eBay vendors of fashion items, kosher? Esp sunglasses

[DonkeyApple]

I work on the basic assumption that most things in life that involve getting a retail punter to pass over money are, one way or another, a scam.

I need to replace a pair of sunglasses that I treated myself to and have recently gone awol.

The mark-up on these types of goods are phenomenal so rather than head back to the shop I purchased them from I thought I'd search the web.

I've found several shopping websites that have them for £100 or so less than the high street and they are on eBay under US listings for even greater discounts.

So, I find myself in a quandary. I'm aware that the mark up is more than big enough for sellers to remove £100s and still be selling the genuine article but my natural stance means that I am assuming the eBay sellers are flogging fakes and that the online shops that I've never heard of could well be total scams.

I've looked at customer reviews but I don't hold much value in them as any online retail business usually buys these reviews from the kind of scummers who who're themselves on sites like fiver.com and added to that, even if they are genuine reviews how would they know if they received the real thing or a knock off? Most modern consumers seem to have no ability to tell quality from junk once a brand has been stuck onto the item.

In short, is there someone on PH who has genuine knowledge of the online sunglasses market and can educate me as to how stinky it is and which online vendors are legitimate?

Thanks.

[DonkeyApple]

The original pair were £275 or £375, I can't really remember.

I've found online replacements here: https://www.sunglasses2u.com/find.do?search_string...

That company uses a PO Box and hasn't filed accounts since 2015.

An on eBay there seem to be a raft of US and Canadian sellers such as this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Revo-FREEMAN-Polariz...

The £40 ones found in these listings I have assumed already to be knock-offs: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_t...

[DonkeyApple]

MOBB said:

Mrs MOBB was looking for a pair of sunglasses recently, to replace her Prada's that are past their best.

I was expecting to see prices around £150-£200 in the shops.............but no, £250 - £300 plus seems to be normal now.

When did this happen? I'm all for nice stuff, but that's just mental.

If you want to be really nerdy (which I am on this subject) then the steep rise in premium on badged goods ties in with the growth of zero interest consumer debt and 'nothing to pay for 6 months' deals, along with regrowth in balance transfer deals for cards and a return of silly credit limits on cards.