Knock off electronics in The Warehouse

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jpoc

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#157270 26-Nov-2014 07:23

A few weeks ago, I bought an mp3 player off Ali Express.

As you would expect, it was bundled with some free earbuds.

They were a copy of the Beats Tour ear buds which you can see below. They even had the logo.

http://www.amazon.com/Beats-In-Ear-Headphone-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B008CS9O8Q/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1416939181&sr=8-13&keywords=beats+earbuds

Not great quality but about what you would expect for the freebie with a $12 mp3 player.

Then I saw this on the Warehouse site:

http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/catalog/product/iWorld-Pro-Earbuds-with-Microphone-Red?SKU=1829111

There are more photos on the current warehouse mailer which show the resemblance even more clearly.

OK, the ones in the Warehouse do not have the Beats logo but it is clear where they come from.

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#1183091 26-Nov-2014 07:34

$18 for a headphone is not really a premium price. I don't quite understand what do you expect for that price.

sbiddle

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#1183094 26-Nov-2014 07:47

Japan City at Westfield Queensgate sells "Beats" in-ear buds for (from memory) $9.95 complete with really good knockoff packaging.

I wonder if anybody could actually tell the difference in sound quality between them and the real thing?

jpoc

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#1183095 26-Nov-2014 07:47

nakedmolerat: $18 for a headphone is not really a premium price. I don't quite understand what do you expect for that price.

I'm not saying anything about the price just noting that the shop is selling a counterfeit copy of a top brand. (Albeit without the Beats logo.)

nakedmolerat

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#1183097 26-Nov-2014 07:52

jpoc:
nakedmolerat: $18 for a headphone is not really a premium price. I don't quite understand what do you expect for that price.

I'm not saying anything about the price just noting that the shop is selling a counterfeit copy of a top brand. (Albeit without the Beats logo.)

It is not really a counterfeit as they put their own brand on it.

taneb1

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#1183099 26-Nov-2014 07:55

Just my opinion, but I don't really see how these are knock off electronics?
Admittedly the headphones do look similar with the colors to the Beats but they are a separate brand, different packaging and have different microphone buttons
The only similarity really is the red colors and the silver bit on the ear-buds doesn't scream knock off as such to me.

Any comments made are my personal views and does not represent those of my employer

jpoc

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#1183105 26-Nov-2014 08:06

taneb1: Just my opinion, but I don't really see how these are knock off electronics?
Admittedly the headphones do look similar with the colors to the Beats but they are a separate brand, different packaging and have different microphone buttons
The only similarity really is the red colors and the silver bit on the ear-buds doesn't scream knock off as such to me.

I believe that the mic button is almost identical to the one on the old Beats Tour. Not the same as the newer models.

Inphinity

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#1183107 26-Nov-2014 08:13

jpoc:
nakedmolerat: $18 for a headphone is not really a premium price. I don't quite understand what do you expect for that price.

I'm not saying anything about the price just noting that the shop is selling a counterfeit copy of a top brand. (Albeit without the Beats logo.)

It is clearly not trying to claim to be beats-branded, or trick you in to thinking so. It is clearly branded very differently. It's just a similar product. Do you claim Pepsi is a counterfeit copy of Coke, because it's similar but branded differently?

It would be different if they had the beats logo and such and were not genuine.

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gmball

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#1183110 26-Nov-2014 08:28

I have no idea what the OP is on about.

They would be knock off beats headphones if they were manufactured with the beats logo and packaged in beats packaging and sold as beats headphones.

None of the above apply, and anyone purchasing them would have no reason to think they are buying beats headphones.

Sure, they may look alike, but you could say that about many things in life, I seem to recall many tablets that look like iPad's and many phones that look like iPhones, yet people don't consider these to be knockoff's as they are not sold as apple devices.

ckc

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#1183187 26-Nov-2014 10:41

sbiddle: Japan City at Westfield Queensgate sells "Beats" in-ear buds for (from memory) $9.95 complete with really good knockoff packaging.

I wonder if anybody could actually tell the difference in sound quality between them and the real thing?

Yeah, they'd think the knockoffs sounded better. They'd say, hey, my music isn't drowned in bass.

michaelmurfy

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#1183188 26-Nov-2014 10:51

CHOKING HAZARD -- This toy is a small ball. Not for children under 3 yrs.

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khull

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#1183189 26-Nov-2014 10:51

Not even sure why people would bother trying to imitate Beats - not like the audio quality can be justified

wasabi2k

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#1183193 26-Nov-2014 11:02

khull: Not even sure why people would bother trying to imitate Beats - not like the audio quality can be justified

To cash in on the enormous number of people who think that they must be amazing because famous people wear them.

What a triumph of marketing.

Develop product that is cheap to produce and of average quality
Make famous people endorse it
Sell company for a bazillion dollars

Seriously - people will spend $500 on a pair of beats roughly comparable to a $50 set of sennheisers because NBA star #8 wears them.

openmedia

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#1183261 26-Nov-2014 13:01

jpoc: A few weeks ago, I bought an mp3 player off Ali Express.

As you would expect, it was bundled with some free earbuds.

They were a copy of the Beats Tour ear buds which you can see below. They even had the logo.

http://www.amazon.com/Beats-In-Ear-Headphone-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B008CS9O8Q/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1416939181&sr=8-13&keywords=beats+earbuds

Not great quality but about what you would expect for the freebie with a $12 mp3 player.

Then I saw this on the Warehouse site:

http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/catalog/product/iWorld-Pro-Earbuds-with-Microphone-Red?SKU=1829111

There are more photos on the current warehouse mailer which show the resemblance even more clearly.

OK, the ones in the Warehouse do not have the Beats logo but it is clear where they come from.

You can get the same iWorld headphones through Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/iWorld-Pro-Earbuds-Headphones-Black/dp/B00KDTN0VY

I don't see the Warehouse doing anything wrong as they aren't claiming that these are Beats earbuds.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

Lurch

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#1184404 27-Nov-2014 20:35

Can pick those exact same ear buds at any good $2 shop for $8-$12 :-)

Geektastic

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#1184701 28-Nov-2014 09:31

sbiddle: Japan City at Westfield Queensgate sells "Beats" in-ear buds for (from memory) $9.95 complete with really good knockoff packaging.

I wonder if anybody could actually tell the difference in sound quality between them and the real thing?

They might be the real thing - how do we know the Beats ones do not come off the same factory line?!

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