I checked out the sellers ID and it now says
No longer a registered user
So I guess that means Ebay kicked him out
I would be willing to bet that 90% of the 'OEM' memory on eBay is counterfeit.
Hi Pete,
eBay actually removes memory cards if the VeRO report is filed by the company that owns the trademark. When eBay members report it for infringement, it has to have enough criteria in which to remove it, otherwise the VeRO member has to report it. If you want to speed up the process you can actually contact the VeRO member and save them the footwork of looking for it. You may have actually done this by contacting Sony about it.
If you want to avoid buying a counterfeit:
Always make sure that the photo is of the item being sold, check the other sellers items to see if they have reused the photo.
Check against a local retail store price for items of the same capacity. Counterfeits, as far as we know are either compressed or modified in a old process known as remarking. A compressed memory card is rubbish, as the data people store on cards, photos, mp3s and such are already compressed and will not compress further.
Excessive shipping (EMS), Sellers from China can be identified since they always sell things EMS. Not all Chinese sellers are bad, but the fact that they won't give you the option of a slower cheaper mailing option is a red flag.
If the seller reuses the same photo and is selling the item for half the retail price or below the shipping price, it is more than likely fake, and all the authentication guides written by eBay members mention the same thing.
If you have paid by PayPal, you should be able to claim an Item Significantly Not As Described, you will likely have to send the item to PayPal for them to payout on it. Just make sure you went through the Checkout and didn't pay them directly. The seller will be advised that they will be chargedback, and since they are already suspended, it is likely that that no funds are available to be recovered.
I can not garantee that Paypal will payout if the seller has been suspended. Once a seller is suspended for non-performance it is usually too late and the money is gone. This is a bigger problem with out of country sellers so this is why the cross border trade policy limits selling to between only certain countries.
As an important tip, when paying by paypal, make sure that the seller you are buying from actually shows the 'paypal protection', sellers with less than 98% feedback are only covered up to 400 dollars.