Fake strings----again.

OilCityPickups

nonesuch said:

In the last year or so, I've bought strings from both a local guitar shop (yes I should do this all the time, I know) and eBay. Sometimes online is just more convenient. 

I think with eBay, if you look at the seller's profile to see if they're an actual music shop you should be fine. They won't be the cheapest but at least they'll be genuine.

Sellers on eBay I've bought from:

Rockem Music
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/rockemmusic

Craig's Music
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/guitarsandlightscraigsmusic

A sensible approach! Yay. 

nonesuch

Sensible is the new rock 'n' roll 

Honestly, I've bought and sold loads of stuff on eBay over the years, and I've had very few problems. I don't think it's that bad!

bluecat

If I want to buy new strings, I have to travel a lot of miles to find a good guitar shop to supply the strings I want. I have bought from Amazon occasionally, no problemo. I am in doubt now , never bought from eBay. I will stick to the big companies from now on, just to be sure. I am not into saving.50 p a packet.
For heavens sake what is fifty pence in the sceam of things that will last you 3-4 weeks?
I do feel sorry for small independent dealers trying to make a living but at the end of the day they need to have the right platform, and deal professionally.
I was in business for many years, you can't relax, you have to be on the ball 100% of the time to succeed.

Sunburst

roberty said:

*cough* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006196126886.html

I see the promoted 5 star review on this page is written by someone called "C***". Seems about right.

GoldenEraGuitars

andy_k said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Good example here -

Google tells us Globogoods has eBay and Amazon presence, which isn’t in the criteria to legitimately stock EB strings. As Ash said, you need a store front to be a stockist of many brands in the industry and even with my workshop I wouldn’t be allowed to stock, say fender accessories because Rossetti require you to operate a retail premises. 

I’d be keen to learn more about the legitimate business's deemed “wrong uns” as mentioned above. And is there any substantiated evidence to back up why some retailers have been branded “wrong uns”?

Are you suggesting that all the strings for sale here are fake??
Do you have proof, as £42.99 plus postage for a pack of 5 sets is pretty much what Peach are selling them for, and when I check, they don't appear to have my gauge in stock.
To be clear, I never suggested I was trying to save 50p, so being called a fool does feel a little harsh.

No Andy, I’m not suggesting anything. I picked a listing off eBay as a potential example. So please, no need for multiple question marks to attempt to put words in my mouth.

I also didn’t call you a fool.

But, if this isn’t about saving a few quid/50p coupled with the fact you’ve been stung before in the same situation perhaps you could learn from these events and just pay what a reputable retailer who has built up years of industry/customer trust from their bricks and mortar store wants for their strings.

It’s not rocket science. 

Good luck.

guitarjack66

We buy our washing machines,freezers,cookers and even high end guitars from China nowadays therefore how can we even tell what is real and what is fake before we open the packet?

BigPaulie

carlos

andy_k said:

I build a lot of guitars, and rotate the playing between a few different instruments, so below par strings might not be noticed immediately, and when I was gigging I would change them for every gig, and carry a spare guitar in case of breakage, so I go through a few packs sometimes.

I miss seeing your fantastic builds in the classifieds

Yorkie

Might be worth remarking that most guitar shops on eBay are actually shops outside of eBay too… most frequently their website will have better prices and deals. Rockem are great, Rich Tone too, etc. 

Voxman

I think a factor in all of this is that the price of strings seems to have really shot up over the last two years. Previously I could buy a 10 pack of Daddario EXL120s from a name store like Strings Direct or Rich Tone etc for around £42. 

Today, Strings Direct are selling a 10 pack for £69.99 and a 5 pack for £36.99, Inc delivery.  That's a 67% increase!. Thomann are £51 plus £10 shipping. Amazon £59.95.  Rich Tone £59.99 plus £3.99 delivery. 

So it's no wonder folk are trying to find more competitive prices and why faking strings has become way more prevalent and lucrative.  I certainly won't buy strings from Ebay now unless it's a known trusted store like Rich Tone etc.  But as I've said previously, string manufacturers need to stand up and take some responsibility for making things too easy for fakers, and they all need to adopt security codes in the way that D'addario do. 

It may not eradicate the problem completely, but it will make it a darn sight harder and more expensive for fakers, and way easier for buyers to evidence fakes and get refunds. 

ICBM

“While you talk about the quality of your wares, you have your cheaper competitor where he cannot touch you. The breach between you is longer than his arm. When you begin to talk about prices, you are absolutely at his mercy. There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.” - J.A. Richards

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”  - John Ruskin

strtdv

Ernie Ball have a virtual storefront on Amazon, I'd doubt you'd get fakes as long as you were buying from that shop on Amazon. Prices are good too, a 3 pack of regular slinkys is £20, and they do an Amazon exclusive 4 pack for £24.

eBay is the wild west, one step away from Temu, though I've found their post-Brexit postage rules to Northern Ireland more relaxed than Amazon so still use them from time to time.

Rob1742

ICBM said:

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”  - John Ruskin

“ I remember being told Aston Martin never discounted new cars, so don’t ever ask for a discount, it will be frowned upon. 
I remember there being a brand new one in the showroom at £192,000 and I offered them £155,000 for it. Oh what a wonderful few years I had driving that car” - Rob1742

ToneControl

DefaultM said:

I bought some Elixirs from Cash Converters a few weeks ago and as soon as I got out the shop I thought what have I just done that for? Got to the car and opened them and the packets tell you to 'vidit' elixirstrings.com. Everything on them looked perfect apart from that but I'm sure they'll have been fake.

Elixirs are easy - just get a magnifying glass, and you can see the coating on the bass strings - compare one with a suspected fake

andy_k

Small update,
Told the seller that his revised 33% discount offer, and to keep the fakes, was not acceptable. Raised a return issue with e-bay, printed off the postage paid label, and was going to post them in person this weekend- to get proof of postage.
In the meantime, the seller has given a full refund via PP.
So if anyone wants some free burner strings ( for using for temporary setups, etc ) this is the way to go--the fakers REALLY don't want you to send them back, not suggesting any ethical dilemmas here, just my way of getting 3 packs of fake strings off the market.
YMMV.