THE ULTIMATE FAKE OAKLEY GUIDE!!! : eBay Guides

I have purchased many pairs of Oakley's in my lifetime, both from retail stores and Ebay.  So I consider myself to have some experience with Oakley's.  A lot of this information is specific to Oakley Half Jackets (but the majority can be applied to any Oakley's).  Here is how you can tell if you are getting the real deal, or fakes:

1.   First, look at the box.  There are many differences between an authentic Oakley box and a fake one.  Real Oakley boxes are a true white color.  Fake Oakley boxes have a yellowish color to them (almost like they had been in a room with cigarette smoke).  Second, a real Oakley box does not have the barcode stamped right onto the box.  It should be at one end on a sticker over top of the latch that keeps he box closed.  The fake box will have a barcode at the same end over the latch, but it will be stamped directly on the box.  Lastly, the real box had a paper divider inside the box to keep the glasses separate from the paper work.

2.   Now, for the people that say that only real Oakley's have the warranty papers that go with the glasses, you are wrong.  I have received a pair of Oakley's before with just the cleaning bag, and they were real.  I have also received a pair of what I thought to be real Oakley's here on Ebay, but they were not.  When I received them, they had the warranty paperwork along with other paperwork and the box.  I thought that I had the real deal.  I was wrong.  They were fake.  But they did have the paperwork with them.  The only difference I could see was with the Mailing List card.  On the back of the real authentic card, it asks, "What did you purchase?" and "What did it cost?"  On the fake Mailing List card, it did not ask these questions.  As well, the real Oakley's came with an instruction card telling how to change the lenses out of the glasses, while the fakes did not (may be only with glasses that have interchangeable lenses). 

3.   The cleaning bag/cloth.  The fake bag basically felt and looked the same as a real authentic Oakley plutonite bag.  However, there was one major difference that I noticed when I went to open it.  At the end of the bag, there are draw strings.  On a real authentic bag, the strings can be tightened to the point where the glasses will not fall out and the bag will stay closed.  With the fake bag, the strings would tighten, but loosen easily without pulling on them.  Overall, the end of the bag that opens felt flimsy and very loose.

4.   The majority of real Oakley's now come with a set of replacement nose pieces.  The fake ones that I received, did not have the extra set of nose pieces.

5.   Now for the glasses themselves.  First thing I noticed was the lenses.  They were supposed to be Fire Iridium (orange).  I have a pair of Fire Iridium lenses already and they are truly orange.  The fakes had an orange tint to them, but also a pinkish color as well.  There were also very small blotches and chips in the lenses.  The real authentic Oakley's do not have blotches in the lenses and do not chip easily.  Next, I noticed that the "O" one each side of the glasses was completely grey and looked tacky.  No color at all.  Authentic Oakley's usually have some sort of color or change in the tone of grey.  The arms at the front of the glasses were also missing the rubber pieces.  The back of the arms had the rubber pieces, but they had a plastic and stiff feel to them and did not fit the glasses properly.  The Oakley name on the front of the glasses was also obvious.  On the fakes, the name wasn't as spread out across the bridge of the nose.  It almost seemed as if it was squished together and stamped on.

Unless the Oakley's you are buying are used, the majority of the time don't expect to pay a lot less for them.  From my experience of buying on Ebay, anytime a pair of Oakley's are offered for anymore than about $30-$40 off the MSRP, they might be fake (unless used).  There is the odd time where you might get a real steal for a pair of authetic Oakley's, but it is a risk you will have to be willing to take.  If you're not sure about the authenticity or don't have a good feeling, it's simple, just don't buy them.  Keep looking.

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