If you're searching for Sennheiser headphones on eBay, you should be aware that there are quite a few people selling fakes (and sadly getting away with it).

Just recently, I purchased a pair of Sennheiser MX550 in-ear headphones from a UK seller. Upon reciving these headphones, it was obvious to me that they were fake (having owned a genuine pair in the past). Here are some signs I picked up on:

1. The box was opened, despite the seller describing the headphones as "brand new".

2. The headphones were not like my previous pair. The left hand cord was shorter than the right hand one (I emailed Sennheiser who informed me that all MX550s have two same-length cords). The volume control was a different shape.

3. On the box, it showed a picture of the 3.5" jack (it is silver). The headphones inside had a "gold" jack!

4. The quality was terrible. It was tinny - nothing like a real pair would sound. I plugged them into my iPod and whenever I moved the jack, the sound was distorted.

After looking over these indicators, I suspected that the seller had used original Sennheiser MX550 packaging and packed up fake headphones inside. They were careless to pack ones inside that looked completely different to the ones depicted on the box but it seems to have caught out most of his customers...!

If buying Sennheiser headphones for a cheap price, from abroad (namely Hong Kong, China, etc) or from a seller with low feedback - Always check the headphones you revieve to a picture or genuine ones or even better, a real pair. If you are caugt out, ask for a refund politely but firmly stating that you are aware that they are selling fake headphones to unsuspecting customers.

I feel it is appropriate to name and shame the person who sold me the fakes as he is getting away with it. His feedback has soared over the past few weeks as he's fooling 99% of his buyers (only 3 out of nearly 200 buyers have left comments regarding the authenticity of the headphones). The user is: top-uk

BEWARE FROM CHINA AND HONGKONG EBAYERS!