Ebay hearing aids

I just got my ebay hearing aids at a savings of $4200.00. They have been on me for two days now and they are wonderful. BTE open. I can only tell you that after two days these
folks from England do a great job. IF that changes I will let everyone know. I am very happy with what I got for $795.00. It was worth the gamble.

I’m glad this worked out for you!

What company made the hearing aids (brand) and what was the model designation? Did these come with self adjusting software?

A $750 gamble. Must be nice. What if they break?

Most new hearing aids (if you can call them that) sold on eBay are made in China junk. Available in bulk for about $15 each. Or if you buy a national name brand, it will not be covered by the manufacturers warranty. Most of the name brand hearing aid manufacturers have explicitly banned the sale of their hearing aids on the internet.

The only two mainstream brands that are sold on the internet and have any acceptable chance of being properly adjusted for your specific hearing loss and sound quality are AH and HearSource. I am a more than satisfied HearSource behind the ear hearing aid wearer and would recommend them without hesitation.

I don’t gamble with my money or my hearing aids even if it is ONLY $795. :confused:

What evidence do you have for these assertions?

Max, quite a few of the hearing aids are sold on e-bay are used or near new. I saw a pair of almost new Starkey Destinys on e-bay recently for $1000.00. The owner had died and the next of his was disposing of the decedents property.

There is nothing wrong with that.

I would buy them from e-bay and pay an audi to program if I had to. I don’t have to; I can afford the route that offers more piece of mind.

I am fortunate. Not everyone is.

MAxKY62 : Your assertions about Chinese aids and EBay are patently without foundation.

Facts are that there are excellent Chinese manufacturers of aids. One being New Sound, LTD of Xiamen, China. And they are not $15…,Most of their aids are in excess of $100 wholesale in large quantity.

And a number of the European leading brands have their aids assembled in high quality modern Chinese plants.

Yes there is some junk aids for sale on Ebay…but there are high quality aids also for sale at about half of what a local will charge. For example Siemens top line aids are listed for low prices. Price includes warranty and adjustment to your Audiogram.

Ed

OK, I went this route and will not take the gamble again. If anything goes out you might as well throw them away unless you can find another internet repair center that deals with those aids specific parts. I bought (2) pair of Dot 30’s for $1,000 with one pair that had some minor issues. I can’t find any internet repair center that will use Resound parts to fix them. Resound will not touch them also. I would rather spend the money with my ear doctor and have piece of mine.

On Ebay there are several legitimate authorized dealers for top name brand aids. These are new aids with full mfg warranty. If purchased with an AMEX credit card the warranty is for 2 extra years.

Buying used aids is a terrible gamble.

Ed

Send an email to the manufacture and ask them if they will warranty their aids from ebay. Your taking a gamble with the seller,which, from what I have been seeing, is only (2) people total selling all makes and brands. Take a look at how they advertise and their different emails. Their ratings are not trust worthy either. They are collecting as many orders as they can in a months time then shipping them out. If you try and post a problem about the seller, you can’t since their listing has now closed. (Nice scam)

I think their buying the returns and demos somehow and then selling them. Currently, Resound UK is investigating their aids being sold on Ebay. I have sent a pair of mine in for further investigations to be done by Resound. Again, good luck with any problems that may occur with your aids.

Keep in mind this is only Ebay and not other online retailers.

Of the first 60 items listed on eBay using the search term “Hearing Aid”,

28 of the first 60 items listed were made in China junk hearing aids.
1 of the first 60 items listed was a Siemens hearing aid,
1 of the first 60 items listed was an Audibel hearing aid,
1 of the first 60 items listed was a Sebotec hearing aid.

Do a Google search using the search term “Make in China Hearing Aid” and you’ll see most of the hearing aids listed listed the majority of what you’ll find on eBay.

Buying stuff through eBay or from China is not a bad thing. I just would not buy my hearing aids, medicine, or other super important items from there.

Not everyone has $5000 for a pair of HAs. You can get them on ebay for under $1000 for a pair. The gain will be maybe 5db less and the quality a little less. If they break, just buy another on ebay, youll still save over repairing $5000 HAs. I would never spend $5000 on HAs. I only got my Phonak Naida V UPs cause I got a great deal. Otherwise ill just buy them cheap on ebay and save my money in a bank or funds for stem cells in the future that can repair my hearing :slight_smile:

IMO, the riskier proposition is to pay an HIS $5000 in the hopes that his outrageously priced hearing aid will improve your hearing. You could go to Ebay five times and break even, monetarily…:smiley:

Stop and think about it. If some one is living on a small pension or Social Security, $5,000 represents eating or not eating. That is the reason I mention Ebay as a possible source. If you are moderately affluent and non-technical, of course, the local professionals represent less risk and better (maybe) fitting.

