People are buying $5 Braided Solo Loop Apple Watch bands, but they're stamped silicone

Source: Apple

Here's your Tuesday Public Service Announcement – don't buy knock-off Braided Solo Loop bands for your Apple Watch. Especially from Ali-Express and doubly-especially without doing your homework. As one growing Reddit thread shows, it can be a risky business. A number of people ordered bands only to find out that they aren't braided at all.

They're silicone bands with braided patterns stamped on them.

Don't buy the Crested knock off braided loop. The braided pattern is just stamped into the silicone.

Yup. Pretty much.

Source: u/gingersnap9210

I'm not going to link out to the band because I don't want anyone to accidentally buy it, but it seems the seller has now altered the description to mention that they're really silicone and not even slightly braided.

There are more examples in the thread of people buying similar bands, again from Ali-Express, that turned out to be just as bad.

Sure, some of you might say that these hapless buyers should have known that they wouldn't get anything even close to legit for $5. And you're probably right. But eBay has been a great source of cheap bands in the past so I'm not sure I'd rule out something similar on Ali-Express.

Just, maybe, don't buy ones that look like they're made of car tires.