North Face Jackets on Ebay- Spot The Fakes!
The eBay market place is home to many different items, real and fake. North Face jackets are extremely popular items on eBay because they can be sold at high prices because they are high quality jackets. However, there are a large number of North Face jackets which are being sold on eBay which are fakes. It is widely reported that you will find at least 300 fake North Face jackets at any one given time on eBay.
Like with many fake items on eBay, it is very difficult to tell the difference between the real and the fake items until you get them in your hands. However, one thing you can check is the location of the seller. I do not intend to be prejudice in any way, but you have to be very wary of the sellers of the North Face jackets if they are located in Asia. It is widely reported that you can only very rarely find a real North Face jacket from an eBay seller located in Asia, the majority are fake.
Even when you have received your North Face jacket, it is still difficult to indentify if the jacket is real or fake. In many cases, the fake North face jackets will have the authentic tags and the exact same quality patterns as on the real jackets. They are the exact same looking jackets but with a major difference, the material! The fake North Face jackets will not be made from the Gore-Tex material. It will be manufactured from a cheap substitute material.
You will soon realise this when you go out in the rain or snow later on and you find that you are soaked through within minutes and you are sweating like mad! If the material is real Gore-Tex then this shouldn’t happen. You should be kept dry! It may be easier to identify bad materials if you are already an owner of a known to be real North Face or other similar quality jacket. You could pour an amount of water on an area on both jackets and observe how wet the underside of the jacket feels and also time how long the wet patch takes to dry. If there is a major difference in the time taken by the two jackets then you will have probably identified that the jacket is fake!
The best advice that you can give to anybody when buying a North face jacket is to be suspicious right from the beginning. I know that doesn’t seem appropriate but it must be done. If you take some time to research about the jackets and use your own common sense if you see a really cheaply priced jacket, you will soon be able to identify if the North Face jacket is fake. It is not easy, but you will soon be able to differentiate between the real and the fake.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I find it offensive that you warn buyers about Asian sellers. Though it cannot be denied that there are counterfeit items being sold in Asia, can’t we say the same for any other nation? Aren’t there counterfeit Rolex watches on the streets of New York? What about Prada wallets on New York side streets? I find it more dubious to buy in the streets of NY than in Vietnam or the Philippines.
Let me tell you how it works. Major brands such as Nike, The North Face, Columbia, The Gap, Billabong, Tahari, and other expensive brands are manufactured in factories located in Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. These luxury brands subcontract Asian factories because of the cheap labor. Because of strict quality controls, there are products that do not pass the standard. Some can be because of a slight imperfection in the stitching, a nick on the fabric, missing buttons, or missing zipper pulls. These factories are allowed to sell these imperfect products outside but on grounds that the labels are cut or blacked out with pen markers. The important thing is to make sure the tag is unidentifiable. Other than the imperfections, the products are made from exactly the same materials you buy in department stores for hundreds of US dollars. Why is that? The raw materials are supplied specifically by the brand owners — fabric, buttons, zipper & zipper pulls, and tags.
Of course, some factory owners breach the contract by not destroying the tags. But I find that most do comply. These are the products that I buy. Even without the tags at the back, I can tell pants are original Gap jeans because you can clearly see the brand etched on the zipper pulls which cannot be erased. Billabong clothing have the brand etched on the buttons. I can go on. . . I bought an original The North Face backpack from Vietnam for $7 but it had a loose stitch on the inside pocket. My friend got another one for $5 because the zipper pulls on the front pockets were missing. I’ve used the pack for climbing and filled it to capacity — it held everything as steadily as the originals. I’ve had heavy rain pour on it for hours but still found everything inside dry when I found shelter.
There are knock-offs in every part of the world. Don’t single Asian sellers out. I’ve been cheated by an American seller in Ebay for a measly $50 despite being careful. Yet the same care I take has not given me the same result in Asian Ebay sites. Every ebay site in the world is crawling with scammers and thieves. Don’t you dare pick on Asians as if we are the scums of the earth. Ask the ponzi victims in Wall Street — they know what I am talking about.
October 9th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Just purchased a North Face Denali on ebay.. got it today and it is a FAKE! I am livid!
Sending it back!
Should have checked into it before
December 16th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I just received a counterfeit North Face Jacket that the seller had guaranteed was authentic. When it arrived, I was very suspicious, mostly b/c it just didn’t seem to have any filling with that nice soft down. My advise is when your EBAY North Face Jacket arrives, find a store that is an Authorized North Face Dealer. Show them the jacket and they will tell you immediately if it is a true Northface.
If you buy a Counterfeit Jacket on EBAY, you can file a claim and you will be given a refund. They don’t even require that you prove it’s fake. If you have any questions about how, please e-mail me and I’ll help you do it.
Sadly, I say be very, very cautious about buying North Face jackets on EBAY, especially the Denali and Atlantic Jackets. The vast majority listed are fake. I love EBAY and have bought and sold authentic merchandise for years and been very happy. However, it appears that North Face is an area that has a huge amount of fakes.
Lastly, if at all possible when you pay through Paypal use your Credit Card to make the payment. This gives you even more added protection.
Also, do goggle, “North Face Jackets China” and see what comes up. You will see the fakes come up and most likely the jacket you were thinking of bidding on. Sorry, to single out China, but this is where they originate from and a long list of fakes will appear that cost around $50.
Hope this helps. I hate to see Fake Sellers on EBAY b/c most are really great honest people selling exactly what they advertise and work hard to get you a very nice item at a good price.
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 am
I just purchased a North Face off Ebay and got it today. Immediately I knew something was wrong because the box it came in was just a little too small. My kids have been wearing North Face jackets for several years and I just sent an orginal out to my son in law for Christmas. Knowing that his original just filled the Christmas box I sent it in which was considerably larger than the box I received, I knew something was wrong. Upon opening it, the tags were all intact and it was very convincing however, the fleece was so lightweight that it was more of a summer/fall jacket. The inside tag said it was made in Bangaladesh. The zipper was also on the left side of the jacket which was quite unusual. I haven’t run into this before since this is my first time ordering a North Face. I then went out to one of our sporting good shops here in town and purchased an original North Face this evening. I compared it to the one from Ebay, and lets just say, there is a definite difference between the sewing and the material. For anyone buying on Ebay or elsewhere for that matter, take caution!!
December 30th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
its really hard to distinguish the fake and the real one,
can somebody post a list of criteria or checklist that would serve as guidelines in checking fake & original?..
let say the zipper, what is the engraved brand mark, the stitch of the TNF emblem, how it is being stitched?…
etc…
January 19th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Chinese are notorious for dumping cheap fakes on the international market…if you aren’t contributing the welfare of the world…then drink some tainted milk and die…..
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:28 am
pindu: I find your entire comment highly offensive. FYI, I just bought a North Face from New York and it is just as fake (if not more) as the ones they sell on the streets of China. And I certainly don’t think you have a right to decide whether or not someone should die. Your last sentence just simply disgusted me.