How Do I Identify A Fake Beatles Mono Box?

It's real.

 

Yeah, I've got a lot of pull at Amazon. I spend thousands there a year. I use the Amazon credit card. They respect me. I tell them something is wrong I get my money back right away. They love me.

 

I had a very hard time getting the inner box out of the outer casing. I'm afraid to put it back in, what with all the work it required to get it out. Maybe if I massage the inners of the outer box it will stretch itself out a little.

I knew it was real right away. It has that weight to it that the phony one doesn't have. Also...the discs actually play!

 

I spend more than that, and I generate a lot of money for them through Amazon Marketplace, too...And I have never had them refund my money before the item was returned except in a case where they didn't require the item to be returned (e.g. bad food).

 

If you spend thousands a year at Amazon, why didn't you just spend the extra $50 and buy a legitimate Mono Box and be done with all of this gambling on fakes?

 

Because I want a bargain. I won't pay more for an item than it's worth. A 13 disc box? $10 a disc is my max.

 

So how did that "bargain" work out for you?

 

Surely your time (with the first fake box you bought and potentially the 2nd as well) spent spending things back and forth, getting refunds, general stress, etc, is worth more than $50.

I'd pay that difference very quickly, KNOWING I'm getting the real deal.

Edit - The real Mono Box is worth more than $130 in terms of quality in the first place.

 

I agree - definitely first rate and worth more than $10 a disc easy, considering not only the quality of the packaging but the quality mastering of the Beatles in @#$!&* mono, fercrissakes.

 

Worked out just fine. I paid $140 and I'm not losing any sleep.

 

There was no stress. It was a pleasure to get a fake box and experience it. Mailing back was no sweat, and my money was returned minutes after I contacted the seller. I also gained a swell story to share with the board, which is satisfying.

The box is very nice, it sounds terrific and it is handsome. I'm just a cheap a$$, and I am not ashamed to admit it.

 

Let me ask this again: out of curiosity, are they digitally identical to the real thing? Thanks.

 

It certainly wasn't a pleasure to get a fake mono box. The seller (Ebay) soon after sending it to me became "no longer registered" - this was before receiving it, so you can imagine my reaction. Had to wait 7 days for seller to respond, send it back on my dime ($14 UPS), wait 3 more days for seller to refund. Of course, no contact at all from seller. Just now a message from Ebay that I've been refunded the winning bid of the auction, so I'm out the 14 bucks. Yay.

 

Lesson: Do not buy this item from anyone you can't inherently trust.

 

Well, yeah. Now I know.

 

I think the key here is to emphasize the following:

Many think that eBay/PayPal protect you during a transaction, and to an extent they do. HOWEVER, eBay/PayPal will always require you to return an item AT YOUR EXPENSE if you have to get them involved. So even if you ultimately get a "full" refund, expect to lose the cost of return shipping.

 

Do we know of any fakes that have an OBI and are apparently Japanese releases?

 

Not only that, you have to provide proof you sent it back.

 

Yes, the one site I saw was selling the Japanese w/obi, shipping from China. Beware, trust who you are buying from.

 

Hopefully with the mono box as cheap as it is on Amazon this will steer people away from buying from individual sellers, but many (myself included) want to save a few dollars.
I wonder, if this set sells out, how people will be able to get a legit set. Will be very difficult, with all the fake ones out there. This chilling possibility got me to finally get it from Amazon (the $153 price tag didn't hurt, either; heck, that's what, $14 an album? Plus 7.9% KS sales tax ).

Aaaaanyway, what I still don't understand is how and where exactly people got these counterfeits in the first place. Where were they sold? I'm missing some pieces of the puzzle.

 

Well, count me among the screwed. Received mine today and it is clearly a counterfeit. Shoddy packaging, no inner sleeves, and get this - stereo mixes. Every last one of them. Clones down to having the mini-docs on them! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGG!

NJB

 

No surprise. Gotta blame yourself, because there were many warnings...

As for where they're coming from: You can order them from Chinese middlemen for about $280 or so for 10 mono boxes, shipped to the US. Price for the stereo box is around $300 for 10.

If you sell them for $100, and even if half the buyers figure out they're counterfeit, you still make good money.

THAT'S why you see tons of them for sale.

The thing I can't understand is why Amazon hasn't put the kibosh on all this, e.g. no sellers without XX feedback can sell this item (they do that all the time around xmas for certain items).

 

Where did you buy it and what did it cost?

 

Where do people find these Chinese middlemen?