[Stuart Wright]

I was wondering how many people have been stung by people selling fake headphones.
If you have, who was the seller and what did you do?

[SkilledNutter]

I bought Fake Sen's cx400's for £10 back in the day. I was too cheap to buy anything else. Now however I would only buy real ones.

[Mr_Wistles]

I bought a fake pear of Apple headphones from eBay. They were cheap so I could not be bothered to moan.

[KhalJimbo]

I take it there is a scam running around or fake headphones are quite popular to sell?

[thekingbeyond]

Bought a pair of sennheiser cx400 from amazon and they turned out to be fake, got the money back in the end.

[Stuart Wright]

Surely there are more people who have bought headphones?

[qwerty321]

I was going to post yesterday but the thread was locked.

Purchased Sennheiser headphones (HD202, CX 300, CX300 II and PMX 80) and never had any issues with fakes. They have been from Amazon or Play but Ive always made sure that the seller is actually Play or Amazon and not a 3rd party seller.

Recently got some Klipsch S4 and they seem fine as well.

[MoFoHo]

I bought a pair of Pioneer HDJ-1000 headphones off E-bay once. As soon as I unwrapped the package I knew they were fakes, I didn't even bother to open the packaging, there was no point.

I contacted the seller, asking for an immediate refund. He argued back saying I needed to send them back first. However it was the seller who had broken trust by selling me fake goods, so I insisted on a refund BEFORE I sent the goods back.

I gave him 12 hours to refund me or else I'd report him to the authorities and E-bay.

I got my money back.

[jp_bl_68]

I've always bought headphones from reputable retailers. I've never felt the need to check their authenticity.

[dc8900]

Originally Posted by jp_bl_68

I've always bought headphones from reputable retailers. I've never felt the need to check their authenticity.

+1, same here, as far as I'm aware, I doubt Argos would go to the trouble of selling me a pair of fake Sennheiser headphones just to get my £19.95

but surely if you buy something say out the back of a van, you know something is amiss?

[dtsmucker]

Originally Posted by dc8900

+1, same here, as far as I'm aware, I doubt Argos would go to the trouble of selling me a pair of fake Sennheiser headphones just to get my £19.95

but surely if you buy something say out the back of a van, you know something is amiss?

The same can be said for White Van Speakers.."We're at the end of our drop, and, have these £3.5k AudioDynamatic floorstanders to get rid of, you can have them for £500..."

It's nothing new or even remarkable.

The most interesting point of this poll would be, if possible, to gauge the ages of those that hit whatever button..

[IronGiant]

I have only bought Unbranded cheap headphones from cpc farnell or eBay recently, so no branding issues, or a couple of sets of full sized Phillips and Panasonic wireless sets that I bought from reputable sellers. I would be very wary about buying expensive in ear phones off the net.

[dtsmucker]

Originally Posted by IronGiant

I have only bought Unbranded cheap headphones from cpc farnell or eBay recently, so no branding issues, or a couple of sets of full sized Phillips and Panasonic wireless sets that I bought from reputable sellers. I would be very wary about buying expensive in ear phones off the net.

I've done the same thing. CPC, RS, Lektropaks and Keene, over several years. Ive found that many of them have remarkable similarites to major branded companies, like TCI, Ixos, QED, VDH, Vivanco, Profigold...

Unless you can afford Nordost cables, you have nothing to worry about. They're all the same.

If you can afford Nordost cables in any way shape or form, you don't need a forum to make you feel better.

[nheather]

May have done but no reason to suspect I have.

I'm aware that things like headphones and memory cards are often faked so only buy those from genuine amazon (not marketplace or partner) even if it means paying a little more.

Must admit that I have never checked the stuff I have received from Amazon - I don't think Amazon would go to the risk just to cheat a few pounds out of people.

Cheers,

Nigel

[SBanga]

I got stung by a pair of Sony headphones back in the day. Luckily they were only about £12. Pretty sure my present ones aren't fake as they were bought from Amazon themselves (plus they sound amazing and if they are a fake, they'd be an amazing fake!)

[dejongj]

I bought my ultimate ears from the Apple Retail Outlet, didn't feel the need to check whether they are fake or not. They sound good and fit well.

[nonumb]

Bought a few pairs and havnt needed to check their authenticity however back in the day I bought some very cheap phillips ones from ebay (£2 or something delivered) they were clearly other headphones in phillips packaging. I told the guy I knew they were fake but didnt bother to open up a dispute.

[sven256]

Agree with most of the comments here. Just buy from a reputable source, and you will be fine.

You are never going to get a £100-£200 pair of headphone/ earphones for £20 just use your brain. The example there may be a bit extreme, but you get the idea.

