These are from a dealer from China. All three started bidding  at $.99 , If these are knock offs(which I can't imagine they aren't) doesn't Ebay have a policy that items need to be legitimate merchandise?(unless otherwise made known as such?)
 
http://www.ebay.com/usr/lenkelin13?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2754

Of course they are fake - but until someone flags the auction, they don't know.

I guess I don't understand why Sennheiser doesn't have a 'watchdog division' that keeps an eye out for folks illegally producing a knock off product and selling them as authentic Sennheiser merchandize! Folks have been consistently paying about 140-150$ for these this past week on Ebay. It would be ONE thing if they made it known these are not authentic but the description clearly states otherwise. Furthermore,  How can anyone that knows anything about headphones think these could possibly be legit at this ridiculous low price(they start the bidding at $ .99 for crying out loud!) Even if these sound reasonable good(thus making them , perhaps, a decent buy at $140) it is fraud!! isn't IT??

The fact that the bidding starts at $ .99 is not significant. Sellers will do that to draw interest and encourage competition. My suggestion is that you contact Sennheiser and ask them about the item(s). They apparently do follow these offerings reasonably carefully, as that company has such a huge counterfeiting problem.

grandnagus50 said:

The fact that the bidding starts at $ .99 is not significant. Sellers will do that to draw interest and encourage competition. My suggestion is that you contact Sennheiser and ask them about the item(s). They apparently do follow these offerings reasonably carefully, as that company has such a huge counterfeiting problem.

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That is good know. Folks were picking these up for sub $150 which , obviously, is an amazing price. I actually DID send something to Sennheiser on their website "contact us" link but never received a response. I would LOVE to pick a pair of these up at the price, but only if they are legit iems, of course.

grandnagus50 said:

The fact that the bidding starts at $ .99 is not significant. Sellers will do that to draw interest and encourage competition. My suggestion is that you contact Sennheiser and ask them about the item(s). They apparently do follow these offerings reasonably carefully, as that company has such a huge counterfeiting problem.

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here's another current example of this
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Brand-Sennheisei-IE800-High-Earphones-In-Ear-Headphones-/221744786948?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a104ee04

I am not enough of a gambler to bid on something like this. It would be interesting to hear from Sennheiser about this, wouldn't it? These auctions are front and center on eBay, hardly hidden in a back alley.

grandnagus50 said:

I am not enough of a gambler to bid on something like this. It would be interesting to hear from Sennheiser about this, wouldn't it? These auctions are front and center on eBay, hardly hidden in a back alley.

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exactly. Even at $150 it wouldn't be worth paying that for a counterfeit. Perhaps I will try emailing Senn again. I'll , of course, post their response if I receive one.

I received a response from Sennheiser USA support team... Nothing too surprising in the response. here it is!
 
"Thank you for contacting the Sennheiser Technical Support Team. Authorized dealers have a direct relationship with Sennheiser while upholding the highest standards for product integrity in the logistics chain. At any given time, a Sennheiser representative can validate the product at its current position in the supply chain.

Non-authorized dealers selling "legit" product have no relationship with Sennheiser. They may get their goods from a source that is questionable; perhaps they are stolen, returned, refurbished (even though they say they are new), new, old, counterfeit...we have no idea. They may not have been stored in the proper environment (were they in a truck for an entire winter with no heat?) and thus we cannot guarantee the product to perform as it would when going through the appropriate supply chain.

If a price is "too good to be true", it generally is. Only buy from an authorized dealer in your country.

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any follow up questions."
 

That's no real help at all, is it? There is some protection for ebay/PayPal buyers. Maybe someone (not me ) could get one of these questionable IE800s and check it out, fully prepared to return the item. One problem is that whereas Ebay sellers in China get a huge shipping discount for sales to the U.S., buyers returning items pay through the nose for shipping. This discourages returns.

grandnagus50 said:

That's no real help at all, is it? There is some protection for ebay/PayPal buyers. Maybe someone (not me ) could get one of these questionable IE800s and check it out, fully prepared to return the item. One problem is that whereas Ebay sellers in China get a huge shipping discount for sales to the U.S., buyers returning items pay through the nose for shipping. This discourages returns.

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exactly.. Seems so dishonest to sell counterfeit items as genuine and then charge buyers ANYthing for return under those circumstances. Ya know? Where would one take a pair to determine if they are counterfeit? Without any real reference, I don't feel I would necessarily know if a pair were counterfeit(if they are a decent quality 'knock off' , that is) Just wondering what one would have to do to PROVE they are counterfeit(so that it isn't your word against the sellers) Or are you saying that you would just return them once you were sure they were counterfeit without having to prove their authenticity but merely that you are "returning - not satisfied with product" and leave it at that?

Some of the ebay dealers in question state that returns are accepted. But I also recall someone saying that if you actually get in touch with Sennheiser with IEM's in hand they can tell you what to look for to identify fakes. On the other hand, if the sq of a fake is so good you can't tell by listening, maybe they are worth keeping.

joeybgood said:

  exactly.. Seems so dishonest to sell counterfeit items as genuine and then charge buyers ANYthing for return under those circumstances. Ya know? Where would one take a pair to determine if they are counterfeit? Without any real reference, I don't feel I would necessarily know if a pair were counterfeit(if they are a decent quality 'knock off' , that is) Just wondering what one would have to do to PROVE they are counterfeit(so that it isn't your word against the sellers) Or are you saying that you would just return them once you were sure they were counterfeit without having to prove their authenticity but merely that you are "returning - not satisfied with product" and leave it at that?

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This is from the Sennheiser UK rep. He seems a little bit more serious about this matter perhaps...
 
"Dear Sir I am responding to the information you have provided to Sennheiser UK in your customer feedback regarding the sale of IE800’s.  This matter is presently under investigation and I will report back further when the matter has been reconciled.
 
Thank you again on behalf of Sennheiser UK for assisting us in our fight against counterfeit products a matter that Sennheiser takes seriously. "
  Kind regards,

James (Jim) Mathieson
Founder & CEO
C3i Europe Ltd

As I understand, authentic Sennheiser product has a hologram type sticker on side of box with a code that can be entered on a Sennheiser page set up to verify authenticity.

This, as I see it, is a true litmus test. Anybody familiar with this authentication method?