Fake / Counterfeit HID Xenon bulbs on eBay. Beware.

[Vexed]

Hi guys,

I would like to share my recent experience with buying Xenon HID bulbs from eBay, I hope this will benefit all the other users looking to purchase bulbs online.
Moderators, please feel free to move this thread to the appropriate sub-forum if necessary.

A couple of months ago, one of my headlights turned purple, it was time to replace the bulb. As usual, the first place I started looking at was eBay.

After doing some research, I ended up buying 2 x OSRAM Xenarc Night Breaker Unlimited, from a popular seller called XenonEurope. This seller had 3000+ 100% feedback. I thought that was trustworthy enough.
This is the item I bought 2 X D1S Osram Night Breaker Unlimited Xenarc Xenon 35W Xenon HID Bulb Quality | eBay

The price is around 50% off retail.

I paid for the item via PayPal. I noticed that the item was in UK, and the seller's email address was from Poland. That was my first hint, something didn't feel right, and I thought with that price, they must stolen or something.

I have done more research, and it turns out the market is flooded with counterfeit bulbs, and from what I have seen (images and documents), fake bulbs are very easy to spot.

I received the bulbs 6 days later. They didn't look that fake (as shown in the photos and documents I have seen earlier), I had my doubts, but I wasn't sure. I didn't want to install the bulbs until I was 100% sure they were genuine.

I went to PoweBulbs, and I bought the same bulbs again. they were ~$280 delivered. PowerBulbs are Osram approved partner.

I received the genuine bulbs from PowerBulbs, and straight away, it was obvious without a doubt, XenonEurope is selling fake bulbs.

Please see the below comparison between Genuine bulbs and Fake Bulbs. The fake bulbs are the ones on the left.

Packaging:











Bulbs:







Please note the ceramic on the fake bulbs is a bit darker. The ceramic on the genuine bulbs is a bit closer to the top of the glass. Also, note the difference in glass shape and quality.

I contacted Osram Australia, and they were very kind to send the bulbs to Germany on my behalf for technical analysis.

The results are below:






As you can see, this seller and many others are charging buyers $100+ for absolute rubbish, and buyers are leaving them positive feedback.

I hope this will help you in your next purchase.

eBay is becoming the place to sell counterfeit merchandise, and when it comes to claims, eBay and PayPal are not your friends, do not trust their policies about buyer protection, all they care about is their percentage of the sale. I only got my money back after threatening to go to ACCC and the Ombudsman.
If it is too good to be true, it probably isn't.

Pay extra and buy your bulbs from an authorized dealer. you can find more details about Osram partners here:

Approved partners

Good luck.
Vexed

[Passat R36]

Thanks for the write up!
Buyers beware! I watched that item before on eBay and now deleted. I will go PowerBulbs to buy as always, if I need to change my D1S.

How's these OSRAM Xenarc Night Breaker Unlimited color comparing with OEM? Thanks.

[Vexed]

Thanks for the write up!
Buyers beware! I watched that item before on eBay and now deleted. I will go PowerBulbs to buy as always, if I need to change my D1S.

How's these OSRAM Xenarc Night Breaker Unlimited color comparing with OEM? Thanks.

You're welcome.

OSRAM Xenarc Night Breaker Unlimited has no blue at all, they are white. I have noticed they are also brighter than OEM.

[kamold]

Apparently up to 80% of bulbs sold online are fake. No idea how that figure was arrived upon (perhaps Philips/osram production vs items sold or something) or a random sample extrapolated.
Seems pretty much anything can be copied these days.

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[Vexed]

Apparently up to 80% of bulbs sold online are fake. No idea how that figure was arrived upon (perhaps Philips/osram production vs items sold or something) or a random sample extrapolated.
Seems pretty much anything can be copied these days.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Honestly I had no idea these bulbs could be faked... Usually I'd worry about watches or designer clothes...
Right now I have zero trust for anything on sold on eBay, especially international sellers.
I remember a couple of years ago, it was all about Gillette shaving blades and Paul Smith wallets... Not anymore.
By the way, the seller denied those bulbs are counterfeit, then he offered me a full refund without returning the bulbs, in exchange of removing my negative feedback. It only means he paid nothing for those bulbs...

[kamold]

Full disclosure: I bought what is obviously counterfeit bulbs for $20 a pair and they actually perform very well. Then I looked into the whole counterfeit issue.
So if you are selling those $20 pairs for $100 or more that's some easy profit.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Vexed]

Full disclosure: I bought what is obviously counterfeit bulbs for $20 a pair and they actually perform very well. Then I looked into the whole counterfeit issue.
So if you are selling those $20 pairs for $100 or more that's some easy profit.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Exactly... I don't mind paying $20 for $20 bulbs if that's what I'm after ... Just don't charge me $150 for them, and don't tell me they are genuine Philips or Osram bulbs...

[theresanothersteve]

Full disclosure: I bought what is obviously counterfeit bulbs for $20 a pair and they actually perform very well. Then I looked into the whole counterfeit issue.
So if you are selling those $20 pairs for $100 or more that's some easy profit.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

There is also a question of ethics here.

People ask why they should buy the genuine, when the counterfeit is so much cheaper and (in some cases) works as well.

The problem is development. Someone (Osram, Philips etc) spends a lot of money on research and development. The cost is built into the final product. The counterfeiter, who has similar production costs, does not have to wear the development cost.

So, do you go with the cheapest or do you support the people who are developing the next generation, likely to be better and/ or cheaper than the current product?

I have no problem with cheap alternatives, such as scuff plates and the like, where the cheaper alternative is likely to be designed and developed by the supplier, but if IP (there, I said it) is involved I try to make ethical decisions.

[JustCruisn]

I bought fake Oral B toothbrush heads on ebay. They must have gone to some serious lengths to copy them, they looked so close packaging logos etc were spot on.
But they were **** quality and failed within days and tended to pinch cheek etc. Was an Australian seller shipping via Austpost from Sydney, I called them on the counterfeit and they gave the money back without any challenge.

Also fake fan control unit for the MK4, lost out $20 there, PayPal wanted me to ship it registered mail back to HK at my own cost and they would refund me the original $20. Shipping to HK was $30.

[kamold]

Got some fake memory cards once (4gb cards sold as 32gb) this is also a very common. Seller refunded asap

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