I got scammed on fake Ernie Ball Slinkys

BRENTrocks

BRENTrocks

Well-known member
I bought some Ernie ball strings off of eBay last week.

They arrived the other day and they are definitely NOT EB Slinkys.

Packages look different, but kinda the same

The strings are off, not as shiny. And the E, A and D have a single string end. It’s not cut off whole like a real EB string.

I have tried to contact the seller. Crickets.

Live and learn I guess.


In the pictures the fakes are on the right.


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Not doubting you, but it seem kinda odd to me for someone to go through that effort to fake a $5 pack of strings. Though scammers have gone to excessive lengths for less so anything is possible. And there is a noticeable difference of everything. You can definitely tell the main packing on the fake ones is blurry or double stamped.

Spit-balling a couple of other possibilities that could explain differences...
Do you think they could be real but made & packed in a different factory? Or possibly factory seconds? Maybe the real ones were made for individual sale and the "fakes" were made for bulk sale like when you buy a 10 pack.
 
I have Ernie ball packages here that look the same both sets of strings you have in your pics with the same differences in packaging. Both were bought from Andertons in the UK. I asked Andertons about the difference in packaging and they told me that the packaging style has changed from time to time. I'm would hope andertons wouldn't be selling me fakes.

I have quite regularly opened slinkys and found them to be dirty once I start playing them sort get my fingers really dirty after awhile.
I'm not saying yours are not fake they could well be as there are definitely fakes out there but I wouldn't judge it based on differences in packaging or the strings not being shiny.
I find a lot of Ebay sellers don't reply to me when I sell to them or buy from them I think that's just the way some Ebayers are.
 
McDonalds sold cheeseburgers for 1$ a piece and is one of the biggest food chains ever. Not a bad idea to reproduce something super cheap and pawn off as real deal, and quadruple your money invested. Computers can easily make the packaging graphics, strings made in some Chinese or Indonesian machine shop. Who is going to go through the trouble of complaining about a couple dollars lost- pain and suffering just complaining to eBay is more trouble than it’s worth.
 
Very common. Chinese scammers are doing a lot of string scams like this. Was a YouTube video on this a few years back on this and they used Ernie Ball as an example of a commonly scammed string set.
 
I would send Ernie Ball an email and ask if there is a way to verify if they are legit or not. Perhaps some "lot code" or "batch code" on the packaging. I believe they are aware of counterfeits out there and probably have a method to confirm. Sorry the seller is ghosting you - annoying.
 
I received an email recently from a place in China selling Ernie Ball guitar strings for $2.50 less than cost on them. Company had a China address.
 
Forgive me, if I sound stupid, but why not buy directly from EB? You, US people have that great opportunity unlike us…
 
Definitely stay with the main outlets for all stuff IMO. Sweetwater, MF, or just buy direct. Juststrings is great for creating custom sets with bulk singles.
 
maybe EB will find a way to "guarantee" authenticity and, of course, raise their prices.
 
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