How To Avoid Buying Counterfeit Electronics? (i.e phone chargers and cables)

sare^baw's

sare^baw's

sare^baw's

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I was on the look out for a couple of genuine charger/data cables for my smartphone. Also a Belkin wall plug charger and a Belkin car charger with coiled cable.
I stayed away from ebay as you dont know whats genuine on there when buying these goods. I thought i would try Amazon. I managed to find samsung genuine data cables at £4 each, supplied by Amazon so they should be genuine. Amazon did not supply the belkin car charger, i bought one from a 3rd party seller for £6 plus £2 postage. Some places sell this item for £20. So now im thinking the one i have ordered will be fake as it seems a bit too cheap.

So where can i go to buy genuine goods like small electrical items and not buy counterfeit goods? Even online phone shops could be selling cheap counterfeit stuff too. At the same time i dont want to pay big bucks just to ensure my item is genuine.
 
A long established on line e-tailer, such as our hosts, would be a good bet. The manufacturer themselves would be a safe one as well. Just about any well known high street retailer would be. Other than those, anything else would be pot luck i think..........................that old nugget if it looks to good to be true always stands the test of time.
 
I doubt stock supplied by Amazon themselves would be fake/counterfeit, but as said, best bet is to go with a retailer that is listed as an authorised seller for that particular brand.
 
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Generally buying from a well established name is safer, that's not to say they themselves can't be fooled (if they buy from a wholesaler who has dodgy stock etc) as some of the fakes are very well organised and of a high quality appearance, however they will not knowingly supply them (unlike a lot of places), and have buyers who may be buying direct from the manufacture or their agents (IE OCUK probably deal direct with a lot of manufacturers for stock and deals).

A big name/established retailer will also likely be far better at dealing with issues if it turns out they've been fooled or there is a problem
 
As above but big names do get conned too. Stuff like Batteries, USB drives, SD memory cards all very easy to fake and shift for a premium price.
 
thanks for all the replies guys. I managed to cancel the car charger order with the 3rd party seller on amazon.

I have to admit, most things i buy online these days, tend not to be pc related anyway, i usually go on ebay and select 'ukonly' then sort by 'lowest price inc p+p'. Look sensibly at the cheapest ones for sale.

I was buying belkin as its a name i associate with decent quality items i have bought over the years and perhaps as its not Samsung, Sony, HTC etc its less likely to get copied. Anyway if you look at the Belkin website and its list of online sellers, there is only 11, at a glance they are the types of places that charge ful bucks for everything they sell. Currys etc. They list 7 instore stores.

http://www.belkin.com/uk/wheretobuy/online/

http://www.belkin.com/uk/wheretobuy/retailers/
 
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Avoid listings like these:

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yeah i avoid china :)

it needs to be a genuine brand not the same brand as my phone. The cable has started to tear near the connector, its very old so time for a new one.

My old chargers are 1amp, i read that by getting at least a 2amp charger i will half my charging time.
 
sare^baw's said:
yeah i avoid china :)

it needs to be a genuine brand not the same brand as my phone. The cable has started to tear near the connector, its very old so time for a new one.

My old chargers are 1amp, i read that by getting at least a 2amp charger i will half my charging time.
Click to expand...
Only if your phone accepts that amperage and the lead you are using are rated for that - people seem to get a good charger and then dont realise they need a decent lead...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
Belkin frequently clear out stock for stupidly low prices to resellers.

But as others said... anker or other random chinese brand sold on Amazon would be better anyway.
 
you would think amazon direct be safe yet when I looked for a new samsung battery, I checked the reviews and it was full of claims they fake chinese batteries and this was a product sold by amazon not a marketplace seller.

Sadly phone accessories are plagued with fake amd dodgy products, its something that really needs stamping down on.

e.g. I brought a dock for my s5 when I got the phone, advertised as usb3 dock charger. When I got it, the connector for the phone in the dock was indeed usb3, but the rest of the connectivity/chipset was usb2 only, so they stuck a usb3 connector on just for appearance sake, anyone not technically competent would have assumed it was usb3 in operation.
 
Monkeynut said:
Poundland has reversible micro USB cables and they are much better than the eBay equivalents.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by 'reversible'? Don't stock type C or anything other than type A to Micro B.

I work in Poundland and the rate people go through the USB cables I wouldn't vouch for their quality.
 
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