Beware of FAKE Guitar strings

[kissing]

I had recently fallen victim to fake Elixir guitar strings from Ebay.
Notable differences between fake and genuine:

1. Font & packaging slightly different
2. Fake strings don't have the coating genuine ones do
3. Fake strings do not sound as good (less sustain, less low end)
4. The Fake string gauges/tension may not match what is on the packaging.

I made a video talking about it:

 

[man0a]

Here is a 5-year-old thread in another forum about receiving counterfeit D'Addario strings from Amazon. Apparently this happens both with 3rd party sellers and "sold by Amazon" listings because Amazon does not always keep their stock separate. I believe that D'Addario has since changed their packaging to make counterfeiting more difficult, but other brands may have not. This may be even more of a problem on EBay unless you can verify that the seller is an authorized dealer.
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/137992-Counterfeit-D-Addario-Strings-from-Amazon

 

[necessaryrooster]

It's bizarre to me that anyone is going through the effort of counterfeiting guitar strings, especially if they're selling them for cheaper than MSRP. It's like counterfeiting a $1 bill.

 

[merlin666]

It's bizarre to me that anyone is going through the effort of counterfeiting guitar strings, especially if they're selling them for cheaper than MSRP. It's like counterfeiting a $1 bill.

It adds up if the cost of the counterfeit is 1c or less. D'addario guitar strings are in vaccuum sealed packages that have a unique code that can be entered to validate they are genuine. And the code is also good for collecting points. I am a point collector and if you don't enter d'addario codes I will gladly accept them.

 

[Cockney Sparrow]

Thanks for the heads up kissing, I have a set of the Nanowebs still in their packaging that I got cheap on Amazon a few months back. Next string change I will examine them carefully as I do not want my neck damaged. Hats off to D'addario's with their online checker. By the way, your video looks fake when you talk, your mouth is saying someting else!

 

[Rllink]

Aquila has had problems with counterfeit ukulele strings as well. Last time I was on their site, several years ago, they had a page on how to spot the fakes.