Ebay is well-known as a “place” to get great deals on new and used items, including photography gear. But one item you should think twice about purchasing from the site is a memory card.

There are sellers who are advertising new, genuine memory cards from Sandisk and other manufacturers for sale on Ebay at unbelievably low prices, but the cards are actually knock-offs. The problem with buying fake memory cards is they are typically of low quality which places your hard-earned images at risk of loss or corruption. Even worse, a poorly designed card could even cause your expensive digital camera to malfunction.

I recommend that you carefully consider purchasing your memory cards from an established, well-respected local or online retailer. After all, memory cards are dirt cheap these days so why take a chance on losing your precious work and/or damaging your camera just to save a buck or two?