If you are interested in purchasing the Sennheiser CX300 in ear headphones, then make sure you read this guide to distinguish between real and fake auctions on eBay!  Must read if you care about your sound quality...

The CX 300 are high-quality stereo ear-canal headphones with powerful, bass-driven stereo sound for listening 'on the move'. Ear adapters in three different sizes ensure a perfect fit, high wearing comfort and an excellent attenuation of ambient noise. The CX 300 are ideal for use with MP3, CD, MD, or DVD players and many other portable devices.

Features
- Powerful, bass-driven stereo sound
- Perfect fit in the ear canal due to ear adapters in different sizes (included in the delivery)
- Excellent attenuation of ambient noise
- Extremely small and lightweight
- Ideal for use with all MP3, CD, DVD, MD players and portable game systems with 3.5 mm headphone sockets
- Asymmetrical cable
- 2-year warranty

You will notice these headphones selling on eBay for as low as $3.00 US.  How can this be if Amazon is selling these for $60?  It's quite simple:  they're fake.  What does this mean to you?  It means a product that looks identical to the store bought version, with cheap Chinese components which will break down much sooner than the higher quality Sennheiser components.

I purchased these headphones for about $30 on eBay when they were selling at Future Shop for $99.99 CDN.  The auction said GENUINE 100% Authentic Sennheiser product, for 1/3 the price.  I was skeptical, and contacted the seller.  The seller said as far as he/she knows, they are 100% authentic.  So when they arrived, I immediately went to Future Shop and paid the full amount plus taxes and compared the two.  Clearly, the eBay version is a rip off replica.  I contacted Sennheiser by email and phone, and both times I was told "Sennheiser does not produce their products in China, and any auction on eBay that ships from China is fake.  We ship and produce in USA."

As far as the actual earphone, the appearance from the outside is identical.  They look the same and feel the same, but that's what is expected of replicas.  The outside will appear identical, but if you were to rip them apart and see the internal components, you'd notice a difference.  Both the real and fake versions came with 3 types of rubber ear pieces and annoying asymmetrical cable.  For those who aren't familiar with in ear style headphones, any rubbing/touching of the cable gets transmitted into your ears like a stethescope, so unless you sit completely still, you're going to hear every annoying sound your body produces, and any rubbing of the cord against your clothes/skin.

Now, on to the picture comparisons.  The pictures are way too small, so if you want to contact me for full size high resolution images, please feel free to do so.  I don't know why eBay wouldn't let you add high resolution images?  Make sure you give me your email address so I can attach photos back to you.

1)  Notice the color difference in various spots on the packaging.  Also note the font, how MP3 is capitalized in the fake version.  Notice the writing in the middle box.  The fonts are slightly different too.  Nice try at replicating the package.

2)  The back looks almost identical.  The only difference that I found was the shading of the grays.  They even copied the UPC code.

After taking these photos, I contacted Sennheiser and emailed them the photos, and they confirmed that this packaging is fake and not produced by them.  So I contacted the seller, showing him/her proof, and the seller simply denied these allegations.  I said I wanted my money back, seller refused.  I contacted eBay Trust department and got absolutely nowhere.  I was completely disappointed with eBay for not doing anything regarding this matter, only being told to "take it up with the seller."  What can you do?

So what does this mean to you?  If you honestly care about your sound quality, buy these from a store.  Don't trust auctions that sell these products for half or 1/3 the price, or even less!  I don't understand how sellers are allowed to continue to sell "Authentic" replicas when it's illegal to do so.  Be carefuil, because there is no such thing as too good to be true.  Use common sense.