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Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

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11–20 of 65 posts

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#11
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

Most of them aren't actually 'fake', they are just not rated high enough to look directly at the sun. I bought a ten pack on ebay on Friday, and only 2 pairs were ISO 13 or higher, the other 8 pairs were ISO 5 grade. They are still ISO rated, just not for eclipses. So to check, look and see what rating you have on your glasses and look for >13.

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#12
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

I have the same question. I ordered some from Amazon for my kids. I hope this article means that they were carefully verified by Amazon, but it has still made me uneasy about using them. Just knowing fakes are common is really concerning.

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#13
post #9
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

Put them on and look at a bright light. You shouldn't be able to see anything. It's not foolproof, but cheap fake glasses are usually so bad that you can see household lights through them. You can also see if the brand you have is on this list, although someone could have faked a reputable brand name: https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

It depends on the light. If you stare directly at a bare LED or filament for an incandescent bulb, you will probably be able to see it.

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#14
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

There is a False Reject/Accept problem here.

If you believe your Amazon email, all glasses are fake (at least I've got email saying so for glasses I know are good).

If you want a quick way to weed out bad glasses, see if you can see a compact fluorescent light bulb, with the glasses... if you can, they are bad. Unfortunately, you could still have bad glasses that happen to just block fluorescents.

I used a spectrometer and a calibrated light source, but that seems like overkill for most folks.

One trick I recommend is putting the reflective foil inside some regular sun glasses. It's uch more comfortable, and you get some extra IR/UV protection.

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#15
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

Most of them aren't actually 'fake', they are just not rated high enough to look directly at the sun. I bought a ten pack on ebay on Friday, and only 2 pairs were ISO 13 or higher, the other 8 pairs were ISO 5 grade. They are still ISO rated, just not for eclipses. So to check, look and see what rating you have on your glasses and look for >13.

It's worth noting the sticker might be lying too.

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#16
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

I have the same question. I ordered some from Amazon for my kids. I hope this article means that they were carefully verified by Amazon, but it has still made me uneasy about using them. Just knowing fakes are common is really concerning.

Is it really worth the risk?

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#19
post #5
post #2

I can't really say I'm surprised about this. If your income depends on the corporate policy of a 3rd party you don't have any contractual business relationship with then you have to be able to take the hit if/when they pull the rug out from under you.

> "The problem is that anybody, anywhere, can sell just about anything on Amazon and eBay, including counterfeit glasses that may be dangerous. Buyers won’t discover their error until after the eclipse, or they suffer serious or permanent eye damage. The sellers will be long gone." seems like a perfectly reasonable case of due diligence on the part of Amazon.

Except Amazon doesn't do due diligence on anything else they sell. They got scared because they know they sell counterfeit products but this one will have potential lawsuits on August 22nd

Re: Amazon's War on Fake Eclipse Glasses Trips Up Newbie Merchant

#20
post #7

How to tell if your eclipse glasses are fake?

I have the same question. I ordered some from Amazon for my kids. I hope this article means that they were carefully verified by Amazon, but it has still made me uneasy about using them. Just knowing fakes are common is really concerning.

Assuming you got paper glasses, on the inside of the arms of the glasses should be information about the ISO certifications and who manufactured it. Compare this against NASA's approved manufacturer list. If there's no info or they're not on the list, don't risk using them.

It's weird but I've got a co-worker who bought some cheap Chinese ones and actually block more light from a phone's flash LED than my legit, approved pair. I'd still never use them since my test is very simple and I don't understand enough about the properties that make for good solar filters.

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