Artificial plants range from convincing to embarrassing at roughly the same price, which makes the category unusually hard to shop. Most of the difference comes down to four things, and you can assess three of them before buying.
One — count the greens
Zoom into any product photo and count distinct leaf colours. A cheap piece has one. A good piece has three or four, with the newest growth paler and the oldest leaves darker or slightly yellowed. This single check eliminates most of the market.
Two — look at the underside
On a real olive, the underside of the leaf is silver-grey and the top is deep green. On a real fig, the veining is raised on the back and recessed on the front. If a listing has no photograph showing the reverse of the foliage, there is usually a reason.
Three — check the trunk join
Find where trunk meets soil. Good pieces are set in a weighted pot with a covering that reads as bark chip or dry earth. Cheap pieces have a visible plastic collar, or worse, a disc of moulded green foam. This is the detail that gives a plant away at close range, and it is almost never photographed deliberately.
If a seller will not show you the base of the pot, assume the base of the pot is the problem.
Four — ask about UV
This is the one you cannot see. Untreated foliage in a bright room shifts noticeably within two or three years — greens go blue-grey, and any warm tones go first. Ask whether the foliage is UV-stabilised before assembly, and ask what happens if it fades. A seller who will not answer either question is telling you something.
For the record, ours are UV-treated before assembly. We would say that either way, so use the other three checks first.