Spotting Shure SM57 SM58 Beta 57 Beta 58 Scams

Use caution when purchasing a SM57, SM58, or Beta 57 or 58 online. Ebay has been flooded with scam auctions for these mics. If you are looking for a brand new one, make sure you buy it from an established US based seller with good feedback specifically for selling microphones. Watch out for the sellers from China with private feedback that are selling these mics for far less than US dealers. You will end up with counterfeit mics that will look good but will not perform like the real thing. Even worse are the thieves that are listing these mics as 24 hour buy it now auctions at outrageously low prices using hijacked inactive accounts. Look at the sellers feedback. If they have not been active, or have only been buyers, or have not sold microphones in the past, and are suddenly listing a ton of Shure mics, Stay away and report it to Ebay. They will take your money and you will get nothing. Another good tip-off is when a seller claims to be in the US but writes instructions with a heavy Oriental accent and claims he will ship EMS at a high shipping rate. These are no-brainers. If a deal looks too good to be true, it is. I have been reporting these scams to Ebay but they are extremely slow in responding. By the time they wake up and stop the auction, the seller may have already made a bunch of BIN sales. Ebay likes us to think that buying online is safe, but if you are not extremely cautious, buying on Ebay can be about as safe as a midnight stroll through downtown Baghdad.