Are Golf Grips On Ebay Fake? What To Look For

Trying to find the right grip can be very overwhelming, there are so many variables for golf grips and so many places to buy them from.

Be very careful when buying golf grips off of unauthorized dealers on platforms like Ebay. You will unfortunately know within a few weeks to a month when the grips wear out if you bought counterfeit grips. Was it really worth it to save a few dollars? Majority of the time you can find the same grips on the manufacturers website or their Amazon page for the same price.

Luckily, there are a number of ways to tell immediately if you have counterfeit grips or not. Golf Pride says these are the most common signs of Golf Pride counterfeit golf grips:

Real Low Prices
- Golf Pride suggests a retail price for its retailers, if you find a price too good to be true, it probably is. See below, Golf Pride’s Amazon store has the grips at $12 per grip while an unauthorized seller on eBay has a pack of 13 for less then $5 per grip.

Real Golf Pride MCC Plus 4 grips versus fake grips off eBay

Grips have strong petroleum-like odor
- Golf Pride’s anti-counterfeit team receives regular complaints about a strong, paint thinner type of odor from the fake grips.
Popular models have most counterfeits
- The MCC model is one of most popular models at retail, and also the most copied counterfeit grip.
Shorter in Length
- Counterfeit golf grips seem to almost always be shorter in length than the real grips. See below, it’s real obvious how much shorter the fake grip is compared to the real one.

Fake golf grip is much shorter than real golf grip.

Weigh less and have thinner cross section
- Find out the weight of the real grips and weigh your grips to verify if it is real. Counterfeit grips will often weigh less and be a thinner, lower quality of rubber. It’s not a surprise the counterfeit grips don’t last as long when you see how thin the cross section is compared to a real one.

Real Golf Grip versus Counterfeit, cross section for fake grip is much thinner.

How to avoid buying counterfeit grips

The only way to 100% avoid buying counterfeit grips is to only buy from the company itself or an authorized retailer. There are many “legit” eBay sellers that have thousands of positive reviews that still get counterfeit golf grips from China. They get away with this by offering full refunds back to anyone who complains about the grips being fake to avoid a negative review.

Golf Pride, Lamkin, Superstroke, etc. suggests buying directly from their website or through one of their authorized detailers (major golf retailer, local golf shop/golf course). Ebay and Amazon aren’t authorized retailers and anyone can sell on there, so they can not guarantee the authenticity of any of the grips on these websites.

If you feel inclined to still buy it off Ebay or Amazon, check these steps to minimize the risk of buying counterfeit grips.

How to Spot Genuine Golf Grips on eBay

While it’s impossible to be 100% certain that every golf grip on eBay is authentic, there are ways to minimize the risk of purchasing fake golf grips:

Seller Reputation and Reviews:
- Before making a purchase, be sure to check the seller’s reputation and read reviews (positive and negative) from previous customers. If possible, buy directly from manufacturer. Sellers usually try to give full refunds back for counterfeit grips to avoid negative reviews, so make sure you read the negative reviews to see if anyone complains about fake grips.
Price
- If a golf grip is significantly cheaper than the average market price, it is a red flag. Authentic golf grips have a certain price range, and any deal too good to be true should be avoided as it’s not worth the risk.
Product Photos and Descriptions:
- Pay close attention to the product photos and descriptions provided by the seller. Legitimate sellers will often provide detailed information and custom photos of the grips. Steer away from sellers with stock photos.
Return Policy and Authenticity Guarantee:
- Look for sellers who offer a good return policy. Most don’t guarantee the authenticity of their products, but try to find sellers that do. Reputable sellers should be confident if they are selling authentic grips.
Brand Verification
- If you have doubts about the authenticity of a golf grip, you can contact the brand directly. All top name brands (Golf Pride, Lamkin, SuperStroke, etc.) have customer support channels that can assist you in verifying the grip’s authenticity.
Visual Inspection
- If you do buy grips off eBay, inspect them upon arrival. Check for the following red flags:
  - Strong petroleum odor
  - Real thin cross section
  - Weigh less than real grips
  - Shorter then real grips
  - Lettering and Logos may be different sizes and/or fonts
    - See below, it may be hard to tell, but there are subtle differences in fonts and styles between real and fake grips.

Font and color of counterfeit golf grip is slightly off compared to real one

Final Thoughts:

There are legitimate sellers on eBay with authentic grips, but in my opinion it’s just not worth it to buy grips off eBay. You can usually get grips straight from the manufacturer for great prices off of their website or even the manufacturers own shop on Amazon.

If you do decide to purchase grips off eBay, make sure they meet the following criteria before purchasing.

Price around market value
Good seller profile with no negative reviews about fake grips
Full refund policy:
Highly detailed, custom photos (no stock photos)

Like I said, I just don’t think it’s worth the risk due to being able to get the same grips at the same price directly from the manufacturer through their website or Amazon. If you ever had positive experiences from eBay, let me know!