Today I had an interesting e-mail exchange with 2005jonnys2005, an eBay seller in the UK, auctioning Gillette Mach3 Turbo cartridges. I was informed by an eBay user who discovered this seller had the following statement in his auction (Item number: 180180974641) :

NOTE: – I work with www.fakeblades.com. to bring down and expose counterfeit items and their sellers on eBay. If you have spotted someone selling fakes on ebay please let me know. THEY ARE RIPPING YOU OFF!!! Lets help restore order and bring only genuine merchandise to ebay and remove all fake and copied goods.

After reading this, I initiated the following e-mail exchange with 2005jonnys2005:

Dear 2005jonnys2005,

“NOTE: – I work with www.fakeblades.com. to bring down and expose counterfeit items and their sellers on eBay.” This is a false statement as I am the creator of fakeblades.com. Please remove from your auction listings or I will report it to eBay.

- fakeblades.com

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Dear fakeblades.com,

Excuse me? How dare you? and who are you?
I actually have wrote some stuff on the guestbook of fakeblades.com giving people tips on how to spot the fakes.

I am a genuine supplier that is how I know how to spot the fakes. Go on fakeblades.com and see my article in the guest book on spotting the fake.
In fact, I am going to report you right now to ebay, for excusing me.

As I said, How dare you!!!!!

- 2005jonnys2005

Minutes before the above message was sent to me, 2005jonnys2005 attempted to post two messages from same IP address in the guestbook with one of them posing as a buyer of counterfeit Gillette Fusion Power cartridges and as follows:

Jez

Hi all,
I recently purchased some Fusion Power blades from a UK based seller and was disappointed to say the least – they hurt. Alot.

I then searched and found this site, especially http://www.fakeblades.com/?p=23. Wow. I didn’t know about the serial numbers, nor did I think to ask the seller about where the blades came from, if they were rejects, seconds, etc.

The blades I bought had NO serial numbers, and I should have guessed when I used the first one and yelped in pain… It hurt, I mean HURT and I felt like I was back in school shaving for the first time with one of the nasty old Bic razors circa 1980 something… I couldnt think why this is, these are Gillette after all… This was using a quality King Of Shaves shaving gel (and the new serum which is awesome by the way!) and this is definitely not the culprit!

But, as usual, the old adage “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is…” comes into it. Yes yes I’ve seen watchdog, buyer beware and so on, and still I fell for the old “too good to be true but get it anyway, its cheeeep!”. I thought , I don’t like spending £10 on 4 blades when I could get double that here and cheaper so why should I go to Asda, Boots, Tescos etc? Well, I like keeping the skin on my face in one piece, that’s why.

If you do purchase from an ebay seller, ask them where the blades came from, if they have opened a sample and what the serial numbers are. If they refuse or don’t answer, don’t buy. Period, keep walking.

Gillete Fusion/Fusion Power blades aren’t the cheapest to buy in the shops, but hell, it’s worth the extra quids to literally save face!

I guess that was his way of working with fakeblades.com by using deception and posting his “article” after my notification. The remainder of our e-mail exchange follows:

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Dear fakeblades.com,

I have a question for you. If you are the creator of fakeblades.com why would you restrict me to putting this on my advert, it promotes your site in a positive way telling people it works to bring down counterfit blades on ebay which I completely agree with. I sell Hundreds of blades a Week (genuine ones). I even wrote a nice article in the guestbook on your site. why would you want this removed. I haven’t contacted ebay, but I would like a response please to discuss the matter. We are working towards the same thing, bring down those counterfeit on ebay.

- 2005jonnys2005

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Dear 2005jonnys2005,

Again, the sentence in your auction 180180974641, “I work with www.fakeblades.com. to bring down and expose counterfeit items and their sellers on eBay.”, is false and misleading. Please remove this from your current auction and you are prohibited from using your association with fakeblades.com in future auctions as well. You have never worked with fakeblades.com and only attempted to post comments at fakeblades.com after I informed you of this false reference.

- fakeblades.com

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Dear fakeblades.com,

Ok actually now I think about it you are right, it is misleads for me to say “I work with www.fakeblades.com” Unfortunately I cannot remove any item descriptions once up (ebay will not allow it) because some items already sold. there is only 2days 16hours left on that auction.

From now on I assure you I will not give reference then in any future auctions.

Can I ask though, I really do respect what you have done with creating fakeblades.com. Would you be happy for me to recommend customers to view your website for tips on how to spot fakes? or for me to say “please see fakeblades.com to find out more on how to spot the fakes and lets work together to remove counterfeit items on ebay” This is only good for your websites promotion no?

If you do want to reference then that is fair enough. Sorry I cannot change the one listing left for 2 days, ebay does now allow removing of any words after any item is purchased.

- 2005jonnys2005

As indicated in my e-mail message to 2005jonnys2005, his reference to fakeblades.com is false and misleading. I want to make it clear that I do not work with or recommend anyone selling Gillette razor blade cartridges on eBay. I will not and cannot authenticate their supply for authenticity and will never recommend buying Gillette cartridges on eBay.

Yes, I do wish to help remove counterfeit items their sellers from eBay but please do not lie about your association with fakeblades.com to help enhance your auction. To answer your question in the last message to me, you and other sellers are welcome to only reference fakeblades.com in your auctions for more information regarding counterfeits however, I am sure it will not be likely after this posting.