[qwerty321]

Just remembered that someone I know purchased some Sennheiser IE8 a while back. They cost around £200 and the first pair turned out tot be fake! He got it sorted in the end though.

[SBanga]

Originally Posted by qwerty321

Just remembered that someone I know purchased some Sennheiser IE8 a while back. They cost around £200 and the first pair turned out tot be fake! He got it sorted in the end though.

IE8s are one of the most cloned earphones, alongside a few other Sennheisers. Hence my reluctance to buy from anywhere other than a reputable company.

[mr:w]

Bought a pair of fake Sony MDR-EX90LPs after losing mine. They were extremely good copies, don't think most people would have noticed, but when I contacted the seller he refunded me straight away and said don't worry about returning them.

I use them for my running headphones now

[Rog69]

I bought a set of CX's from Ebay about 4 years ago and they sound like crap. They were about 1/3 of the retail price at the time.

I suspected that they were fake but on checking them via some online comparison guidelines, I still couldn't find anything physically different between mine and the genuine article, even the packaging looked spot on.

Unfortunately I had ordered them a couple of weeks before Christmas and then they went towards my present that year so I didn't realise they were dodgy until I tried them a few days after Christmas, by which time the Ebay seller was unregistered.

[mairulz]

i would only buy from a reputable shop... or seller

[Incksy]

I bought a pair of "Brand New Beats By Dre" in ear headphones from a guy on ebay.

They were cheaper than retail but not silly cheap to start alarm bells ringing at £75 plus postage.
When they arrived they were sealed and the packing was retail.

I opened them up and the warranty card, extra sized ear buds were all there along with carry case and I was pleased until i plugged them in my ipod

The sound quality is really bad! no bass and mega tinny like a pair of 99p headphones from pound-land.

Still in mediation with the seller who claims he thinks they are genuine. Talking to Paypal and ebay trying to get my hard earned cash back

As my Grandma says if something seems to good to be true, it generally is........so buyers beware.

[Gary D]

Originally Posted by Incksy

I bought a pair of "Brand New Beats By Dre" in ear headphones from a guy on ebay.

They were cheaper than retail but not silly cheap to start alarm bells ringing at £75 plus postage.
When they arrived they were sealed and the packing was retail.

I opened them up and the warranty card, extra sized ear buds were all there along with carry case and I was pleased until i plugged them in my ipod

The sound quality is really bad! no bass and mega tinny like a pair of 99p headphones from pound-land.

Still in mediation with the seller who claims he thinks they are genuine. Talking to Paypal and ebay trying to get my hard earned cash back

As my Grandma says if something seems to good to be true, it generally is........so buyers beware.

Are you sure they are fake? I'm a headphone fiend (see sig) i had a pair of beats which i bought form the Apple Store and they were awful. They didn't fit my ears very well so the bass was almost none existant. What are they like if you apply slight pressure and push them in? does the bass return?

To answer Stuarts question - only ever bought from high street retailers, so never felt the need to check.

G

[Miss Mandy]

I've only ever bought from reputable retailers, but I still checked them just to be on the safe side. There have been some fakes slipping through at the likes of Amazon and Play lately so although you should be able to trust them, in reality you can't.

[qwerty321]

I think you have to be careful with who you are purchasing through when using Amazon or Play. Just make sure it is the retailer themselves and not some third party seller.

[GBDG1]

Originally Posted by Mr_Wistles

I bought a fake pear of Apple headphones from eBay. They were cheap so I could not be bothered to moan.

How did you spot they were fake? When they didn't sound crap

I always buy headphones from play.com, every few months they do awesome prices on good brands like shure.

[gazbarber]

CX300's from amazon a few years back, one of the marketplace dealers, about 1/2 rrp price which seemed about right for general electronics. They looked like the real thing and the packaging look right, the sound was not that great especially considering their rep at the time.

Having said that, non of the ear buds fitted me properly and even the smallest one got very uncomfortable after a few minutes, so they might have been the real deal and didn't agree with me. Also PX100's from richer sounds at around about the same time, they were awesome in a different league to the CX300's

I now only buy books from amazon market place, wouldn't buy anything easily clone able/fake able as its just as bad as ebay in my opinion.

Recently got JVC FX1000's from the JVC e-store for £89.99 down from £250, if it wasn't a reputable store I'd have been very suspicious (they pretty good, but not had anything else at this level to compare with).

[Foebane72]

Care to elaborate what "fake headphones" actually MEANS? BTW, I'm not interested in brands, so don't foist that on me.

Surely as long as headphones transmit sound to your ears, preferably with enough deep bass, that's enough for me. Right? What the HECK does brand matter?