I got a Kingston 32GB Class 6 card off Ebay. I've only used it on the XP setting of my HF S100 but that seems ok. However, if I look at Card Info. in the menu, it's showing as Class 2. I'll try it at the higher settings when I get home but I'm wondering if I've been sold a pup :(

Off eBay?? Virtually guaranteed to be a fake/knockoff, especially if it came from China or HK... if it came from a legit source it "might" be the real deal, but your odds are about 10% of getting a genuine product when buying such things on eBay from my experience... 0% if you buy from a seller in China or HK.

There's a reason they sell so cheap - they are remarks (smaller cap remarked/flashed as higher cap and sold as higher capacity, but won't hold what's advertised), substandard chips, blatant knockoffs, and who knows what else. Da Bay represents perhaps the biggest outlet for counterfeit merchandise in the world...

Not saying you CAN'T buy legit stuff like memory and batteries on eBay, just saying you'd better know what you're doing, who you're buying from (and there are lots of unsuspecting "resellers" who buy in bulk, then sell the same knockoff crap with a "local" account), and you still take a chance when buying this stuff.

I'd say if you have to ask you already probably know the answer...

It looks pretty genuine from the front but there are spelling mistakes on the packaging and the barcode is gibberish! The seller has agreed a full refund and I used PayPal, so I should see my money back.

SOME of the knockoffs are so good it's almost impossible to spot them!

After I and others posted our experience with fake Sony MS Duos, you know what? They altered their counterfeiting operation to better approximate the real thing... there was a blatant packaging error that made the fakes obvious - they changed the closure method so it better approximated the real ones - you could still see the original "fake" sealing marks underneath the "new improved" ones!

Anyone familiar with fakes/knockoffs/counterfeits knows that there are usually "tells" so you can separate the real from the fake (rediculously low prices from a seller in China/HK is a REAL big one...). Sometimes when you confront them you'll get your money back - they sell so much of this crap to unsuspecting suckers... er... buyers that it makes giving back the money an easy way to keep the scam going longer... They KNOW they are selling fake junk, but as long as there's a line of suckers, they really don't care. Used to be they'd fight it or try to make you return the item at insanely high international shipping rates, and some still do, sounds like you got lucky with this one!

Don't be shy about reporting this to eBay, not that it likely will do much good, as these guys usually have a stack of accounts where they build up fake feedback, and when one goes poof, they just pull the next one up... suckers line right up...

This was a UK based seller, it was shipped from Luton and the price was not excessively cheap. So I did hope I was getting the real thing, as stated. Ayway, I've been promised my money back, so fingers crossed.

As I mentioned, more than a few unsuspecting re-sellers go and buy a pile of these from the HK/China "suppliers", who are more than willing to provide quantities at cheap prices (it's knockoff crap anyway, so the more they sell the merrier, they don't care...). The unsuspecting reseller (hoping to make a few crumbs to put on the table) then marks it to a "fair" price, and sells it to a buyer like yourself, and so it goes. Run into it more than once.

THAT is why for such things you really have to buy from a known legit dealer, or know the provenance of the item you're buying - I've more than once bought a camera where the seller thought it was defective, because it reported an error because of a fake memory card... it's sad that this goes on, but it does.

The short version of the story is when buying accessories like this that are easily knocked off, be CAREFUL!!! They aren't likely to knock off a complete camera, simply because of the expense, but a standard format memory card or battery... high markup, cheap to knock off, and who cares if it blow up or loses data?

UMMM... the poor user that gets burned, but anyway, it's big business for these guys, so be aware!

I think you are right. The supplier bought the stuff in good faith. He has not only refunded me in full but added a bit more on for my trouble. He seems to be selling them on ebay still and getting excellent feedback. Maybe I was unlucky but as you so rightly advise, I'll stick to reputable brands/suppliers in future.

Ray, Dave,
In this same vein, I bought my Sony computer from a Sony store with all software "factory" installed, and one day, many months after I got it, I turned it on and got this at the bottom right of my screen. Go figure!!

Classic! I heard MS is offering rewards for shopping illegal users. Could you PM your address details to me please? :)

No problem-- As long as you agree to split the reward with me!!