I just bought a fake £550 microphone on eBay.

[LLOYDWT]

I buy and sell a lot from eBay, Reverb and Facebook Marketplace; I often take advantage of people's unwillingness to ship larger items, to get hold of some fun toys for small prices. I've recently sold a load of Shure wireless mics I pulled from a conference room in Mayfair, and have been using the proceeds to upgrade my PA and practice room equipment.

 

I won an auction for a Neumann KMS105 for £205 last week. This might seem like a red-flag price for this mic, but I'm pretty sure I paid somewhere in that ball park for the real one I already own. The seller had 100% feedback, is U.K. based, had a "legitimate" reason for selling unused mics and even had recent positive feedback for selling an identical one. I paid via PayPal over eBay, so had no worries regardless.

 

The mic arrived this lunchtime. It's garbage.

 

The box looks legit; my first KMS105 was old and didn't come with a box, so I can't comment on the accuracy, but it looks and feels as I'd expect. The wrap case is identical to my real one, and the weight felt about right, so far so good.

 

Next, the mic holder; this is obviously a fake. Real Neumann clamps have the logo debossed; this fake has the word NEUMANN (incorrect font) printed on it. The adjustable thread isn't real; it cannot be removed. The bolt on the hinge is cheap, the wrong colour and ill fitting.

 

Now the mic. It's a pretty good aesthetic match for the real deal. The Neumann logo is present, in the right place, and the colours match; though it's rough around the edges and doesn't sit perfectly within the diamond. The weight of the mic is slightly off; it's not light but it doesn't have the heft of the real thing. The external and inner shield look identical to the real deal. The underside of the XLR PCB says "KMS105" at a jaunty angle rather than "Made in Germany" inline with the pins.

 

Unscrewing the shield isn't a fun experience, the threading is dirty and poorly applied; the capsule is cheap and completely unlike a Neumann one. Even before unscrewing the main PCB, I can see it's nothing like the real deal. The Neumann capsule is directly attached to the PCB, this fake is loose with a 1" long grey wire connecting the two with a sloppy solder job on the PCB.

 

The Neumann PCBs are green with gold Neumann logo and writing. The KMS105 has 2 capacitors and very tidy gold components. The PCB has some snaking between its main body and the XLR section to allow some bend, the join between the main PCB and the capsule is covered with black epoxy. This fake is a black PCB with silver components and 4 capacitors. The XLR is connected directly to the PCB, with a very sloppy solder job.

 

My curiosity got the better of me, so I plugged the mic in. It functions; it's a microphone, but it is not a good microphone, let alone in the league of the real deal.

 

I requested a refund within 20 minutes of the microphone's arriving through my door; the seller, who does not accept returns, accepted my return within 5 minutes of my request. I'll be dropping it off at the post office later.

 

A quick look on Ali Express shows these fakes can be bought for less than £40. Quite a good money making opportunity even if they are only selling for £205+P&P.

 

There are a few other listings for this mic, and other high-end microphones, that I can now see are fakes; and a few more where the price has me sceptical, but there are no red flags visible in the listing photos.

 

eBay doesn't seem to have a facility to report fake listings, neither does Reverb (which had a listing for one of my basses, using the Bass Gallery's photos from when I bought it, up until recently). There seems no avenue available through eBay to get my money back without sending the seller his counterfeit goods back and allowing him to continue with his scam. Luckily, there is a "return to" address with his full details on the delivery label. I'll be reporting him to his local police force and trading standards after my refund has been received.

 

 

 

 

 

[BigRedX]

Surely an "item not as described" complaint to eBay, telling them that it is in fact counterfeit will do the job?

 

They may well ask you to destroy the microphone and supply photographic proof that you have done so before refunding your money.

[LLOYDWT]

5 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Surely an "item not as described" complaint to eBay, telling them that it is in fact counterfeit will do the job?

 

They may well ask you to destroy the microphone and supply photographic proof that you have done so before refunding your money.

 

I filled in an "Item not as described" report, and it went to the seller for a refund. There was and is no option to involve eBay unless the seller doesn't respond or refund me.

 

[LLOYDWT]

I navigated eBays, incredibly unhelpful, contact page and managed to get through to their first-line support, who insisted I send the counterfeit goods back to the seller. I asked to speak to a more senior member of staff and was on hold for 40 minutes. I was told they would "initiate a callback" and I'd hear from a second-line support agent within 72 hours, which I declined. I advised them that I will make Trading Standards aware of eBay's instruction to me to return the counterfeit goods to the seller.

 

The first-line support agent confirmed eBay would do nothing regarding the defrauded buyers who've unknowingly bought a fake, though they say they'll remove any future listings of this item from this sellers account.

 

I'll send the goods back to the seller, await my refund and then report them to trading standards and the police.

 

I'll also try and shame eBay on social media to do the right thing re. the already defrauded individuals.

[Chienmortbb]

I am intrigued, I have read all the blurb and having worked for Abbey Road during my apprenticeship, came to appreciate the quality of Neumann studio mics but are the KMS105s really worth more than 4 times that of the best dynamic mics for stage use? I am not being funny, it is a genuine question.

