The likelihood of fakes on ebay?

andsuchisdeath · Apr 30, 2013

So what is the likelihood winding up with a conversion if I try to buy a Ninja Master's homecart from a reputable Japanese ebay store?

I know gaijins have injected fake carts into the Japanese circles throughout the years. Am I wrong in assuming that Japanese sellers like hit-japan have to much on the line to risk by selling fake carts?

I'd love to avoid ebay for buying my last few pricier carts, but options seem a lot slimmer these days.

Pope Sazae · Apr 30, 2013

city41 · Apr 30, 2013

In my experience most of the Japanese sellers will simply say "100% legit because I bought it at a store". They either really believe that or are just covering their asses.

Pope Sazae · Apr 30, 2013

They might make an accident and send you a legit one

Hit Man X · Apr 30, 2013

I would only buy a high dollar title from a known source.

...this is like anything. Jewelry, vintage vehicle, etc. The extra money is well worth the security.

andsuchisdeath · Apr 30, 2013

Hit Man X said:
I would only buy a high dollar title from a known source.

...this is like anything. Jewelry, vintage vehicle, etc. The extra money is well worth the security.

I'll gladly pay that extra money. Too bad I'm not going to find a known source anytime soon.

Hit Man X · Apr 30, 2013

andsuchisdeath said:
I'll gladly pay that extra money. Too bad I'm not going to find a known source anytime soon.

There's always that sun scorched copy on the Neo store..

Only thing I can think of is someone on this forum. :/ I do not know enough about determining an authentic cartridge to drop $500+

Lucky for me, most of the lame games I like have no chance of being fakes.

groundzero · Apr 30, 2013

mvs

How about the MVS non orig on eBay. Wondering whats the percentage.

andsuchisdeath · Apr 30, 2013

Making this thread was a horrible idea. I must be on crack.

ChuChu Flamingo · Apr 30, 2013

No one is safe.

Joneo · Apr 30, 2013

groundzero said:
How about the MVS non orig on eBay. Wondering whats the percentage.

Considerably less, and generally more obviously noticed.
If it contains more than one game, it's a boot.
If it's labeled "plus" (and not a Strikers 1945 cart), it's a boot.
If it's slathered in windowed chips, wires or tape it's likely a boot.
If the boards are yellow or odd-shaped, it's a boot.
If the title isn't found on the master list, it's a boot.
If it has a holograph label and shouldn't (ie. Metal Slug 4), it's probably a boot.
And if the seller says little more than "100% working", there's a good chance...

SNKorSWM · Apr 30, 2013

Strikers 1945 Plus is the only original cart with "Plus" in its title.

Joneo · Apr 30, 2013

SNKorSWM said:
Strikers 1945 Plus is the only original cart with "Plus" in its title.

Ah yes, let me fix that.

groundzero · May 1, 2013

Thanks, great info for the new guy!!!
Looks like i should only buy here.

StevenK · May 1, 2013

I wouldn't count ebay out right away - there is plenty of genuine stuff on ebay, but the difference is if you want to buy it you have to go and view it first, I would never buy even a mid range cart on ebay without picking it up in person.

Obviously that might be more of a problem in the US than in the UK as it's a lot bigger country, but i'm sure if you saw a game you wanted you could find an experienced member on here who'd be willing to go in your place if you covered his travel costs. I'd be happy to look for you in the south in the UK if you come aross something you're interested in, though I'd struggle with ninja masters as I don't have one to compare with and have never owned it I'm afraid.

wyndcrosser · May 1, 2013

eBay does have buyer protection, so you can always use that, same goes for Paypal. The problem being is that the seller, can move the money out of his account which when Paypal tries to pull from it, it fails. This has happened to me before when a seller refused to respond to my refund inquiry after emailing him for almost a month. When this fails, ebay/paypal tells you that now it's your job to contact the seller. The seller luckily had his telephone number on the site (and it was accurate), so I physically had to threaten the dude to give me my money back, I was nice the first few voicemails. It was about $850 dollars.

ViolentStorm · May 1, 2013

I have bought from hit-japan before and never had a problem with AES games but like anything with home cart's these day's you don't know if they are a conversion or not and are not worth the risk, especially with the more expensive cart's.

GameLifter · May 9, 2013

So far I've had good luck when asking the sellers questions about their MVS carts. They have been honest about if the cart is real or not or if they have dirty contacts, etc. Then again, it might be harder to tell if an AES cart is fake since they seem harder to open.

SNKorSWM · May 9, 2013

For MVS you can always ask for a pic of the pcbs. That's just not possible with homecarts. High dollar stuff? I wouldn't buy from anyone other than the original manufacturer.

snk_is_now · May 10, 2013

95% of expensive cartridges on ebay are fake?? things are actually THAT hard?

So... to buy an AES game, be it from an ebay seller or a jap store.... pics of the inner cartridge are mandatory I suppose..

xsq · May 10, 2013

GameLifter said:
or not or if they have dirty contacts, etc.

I've seen a couple of descriptions which comment on the "cleanliness" of contacts - wtf? Why schould I care? PCBs are easily cleaned, if not by cotton buds you can use a toothbrush...

dspoonrt · May 10, 2013

xsq said:
I've seen a couple of descriptions which comment on the "cleanliness" of contacts - wtf? Why schould I care? PCBs are easily cleaned, if not by cotton buds you can use a toothbrush...

Like many folks have said before me, a big ol' pencil eraser will shine up those contacts real nice and purdy.

GameLifter · May 10, 2013

snk_is_now said:
95% of expensive cartridges on ebay are fake?? things are actually THAT hard?

So... to buy an AES game, be it from an ebay seller or a jap store.... pics of the inner cartridge are mandatory I suppose..

I'm new to Neo collecting and I hope it's not that bad. To be safe I may never go for any of the expensive carts because at the end of the day, I'm mainly getting the games to play them.

Annatar · May 13, 2013

Guys, i just bought one JAP AES metal slug 3 for a very decent price on ebay , 320 USD. It looks very real to me . Manual , insert and sticker look and feel original when compared to my other aes carts. Is there a way to check if it is a conversion or no? After a close inspection , i am not able to decide

GameLifter · May 13, 2013

Annatar said:
Guys, i just bought one JAP AES metal slug 3 for a very decent price on ebay , 320 USD. It looks very real to me . Manual , insert and sticker ook and feel original when compared to my other aes carts. Is there a way to check if it is a conversion or no? After a close inspection , i am not able to decide

That is a good deal! Hope it's real! I think the easiest way to tell is to look at the quality of the cart label and case insert.

The likelihood of fakes on ebay?

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