Britney Spears and other celebrities items on eBay? Authentic and previously owned? Think again!  Here are some tips to help you avoid getting robbed of your money!

1. Try to bid on auctions that are mentioned on Britney’s official website.  If Britney has an auction, it will always have some type of media coverage. If it has no media coverage, and it is being sold by an ebay member, DO SOME RESEARCH!!!

2.  Do Not trust the seller just because they have a name that sounds professional.  Such as celebritywarehouse, britneyspearsstore,  britneycollector, etc.  Know that anyone can register any name on ebay, provided it is not already taken by somebody else.

3.  Just because a seller tells you it is authentic does not mean it is.  These sellers lie.

4.  Just because the seller has obtained a photo of Britney or any other celeb wearing the item, does not mean it is the actual item.  These sellers have searched fan sites and copied pictures from them, they did not take the photo themselves.

5.  Do a detailed examination of the photo for any evidence to prove it is the exact item.  In fact, search the fan sites yourself and find other pictures that show more detail of the item.

6.  Just because the seller tells you that the item comes with a COA (certificate of authenticity) does not give you any more evidence that the item is authentic.  Remember these sellers are professionals, and they print up these COA’s that they make themselves.  And they sign them.  They may even tell you that the COA is issued by a company.  That would be their company.  Ask to see a photo of it always, and then do your research.

7.  Ask the seller exactly how they got the item.  Don’t accept  “a private collector”  or an “online auction”  You need specifics.  Exact dates.  If the seller is legitimate, they will have all of that information for you and will not hesitate to give that to you when you ask.  In fact  ALWAYS question the authenticity of the item if that information is not published in the auction.

8.  Do not bid just because the seller is stating part of the proceeds are going to charity.  I have encountered a seller who listed a charity that did not exist.   And they did this just to influence people to bid.  Put your hard earned money into your own choice of charity.  If it is a charity for hurricane relief, that will be advertised somewhere.

9.  Be extremely suspicious of sellers who continuously list celebrity owned/worn merchandise.  Especially if it is always owned by the same few celebs……such as Britney, Jessica, Paris, Lindsay, Hilary, or Ashlee.  And then think, how is it that this random person is able to obtain all of these items all the time?  If Jessica wants to sell her Daisy Dukes,  she will donate them to www.ubid.com and she did, and it was advertised.

10.  Authentic collectors rarely sell their items, as that is why they collect them.

11.  With the exception of Britney’s auction that Bargainland-liquidation hosted, the majority of items sold on ebay as owned/worn by Britney, were in fact not.  They just look like they were.

12.  I have yet to see Britney auction off her underwear.  I have witnessed many ebayers do so claiming it was Britney’s. Any celeb!  Do you think that they need the money that badly, that they need some creep owning their thongs?  Use your common sense!

13. Never bid on an auction that the seller set as private.  Think about that one for a moment.  They do this, so that your identity as a bidder is hidden.  That prevents others who know that the auction is fake from telling you.  It also lets the seller bid on the auction against you with a second id name that these sellers always have, to raise the price, and how would you ever know? 

14.  Be extra weary of bidding on items sold by sellers in other countries.  If Britney has an auction, it will be in the United States.  So, that noted, how do some sellers in the UK have a never ending supply of Britney items?

15.  Keep a note of who bought what at the authentic auctions that Britney has. And do bidder searches on sellers you don’t trust to see what they bid on.  I noticed, that the “major sellers of Britney items” sure didn’t bid on many authentic items….but yet they always seem to have them??? These criminals have mastered the system.  They have at least 2 ebay id’s.  They bid on the items that other sellers sell on ebay as replicas.  They then rephotograph these items, and relist them on their second or third ebay name.  And even if they are uncovered, they will start up again under a new user ID and how would anyone connect them all together?   Unless you too are a professional.

Source: BritneySpearsAuction