Does Made in China mean the Wayfarers are fake?

No. Later authentic Ray-Bans are made in more than one country, including China and Italy. Read the model, the etch, and the hinge. A country line by itself is not the authentication, and it is not a reason to reject a pair that otherwise matches.

What is the BL on the lens?

On many pairs made before the Luxottica years it is the Bausch & Lomb etch. Later pairs use a small RB. The etch should agree with the temple text and the age the seller claims. A modern RB2140 with a story about 1960 is a story. The codes are the pair.

The logo wiped off with a thumb. Now what?

A mark that wipes off was printed or stuck on, not etched. That is a fake or a defaced pair, and it should not be listed as Ray-Ban. An etch you can feel in the lens, or see only when the light hits it, is the real check. Do not scrub a real etch to “clean” it.

How much is a Ray-Ban Wayfarer worth?

A Wayfarer is the model on the temple, a lens etch, and metal hinges. BL and RB mark different eras. A logo that scratches off is not an etch.

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The Wayfarer is Ray-Ban’s trapezoid sunglass, acetate on the classic pairs, with a model number on the temple once you are in the era of printed codes. The modern Original Wayfarer is RB2140. Older Bausch & Lomb pairs, from before the 1999 sale to Luxottica, are marked differently and often carry a small BL etch rather than RB. A white script Ray-Ban on one lens and a small etch on the other became the usual lens marks. None of that is optional decoration. It is how you tell a pair from a costume copy sold at a flea table.

Country of origin is a weak fake-detector by itself. Later authentic pairs can say Italy or China. A painted logo that rubs off, a plastic hinge, and a temple with no model number are stronger tells. Lenses may be glass, which has weight, or a later lens material. Plastic lenses are not automatically fake. Scratches, a bent bridge, and a missing lens etch are condition and identification at the same time. This page will not quote a pair. Comp the model number you can read, in the scratch state you can see, and do not pay a Bausch & Lomb price for a modern RB2140 because both say Wayfarer.

What to look for

Lens marks: A script Ray-Ban on one lens, and a small etch on the other: BL on many pre-Luxottica pairs, RB on later ones. The etch is in the lens. It does not wipe off. A P beside the script means polarized on many authentic pairs, not a second brand. Tilt the lens in the light. If you cannot find an etch on a pair that should have one, stop and compare before you pay.
Temple text: Inside one temple: the model, often RB2140 for a modern Original Wayfarer, plus size numbers in the lens-bridge-temple form. Inside the other: Ray-Ban, a country line, and often CE. Misaligned, misspelled, or missing lines are a problem. Vintage B&L pairs will not show RB2140. Do not demand a modern code from an older pair, and do not call an older pair RB2140 because the shape matches.
Hinges: Metal hinges, screwed or riveted, not glued plastic. Classic Original Wayfarers before about 2010 often use a seven-barrel hinge, and later ones a three-barrel hinge. Count them when the pair claims to be that model. A sloppy, sharp, or plated-looking hinge that does not match the era of the etch is a reason to walk.
Lenses and frame: Scratches you can see in a window, a loose lens, a bent temple, and nose pads that are torn. Glass has a different weight from thin plastic. Say glass only if you know. A replaced lens with no etch, in a frame that should have one, is a repaired pair. Say repaired. Do not shoot only the logo and call the lenses clean.

What moves the price

Era: Bausch & Lomb pairs with a BL etch, and later Luxottica pairs with RB and a model number, are different comps. Both can be authentic. A modern pair is also still in production, so a new Wayfarer on the maker’s site is the comparison that keeps a used price honest. Used has to beat new, or be the older mark the buyer actually searched.
Model number: RB2140 is not every trapezoid Ray-Ban. New Wayfarer and other numbers are different frames. The number on the temple is the model. A case, a sticker, or the word Wayfarer printed only on a hangtag is not the model. Cases are copied. The frame is the frame.
Scratches and bend: Clean lenses and heavily scratched lenses do not share a price. A bend you can see in the top line is damage. Polarized and non-polarized are different. If the temple says polarized, the lens should behave like a polarizer. If you did not check, do not claim it.
Fake or unsure: If the etch, the temple text, and the hinge disagree, do not average them into “probably real.” Comp nothing until you know, and do not list a doubtful pair as Ray-Ban. A real pair with honest scratches is a better listing than a confident fake.

Where to sell

eBay: Ray-Ban, Wayfarer, the model number, BL or RB if that is the etch, and the scratches in words. Photos of both temples, both lens marks, and the hinges. Buyers who know the pair will look at those first and at the hero shot never.
Local: Useful when you want the buyer to hold the weight and see the etch in person, and for a beat-up authentic pair that is not worth a shipping argument. Do not mail a pair you have not protected. Lenses scratch in an envelope.
Wear or walk: A sound used pair under the current retail price, with the etch intact, is a reasonable buy to wear. A flea-market pair at a luxury number without an etch is a walk. The brand note in the journal is the same idea: a name is a search, and the search includes the mark.

What a photo can settle

Both lenses tilted so the script and the small etch catch the light, both temples’ inner text, the hinge barrels, and a straight-on frame so a bend shows. Worth can read Ray-Ban and a clear model number. It cannot authenticate a pair from a front photo that hides the etch, feel whether a hinge is metal, or know if the lenses are glass. The tells are small on purpose. Fill the frame with them.

Questions

Does Made in China mean the Wayfarers are fake?: No. Later authentic Ray-Bans are made in more than one country, including China and Italy. Read the model, the etch, and the hinge. A country line by itself is not the authentication, and it is not a reason to reject a pair that otherwise matches.
What is the BL on the lens?: On many pairs made before the Luxottica years it is the Bausch & Lomb etch. Later pairs use a small RB. The etch should agree with the temple text and the age the seller claims. A modern RB2140 with a story about 1960 is a story. The codes are the pair.
The logo wiped off with a thumb. Now what?: A mark that wipes off was printed or stuck on, not etched. That is a fake or a defaced pair, and it should not be listed as Ray-Ban. An etch you can feel in the lens, or see only when the light hits it, is the real check. Do not scrub a real etch to “clean” it.