Sennheiser CX500 Headphones (Black) - £16.99 at Play.com

mturrell

You can get them for £11.74 delivered from a link "new and used" on the play.com site.

mattscarlett

Unfortunately as a brand new user, I can't post links so if you want more info on the playtrade CX500 story, then PM me please.

I'm the editor from fakeheadphones*com, a site dedicated to debunking counterfeiters. As a headphone lover (currently over 70 pairs and counting) I hate to see people get ripped off, so i decided to look into the problem of fake headphones on the market, and was astonished at how deep the issue is.

My wife sent me the link to this post, and she, like many others, thought she saw a bargain. I'm very suspicious!

1) IMHO (or i should say in my experience), I don't trust playtrade. If they were direct from play.com then fair enough, but i've had one of my visitors caught out with fake cx500 headphones on playtrade.

I purchased some white Sennheiser CX500 through Play.com PlayTrade site for £17.99 from a seller called YouCoolShop.

The images provided on this website armed me with the proof that the supplied headphones were fake. I compared them with the white CX500 my mother had purchased directly from play.com and they sound completely different.

The packaging and headphones are exactly like the pictures supplied on this website.

I emailed the seller posting a link to this website and informed them that I knew they were fake. I received a full refund but was not able to leave negative feedback warning others.

The seller seems to have been removed now from playtrade but I thought I would alert any potential buyers who might be thinking of purchasing through playtrade.

2) It breaks my 50% rule ... that is, if the price deal is below 50% of the retail price, then alarm bells should be ringing. The retail on the CX500 from the official online Sennheiser dealers is £59.95 and the gaming CX500's retail for £69.95. if the price deal is too good to be true, it probably is!

3) Both Play.com and Amazon are not selling these directly, the price deals come from third party sellers ... Buying these from 'Playtrade' is not the same as buying from 'Play.com' so be careful!

4) just be careful!

Fakeheadphones hasn't been going long, but the problem of fake headphones is huge, and reaches far further than most people think. Please be careful here. My money would not go on any of these deals!

In this case, you might save money alright, but the question is, are these CX500's real or fake!

wombler

mattscarlett wrote: »

3) Both Play.com and Amazon are not selling these directly, the price deals come from third party sellers ... Buying these from 'Playtrade' is not the same as buying from 'Play.com' so be careful!

Firstly I would concur - these Sennheiser CX500 are one of the most faked headphones out there (a quick google or ebay search will confirm that) and importantly it's virtually impossible to tell which ones are the fakes, apart from the price (and sound quality when you put them in!)

However, the link in the original post seems to be Play.com direct, rather than playtrade (unless they've hidden the fact that it's a third party seller), which you'd hope would be legit and trustworthy?

Anyway, if you're buying headphones online be VERY careful and assume that any bought from anyone other than the big companies and particularly those from cheap sellers on ebay, Amazon Marketplace or Playtrade will be fake.

mattscarlett

alarm bells are still ringing, but good luck. and be sure to check out the site so you can compare with the genuine thing.

Barny1979

Play are a very reputable store!

littlestargail

I have just bought 2 pairs of these as my girlfriend has been looking for a cheap-ish new pair for a few weeks. I agree with the comments about there being a lot of fakes out there which is why we've held off buying any until now.

I'll let you know how they sound when they arrive.

orange_plastic

wombler wrote: »

and importantly it's virtually impossible to tell which ones are the fakes, apart from the price (and sound quality when you put them in!)

If you Google 'how to spot fake sennheiser cx500' you will find quite a few websites on the subject. One or two of them are brilliant, with photos and descriptions of what to watch out for on the packaging and on the earphones. If the seller is selling through eBay, Amazon or Play they will probably give you your money back pretty quickly if you send them back as fake because they don't want to get kicked off that marketplace. Note their feedback score (which they would obviously lose if kicked off) but also note that they may have just sold fakes to people who will never know the difference. These marketplaces seem to be rife with fake earphones mimicking Sennheisers, Shures and others.

I found that if you send a message to the seller asking if they are fakes prior to buying, many will admit it straight away to avoid hastle later on; obviously anyone clued up about fakes will not be worth selling to.

As for Play themselves, I'm sure they would be okay; it wouldn't be worth risking their massive business reputation to make a small amount of money on some earphones! I wonder if they've made some sort of deal with Sennheiser to sell them so cheaply to undermine the trade in fakes. Whatever, I'm going to get some now, so thanks for the post...

:-)

markyb555

I bought some CX300's from a Amazon marketplace trader and they turned out to be fake. As soon as i emailed Sennheiser about them, they started asking questions,. he directly refunded me the money with postage included.. i binned them as they would distort with no sound level to them at all and no bass reproduction at all.. The next set i bought direct from Amazon which was around £7 more but they was totally different.. i also bought some of my ex girlfriend which again i bought from Amazon direct.. which went on a IPod Nano.. the sound difference was amazing compared to the IPod ones :rolleyes:

Amazon and Play are extremely reputable companies and i wouldnt hesitate in buying from them DIRECTLY... marketplace traders.. IMHO is just as bad as eBay with fake and counterfeit items..

markyb555

Also forget to mention.. the price seems to have changed on my screen to £17.99?.. Cheeky play.com

loopylass09

Matt - I looked at your photos etc on fakeheadphones and the ones from the main Play.com website appear to be genuine. I'm really pleased with them.