Thinking of buying speakers off Ebay? See if you can spot the fake first...

[1991_Vn2nV]

Many people may be looking at purchasing speakers off the internet or Ebay, due to substantial discounting compared to local retail stores. As such, I thought some may find this useful or interesting and make people realise that perhaps it is worth spending the extra few dollars rather than taking the ebay risk.

But buyer beware because there are fake speakers around, and I think the pictures in this thread can really open your eyes as to HOW GOOD the fake speakers LOOK. They LOOK GOOD, but SOUND AWFUL.

These fakes are not just being sold in ebay, but in AUSTRALIAN DISCOUNT STORES as well. If you're looking at purchasing speakers, make sure they are from an AUTHORISED DEALER for that brand.

Could you spot the fake?

[Haydz]

thanks for that man.. its crazy how alike the speakers are. so how **** do they sound???


SONY XPLOD... Ha Ha

[mcnmn]

great thread
im sure you've saved me and others heaps of money
if id bought those and installed them i wouldnt have even thought they were fakes.. i would have just assumed that they were pathetic speakers and id make the wrong choice.. should make people think twice about ebay im sure it applies to heaps of items on ebay..
did you make the mistake of buying fakes??

[bezz]

Crazy photos hey, focal's are one of the most copied speakers on ebay, along with mb quart, rainbow and a few other brands. You'd think you'd have to have some talent to copy a speaker that closely, you'd think they'd just focus their efforts into producing their own brand of decent speakers instead?

[1991_Vn2nV]

great thread
im sure you've saved me and others heaps of money
if id bought those and installed them i wouldnt have even thought they were fakes.. i would have just assumed that they were pathetic speakers and id make the wrong choice.. should make people think twice about ebay im sure it applies to heaps of items on ebay..
did you make the mistake of buying fakes??

Nah but I came across a few pictures of fakes on the official Focal Australia website, and couldn't beleive how close they were, so I searched over the net looking at some threads on fake speakers.

I've never bought speakers on ebay due to risking fakes, but I always assumed it would be blatantly obvious where as these are incredibly close to the real thing... The boxes, paperwork, speakers... Its incredible how close they are.

Crazy photos hey, focal's are one of the most copied speakers on ebay, along with mb quart, rainbow and a few other brands. You'd think you'd have to have some talent to copy a speaker that closely, you'd think they'd just focus their efforts into producing their own brand of decent speakers instead?

You'd think so, they sell these cheaper than Focals though but probably for alot more than they'd be worth if they werent branded Focal, so they're probably making some decent $$$

After seeing these pictures, I did a search on ebay and going on the fake pictures where the boxes have the metallic Focal symbol compared to the white focal writing on the genuine boxes, it appears there are more fakes than real ones on ebay for these models.

[1991_Vn2nV]

Also, what worries me.. Is that fakes are being sold in actual retail stores here in Australia as well. They're only referred to as 'Australian discount stores' so im not sure who they are referring to and its not like you can ask "hey are these real?" because the sellers will be determined to tell you that they are (hell they may not even know themselves).

[skitzn]

dude great thread i honestly didnt know that big brands would be copied so well!
was looking at rf speakers on ebay but definatly wont be getting them
thanks heaps!!!

[Ra1d]

good work on bringing this to light mate. so what ebay store (if so) was trying to offload the rip offs?

[1991_Vn2nV]

Searching for Focals, more seemed to be fakes than genuines. Its not just confined to one seller.

[Galixia]

yea way too many fakes out there