Union, but you’ll have to pay a considerable percentage as a commission, and there is no way to recover the money if something goes wrong.
