To find out, the Mail bought 34 'designer' items online

But it is by no means foolproof. If someone gets too many negative comments,spider man costume they can simply set up another account under a different name and begin again.

Feedback can be written by friends and there is even special software available that bumps up the number of positive responses someone has. This might explain the frequent appearance of 'Perfect' on the feedback section of those suspected of selling fake goods.

Still, it's worth reading feedback, because some sellers are openly accused of peddling fakes on it.

One user, Robsbear4me, had been accused three times in the past three months. He offered a full refund upon return of the zentai we bought and even admitted that they were counterfeit.

He told us: 'Everything that you buy on eBay is fake. Even Victoria Beckham wears fakes.' One eBayer, with the moniker 'great-goodiez', seemed genuinely shocked to discover that the Versace belt he sold us was counterfeit, and immediately issued a full refund. He even told us to keep the belt as a token of his apology.

But only one other eBayer refunded us when we told them the goods were fake; four out of the 22 refused to repay us and one seller did not respond. The rest promised a refund upon return of the goods.

The majority of sellers claimed that they had bought the items in question from other eBayers, either as a one-off spider costume or as a job lot.

'Seanworldofgarms' politely offered us a refund, but became secretive when asked where he obtained the Louis Vuitton wallet. He said: 'I'm not discussing who I buy things from. There is already too much competition.' 'Ru-lai99' claimed that the Alexander McQueen scarves she sold came from the Alexander McQueen factory, but had been rejected due to imperfections.

'Holly_valentine' would not disclose where she bought the phoney Versace bag she sold us, and flatly refused to issue a refund. She maintains that the product is real, despite confirmation from Versace that it is not, and is still selling a number of them on eBay.

But in most cases, sellers did not dispute our claim to being sold a counterfeit, although most were vague when asked for details of where the item came from.

Despite eBay insisting it is doing all it can, there is still a strong sense that it is not doing enough to protect its users.

Tiffany is suing the company through the U.S. courts to try to stem the tide of counterfeiters.

The jeweller said: 'We look forward to the trial, and to presenting our case for consideration by the court.

We hope to stop counterfeit Tiffany products from being offered for sale on eBay.

'Meanwhile, customers should be wary of buying silver jewellery marked Tiffany from anyone but costume spiderman Tiffany. Such goods are highly likely to be counterfeit.' Fakes expert Ruth Orchard points out that while each transaction may seem relatively minor, when thousands are put together they constitute a booming and damaging industry.

'Apart from the very important point about harm to the consumer, it is also crucial to understand the impact on the national economy because fakers don't pay any taxes or VAT.

'People should also be aware that, at present, there is no straightforward way to hold eBay liable for fakes sold in auctions on its site.' Clothes manufacturer Juicy Couture says it has also approached eBay about the problem in the past to no avail but it has yet to take legal action.

A spokesperson added: 'The price is normally an indication of whether or not the garments are legitimate. If something appears on a website with a much lower recommended retail price than our retailers, that's normally a sign that it's fake.' Of course, there is only one way to make sure something you buy is genuine buy it from the company's store itself.

After all, in the world of eBay bargains, if something seems too good to be true, that's because it probably is..