Ebay is like any other seller. You take some risk. But again let me point out that there are a few Ebay stores with overwhelming statistics on customer satisfaction. If a persons loss is mild or even moderate they could get a bargain from these Ebay stores if they stick to the highly rated stores. Just my opinion…Ed

I’ll admit that I’m waiting to hear from someone who isn’t satisfied with an ebay purchase. My DD just started the process for braces (3900) and got her first hearing aid this week (2300) (Oticon M7 for mild cookie bite). As DD is 10.5, going through the audi makes a lot of sense. But where’s the money left for the two that I need?

The very reasonable sounding man on Ebay told me that he’d be happy to sell me the Oticon Duals XW like my audi suggested (for $1400 less) but that really, I’d probably be just fine with the M7s for $2,000 less. How many adjustments and fittings and batteries can $2,000 get me?

I’m waiting and watching to hear if anyone’s had warranty problems or if they really are not legitimate aids. I did correspond with the other person Amanda and wasn’t impressed by her three different email names and crossed her off my list. And, now she has no listings–another thread implied that she was being investigated. But what if this is a reasonable source?

My warranty on the Siemens / Electone (Ebay purchase) is very good. I had one problem after 3-4 months,(user error :))and it was handled courteously and promptly.

Bob

I bought a pair of Resound Dot 30s on Ebay from seller quality.x.value in early July. Turns out that is Amanda. She has been responsive to my problems so far, and has sent me a set of longer wires and a dryer box. Yesterday she sent me an email and said she is going to replace one of my aids that works for a couple of hours and then puts out distorted sound. She said that they are covered under warranty.

I went to the Beltone store in town for their free hearing test and demo. They programmed a set of Beltone Reach aids for me, and I couldn’t believe how great they worked. But I couldn’t afford the $6,000 price. That got me started looking on Ebay, and buying the Dot 30s. They are supposed to be the same as the Beltone model I tried.

It takes a couple of weeks for the mail to get here from England, but for the savings I am satisfied. The Dot 30s were programmed to fit my hearing test
chart. I went to a real ENT for the hearing test I sent to Amanda for programming.

It is the $6000.00 that I cannot afford. I was told by a friend of mine who is an audiologist that 99% of the parts for ALL the big name HA’s are made in China and assembled in the country they claim to be made in. I believe him. The service issues should be taken care of by any technician who services your (brand name) hearing aids anywhere in the world.
I bought brand name aids. Not the junk with no name of warrente. Amanda was and still is excellent to do business with. I think the fear level created by the “what if” folks in this business is way over exaggerated. You can mail your HA’s to many very large U.S. businesses for repair and adjustment if necessary. I could own 2 pairs that the price I paid and still have $4000.00 left over. That is just too much money to give to someone for a pair of hearing aids if you are retired and on a fixed income like I am. If someone on ebay has a one hundred percent rating for a large amount of sales, you can believe it for the most part. I placed my trust in their ebay rating and it shined through as far as I am concerned.

The way i see it, hearing health coverage in the USA has 2 classes: the haves and have nots. You either have the money to buy custom hearing aids (or have insurance coverage) or you have to go without amplification.

We physicians know that untreated hearing loss leads to depression, anxiety, and social isolation in the elderly, and a JAMA article has linked untreated hearing loss with Alzheimer’s type dementia.

As long as it is of reasonable quality, some form of amplification is better than none. In fact, Sergei Kochkin in a 2003 article in The Hearing Review points out that in numerous studies he found only a slight positive relationship between the cost of a hearing aid and the actual hearing benefit received by a consumer. So paying more does not guarantee that someone will hear noticeably better.

A reasonable analogy is that custom hearing aids are like a new Mercedes (not just in cost!) and the better one-size-fits-most hearing aids are like a used Toyota. You can still get around in the used Toyota, and you are better off than not having any car at all.

That is why i developed the Acoustitone PRO hearing aid. If you can’t afford traditional hearing aids and are looking for a reasonable option at a reasonable price, go to http://MDHearingAid.com. If it doesn’t work for you, you can return it for a risk-free experience. We have had over 95% patient satisfaction measured by surveys made after purchase and the very few number of returned hearing aids.

Dr C: I liked your blurb on your web site. Particularly your description of the effect of the various lobbies on restricting distribution of aids. Vested interest has resulted in $4,000-$6,000 aids being the standard.

Not that anyone is getting rich selling aids under the present inefficient distribution system with its restrictive regs.

This system has also resulted in stifling innovation of self programming aids for over the counter sale. Ed