[Woodinblack]

31 minutes ago, LLOYDWT said:

I'll also try and shame eBay on social media to do the right thing re. the already defrauded individuals.

 

Good luck with that one!

[LLOYDWT]

9 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

I am intrigued, I have read all the blurb and having worked for Abbey Road during my apprenticeship, came to appreciate the quality of Neumann studio mics but are the KMS105s really worth more than 4 times that of the best dynamic mics for stage use? I am not being funny, it is a genuine question.

 

No, at least not to my ears; but if you can pick one up for <£250, then I'd say it's worth it. I have one just as a different flavour to my KSM8. If I'm being honest, I can get a serviceable sound I'm happy with from near any dynamic mic, but the KMS150 sounds excellent effortlessly, and the less effort I have to put in, generally the happier I am.

[Beedster]

Dodgy gear is just part and parcel of the eBay experience now, which is why I rarely buy or sell there. A very sad repercussion of the proliferation of the sale of used items on the net is that on the whole, and BC excepted, I choose to buy new these days, even 'reliable' retailers can no longer be trusted to sell authentic used gear

[LLOYDWT]

3 hours ago, Beedster said:

Dodgy gear is just part and parcel of the eBay experience now, which is why I rarely buy or sell there. A very sad repercussion of the proliferation of the sale of used items on the net is that on the whole, and BC excepted, I choose to buy new these days, even 'reliable' retailers can no longer be trusted to sell authentic used gear

 

Some of the nicest, and rarest, gear I've bought has been from eBay; it does feel like it's gettiing worse, and eBay as a company definitely isn't pulling its weight in dealing with the issues. But there are still some brilliant sellers on there and I'm going to continue spending too much time and too much money navigating the listings.

 

What really irks me, though, is that this guy has sold at least 4 other fake mics, and eBay, despite being made aware by me, is going to do sweet F.A. about it. He sold one of them after I reported him for selling fakes (he reduced his asking price by £70 to encourage a quick sale!).

[Beedster]

Not as easy as you'd think to prove something is a fake, especially niche items like mics, you say it's fake, sller says it's real, what do you expect eBay to do, phone Neumann and request a formal appraisal? But it's not just that, eBay are also aware that if they simply removed every reported fake it would be chaos, every disgruntled customer, every scammer, and every dodgy dealer who'd happily report their competitors to eBay or similar for selling 'fakes' just to get them off the market, would be at it 24/7. I think we just have to be proportionate in our expectations of eBay or shop elsewhere

[LLOYDWT]

29 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Not as easy as you'd think to prove something is a fake, especially niche items like mics, you say it's fake, sller says it's real, what do you expect eBay to do, phone Neumann and request a formal appraisal? But it's not just that, eBay are also aware that if they simply removed every reported fake it would be chaos, every disgruntled customer, every scammer, and every dodgy dealer who'd happily report their competitors to eBay or similar for selling 'fakes' just to get them off the market, would be at it 24/7. I think we just have to be proportionate in our expectations of eBay or shop elsewhere

 

Fair points, but with the volume of items that are being sold, allocating staff to the appraisal of questionable listings seems somewhat sensible. You don't have to be Rupert Neve to be able to figure out half of these things aren't legitimate. And, if a seller has conceded that an item is fake and offered a full refund, why allow that seller to continue selling the same items without some kind of intervention and assessment?

 

Perhaps the threat of some actual consequences would deter the less hardy fraudsters.

[Downunderwonder]

I am pretty sure Neuman will have a lawyer to write to fleabay telling them to do better. Send your info to them.

[Chienmortbb]

20 hours ago, LLOYDWT said:

If I'm being honest, I can get a serviceable sound I'm happy with from near any dynamic mic, but the KMS150 sounds excellent effortlessly, and the less effort I have to put in, generally the happier I am.

In our band we all have different mics, from the Singer's 58, through Sennheiser E745, Behringer XM8500 to my Sontronics Solo. I love the Solo so much that I bought another 2. IMHO the Shure is probably the worst of the bunch. However, I am always open to the thinking of others. Thank you for posting this and at two strokes making me want one, then saying I did not need one.😥

[LLOYDWT]

42 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

In our band we all have different mics, from the Singer's 58, through Sennheiser E745, Behringer XM8500 to my Sontronics Solo. I love the Solo so much that I bought another 2. IMHO the Shure is probably the worst of the bunch. However, I am always open to the thinking of others. Thank you for posting this and at two strokes making me want one, then saying I did not need one.😥

 

I really dislike 58s. I think their ubiquity is often misconstrued as universal approval. There are so many great mics that can be had for the same, or less, money.

 

Need's never had anything to do with it. Buying frivolous and expensive toys purely for the fun of playing with frivolous and expensive toys is one of my top hobbies. And if you can pick one up for the right price, you won't struggle to move it on for the same money should you ever tire of it. I say get one! 😁

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, LLOYDWT said:

I really dislike 58s. I think their ubiquity is often misconstrued as universal approval. There are so many great mics that can be had for the same, or less, money.

 

Like the P-Bass and the Ampeg stack, SM58s are popular because they were good for what they did at a time when there was relatively little competition.

[LLOYDWT]

17 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Like the P-Bass...

 

Blasphemy 😆