Part of the reason I have ceased collecting many things over the years is that when certain hobbies become "hot",this seems to unleash unethical and greedy manufacturers who pop up simply to rip off the unsuspecting collector.The manufacturers are there to offer their fakes to the unsuspecting.It happens in almost all hobbies,from stamps to comic books to furniture to lamps,to casino chips and so forth.
Since there are many chips which are impossible to find at a reasonable price,these manufacturers will go out of their way to "help" out the new collector,by offering repros at a fraction of the price.
Will it demean the hobby?I do not think that it will damage it too badly,although it may discourage new collectors if they happen to get stung once or twice.BUT...the opportunity to wreak havoc will be there.
If this hobby really explodes some day(as it may),then we will see even more repros and some of those $300 to $5,000 chips will be reproduced and that will be a sin.Look at the proliferation of repro "TIFFANY" lamps these days.
Strangely enough,I think that the people who collect for the fun of it and not so much for the investment or "must have it" moment will come out of this relatively unscathed, as the manufacturer's of "collector" chips probably will not bother with more common chips.
But we are powerless to stop the sale of this crap.The only thing we can do is to complain to eBay about wording perhaps, but that is a waste of time believe me: I happen to collect Art Deco lamps.Well...try and look up Art Deco lamps on eBay search.What you get in the description is ART DECO LAMP....but when you read the actual ad,the seller sometimes uses terms like Art Deco Style or(if we are lucky),they may use the word reproduction,but that is rarely,if ever,used in the title.What they are selling basically...are repros!To me it is an unfair business practice,used by too many lazy and unscrupulous people.HUNDREDS....if not THOUSANDS of ads like this are on eBay at any given time!
In the end however,we are almost powerless to stop this.The only way to perhaps place a glitch in this practice,is to simply not bid on items.Let's face it...if the item won't sell due to lack of buyers...then those items will eventually disappear due to lack of profit.