Does anyone have any experience with one? I believe these counterfeit are exclusive to the eBay market. How do you verify at the time of purchase?

What kind are you talking about? Can you scan it so we can see it? What brand and type? I just bought 7 off ebay in 3 different types and 4 different brands!
Jenni

Deeptrance: Can you post the ebay link so we can see the auction where you bought it?

IMO, ebay is about trust. While you usually can't see the item before bidding, about all you have is the seller's feedback. It isn't much to go on but ebay is a tradeoff between hunting for bargains and trust in the seller.

please provide more info as nobody can so much as even begin to speculate as of right now. Also, elaborat eon fake.... do you mean sticks that don't work or that are imitation ripoffs.

By fake, I mean imitations and counterfeit media. I don't have a particular eBay seller in mind. Most of them put up the generic photos which don't reveal much. Apart from size, they supposedly have bad signal quality and do not function with all readers.
Alternatively, does anyone have a 'fake' media in posession?

I am referring to Sony Memory Stick Duo and its imitations.

No I have not seen any fakes and the few makers that I know off have contracts with have full rights to make and sell them. Have not seen any other kinds out of line on Ebay yet. I have 2 camera's that use that type and 3 different makers including actual sony brand and they are all the same and function normal! As for the readers they ahve there issues and I would think it is the issue of the reader and not the memory stick! What Ebay seller are you refering too? Can not see what the issue would be to say it here?
Jenni

Again, if you can provide a link to the ebay site (either current auctions or completed auctions), that would be very helpfull.

I don't think I made myself clear. I don't have a particular ebay site in mind. Take for example - the following site http://cgi.ebay.com/2GB-SONY-PRO-DUO...QQcmdZViewItem

The ebay advisory notes say that packaging is different and that the media looks different etc. How do you know that from looking at the photo posted with the media? It is a generic photo.

If someone in this forum has both a fake media and a genuine one, can you point out the differences to me?

That listing is for actual Sony memory and as far and I have seen there is no fake Sony Memory sticks all makers have a license with sony to make it! And there are only a handful that do it!
Good God Man Relax!
IF you are talking about SD and or CF memory stick formats then ok there are a few copy cat memory makers out there who put labels of the best on there second rate memory! Even micro drives in CF format have the same issue! But no one is doing sony memory stick fakes! And if they are there has never been any press on it and or anything from Sony about it! They are the biggest makers of such memory products in the world!
Jenni

The seller in the link you provided has a feedback rating of 99.6% and is an ebay power seller. The item you mention sold for $46.98.

As I said: You will never get the kind of guarantee you seem to want delaing with ebay and you will probably do well dealing exclusively with brick & mortar businesses.

I buy and sell on Ebay and have for many, many years! I do agree with jeff if you have such a issue then just don't! Buy at a retail store near you or a trusted online store like many here do such as newegg or even do product seach on price/store seach through pricewatch.com for other trusted online stores!

But Ebay selling and Buying is on a trust basis and do your research for sure!
There are many out there playing people but then there are twice as many honest on there too. Take your time and bid accordingly to there feedback score and time on Ebay and you should be ok. If you have a issue Ebay and Paypal have Fraud and Scam departments to report questionable items too.
I justs Tue. had a seller selling out of Hong Kong shut down for selling High end Cameras and not sending anything to there buyers! He made out with over 5 Grand in 2 weeks! Again stay true to American sellers as well! You have a better chance of getting a good deal and also problems and funds being returned if you also stick to that!
Luvs Jenni

I see what you guys mean. I agree. Again, that seller was just used as an example to illustrate my predicament. Nothing more. My research in the last couple of days tells me that the counterfeit memory stick issue is real. Please have this in mind when you buy your media next.
Thanks again.

There are many articles posted on Ebay about fake memory. The following will help you get started if you want to research them:

http://reviews.ebay.com/BEWARE-of-FA...:-1:LISTINGS:4

Mack

FAKE PRODUCTS IN PRICELESS COMPUTING, UK
________________________________________

Read on...

I purchased a USB Memory stick from Priceless (pless.co.uk) and later found out that it was fake!

Here is the details....

USB FLASH DISK SV-U88, USB 2.0 4GB <--- All printed on the USB stick

Well, I discovered this when I was in linux.


Procedure:

1. Ensure anything you have on the USB stick is backed up, as we are about to totally wipe the USB stick.

2. In the linux shell (with root priviledges) typed:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda

WARNING: Note sda was the assigned device for my USB, it may not be the same for yourself - so ensure that it is otherwise you may wipe a different drive.

3. type:

fdisk /dev/sda

then press wq and the enter button

4. After that, take it to a windows computer and simply reformat it.

5. Notice the capacity specification in windows. If it is genuine, then it should report as expected. In the case of the priceless fake media - it reported 2GB instead of the advertised 4GB on the receipt and stick.

--------------------------------------------------

What di I do 2 a flash drive (sony 2GB) that is corrupt or not readable, i just bought it.

try formatting it, right click it in my computer and select format.

theres maybe more steps, as i don't have mine to hand just now