This is a link to some cheap nano's which state that they have Atmega328 MCU's. The image however doesn't look like any Atmega328 PN that I've ever seen. Thoughts on whether these may be counterfeit?
As the Chinese lady selling Gucci handbags in a Chinese shopping mall told me “but they good fake” and so I bought two and customs took one.
I agree that that doesn't look like an actual atmega328p!
I am terribly curious about whether those boards actually arrive with a chip that looks like that on them, and if so, whether they work (and what signature you see when you try to program them via ICSP)
That said, there's one key issue with these being a counterfeit - they're a pretty crap counterfeit if they are one, since the markings on the chip don't match the board that they're supposedly counterfeits of - yet they have a logo. Of course, the logo could have been added to an existing chip, without trying to get rid of the part number that was previously there. Another thing that comes to mind is the possibility that the chips were in fact real '328p's, but were being produced with custom markings in order to obfuscate the design of some commercial device (maybe they also were different in subtle ways, eg, speed/temperature/voltage grades for that specific big customer), and that they then wound up as surplus stock, and were used to make those instead of throwing them away.
Well I'll do a little $13.98 experiment and see what shows up. I'll update the post when they arrive.
I’ve found the photos for a lot of the Chinese stuff to be generally useless. For example, if you choose different lot sizes on that link above you’ll see the photos change and the chips change too. The Chinese sellers tend to just recycle the same product images regardless of how well they match the exact product.
Customer photos in reviews can be useful to see what the product really looks like. Sometimes I will ask questions when it’s ambiguous just to confirm if I’m looking for a particular chip or pin configuration on the board, for example.
Good luck!
Interesting, I have found that usually the photograph in the listing is the only portion of the listing that can be relied upon!
Yeah, I am kinda tempted to buy a batch too >.>
If you get them and they look like that, can you let me know so I can either snag some or buy a pair of yours?
The customer product photos there appear to show genuine Atmel chips. Reviewers seemed happy.
Whatever makes you claim they are cheap? 
Just over US$2, albeit slower delivery. Likely cheaper from Aliexpress.
My guess is they used a graphics program to clone off the part number so the same picture could apply to the ATmega328P and the ATmega168 Nanos. I've seen that sort of thing done fairly often by the Chinese sellers.
pert:
My guess is they used a graphics program to clone off the part number so the same picture could apply to the ATmega328P and the ATmega168 Nanos. I've seen that sort of thing done fairly often by the Chinese sellers.
this sounds very likely, actually. You can even see what looks like a smudge in the image, which was probably where they shopped out the part number.
jerseyguy1996:
This is a link to some cheap nano's
That's not cheap for a clone. That's rather expensive.
I buy my Nanos at about 1.5 USD a piece (the latest batch I bought were RMB 10.18 each, that's USD 1.46 at current exchange rates, plus a bit for shipping). Prices do vary a bit, they're now listed at RMB 12.20 each at the same shop.
I was referring more generically to chinese clones of relatively much more expensive genuine Arduino branded products. I know I can find cheaper on Aliexpress but I don't want to wait 2-4 weeks for it to get to me. I ordered these yesterday and they are on the truck and arriving at my house today.
I like how people like to “correct” people about cheap Arduino by saying if you wait 4 weeks you can get them for a few dollars cheaper direct from the slow boat... ooooh.
Depends on where you live... The speed record for me is next day before noon delivery. That happens when Shenzhen is just across the border 
Normally I choose a slower and much cheaper shipping option, and the parts arrive in 4-6 days.
On the other hand that e-bay order from a US based seller a week ago still hasn't arrived... gonna take long with so few flights nowadays.
I do sometimes have amazingly fast arrivals on my eBay orders that are shipped from China, but not always. Between coronavirus and Chinese New Year, that 4 weeks could well be 8 weeks, and that's if it even shows up at all.
Indeed... Most offices have opened by now (Shenzhen opened 10 Feb), but many factories are still shut.
Hong Kong is quiet for lack of tourists, and a near-shut border with the mainland. I heard daily arrivals have gone down from a typical 200,000 a day to just a couple thousand.
I was shopping for electronics on eBay a couple days ago and noticed a smaller selection and stores set on vacation mode. The LOLIN/WeMos store on Aliexpress is empty. Some of the sellers of the items I did purchase contacted me and said the shipments will be delayed due to coronavirus.
pert:
I do sometimes have amazingly fast arrivals on my eBay orders that are shipped from China, but not always. Between coronavirus and Chinese New Year, that 4 weeks could well be 8 weeks, and that's if it even shows up at all.
But due to Chinese New Year and (I suspect) the corona virus outbreak things are being delayed. I still have orders at Ali Epxress waiting to be sent. The orders was made for 3+ weeks ago.
25 Jan was CNY, normally offices shut from about a week before until the 7th-10th day of the year, so your order was in that period.
This time the whole virus issue came on top of that, so only 10 Feb the offices reopened (central government mandate), but many workers haven't had a chance to go back to work as they're still in their home town - which can be hundreds if not thousands of km away - with only limited transport services available.
Intersting times. It's far worse than SARS ever was. Schools won't open before mid March, and possibly (probably) much later.
In my experience, it seems like things get backed up a bit by Chinese New Year, so even the orders made soon after it ends are slower to arrive than normal.
I have had so many more bad experiences (super slow order arrival, no refund for bad products) when ordering from Aliexpress compared to eBay that I now try to avoid buying there unless I have no other choice, or the price difference is so significant that it's worth taking a gamble. That's not to say there aren't good sellers on Aliexpress, I've certainly had some perfect buying experiences there, but the Aliexpress system is set up to favor the seller much more than eBay, which favors the buyer. Some sellers will only do the right thing if there are significant consequences for doing the wrong thing.