The GHD IV hair straightener is one of the most popular hair straighteners in the world. Available in a variety of different models – including the GHD Mini, GHD Salon Styler, and limited edition sets like GHD Pretty in Pink – the GHD flat iron is one of the most sought-after hair straighteners available.
Unfortunately, the popularity of GHD hair straighteners means it is frequently counterfeited and sold to unsuspecting consumers. While buying a knock off GHD IV styler at a knock down price might sound great, counterfeit products do not have the same features that have made the GHD popular in the first place.
Also, safety is a concern with counterfeit products: not only will GHD not honour any warranty on knockoff products, but fake GHD hair straighteners can cause fires and potentially damage your hair.
It’s very important to know you’re buying the real thing when purchasing a GHD hair straightener. With so many companies selling the GHD IV, how do you know if you’re buying an authentic item?
Follow these important steps to authenticate your GHD straightener:
- Buy from a respected retailer – Products sold from overseas or auction sites are frequently counterfeit. There is no accountability and these companies or individuals do not need to answer to Trading Standards. Buy GHD hair straighteners only from a reputable merchant located in your home country.
- Visit the official GHD website – Once you receive your GHD straighteners, register your product online to active the two-year warranty. Fake serial numbers will be rejected by the system.
You should also look for these GHD IV hair straightener features:
- Authentic GHD packaging – Genuine GHD IV hair straighteners come with a serial numbered product, instruction booklet and power adapter.
- Official GHD holograms – Look for holograms on the tag (attached to the cord) and on the straightener’s inner body. The serial numbers should match and be verified on the official GHD website.
- Metal hinge pins – Authentic GHD hair straighteners have metal hinge pins. The pins should not be plastic; in fact, any appearance of a cheap plastic design should be taken as a warning sign. Real GHD straighteners are made well and do not “feel cheap”.
- Check product features – If you have one of the special edition GHD straighteners like the limited edition GHD Pretty in Pink straightener set, match the items you receive with the items advertised by GHD. Some counterfeit sets will omit smaller items in a set in an attempt to save money.
- Check the price – Is the price too good to be true? As long as the GHD IV hair straightener remains popular, the prices will remain in the range of £80-£120. Legitimate retailers do often have sales on their items, but it doesn’t make sense to sell a popular product like the GHD IV straightener at below wholesale cost. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
As tempting as it may be to buy a non-authentic GHD straightener, remember why you wanted it in the first place. Counterfeiters must cut corners to compete on price, which means the straightener may look like the real thing when it is actually missing some of the key interior components or safety features (like the sleep timer) that make the GHD IV styler so great. Don’t take a chance with your safety; make sure you are buying an authentic GHD hair straightener.
Tags: Hair straightening
i went online to order a flat iron from this website, and i don’t think it was a reputable website and the fact that it was out of the country concerned me. I cancelled it and hope that they haven’t sent it out. I just ordered it last night so i’m not tooo concerned. can you tell me who is reputable to order from.
thanks,
Petrina French
Hi Petrina,
You should always order from a retailer in your home country. You can find out who is GHD-approved by going to the GHD website. Be sure to search both retailers and salons for the full list (approved salons do not appear on the “website checker” on the GHD site but are still legit as long as they’re an approved salon). Any site that is GHD approved will sell genuine products with the full warranty.
If you’re in the UK, check out our site (we have the lowest price among GHD-approved retailers in the UK): http://www.edwardshairsolutions.co.uk
I hope this helps!
Well the company sent out a flat iron out anyway and there’s no way of contacting them. I’ve continued to send out emails to them and was told that if the plug isn’t a 3prong plug and doesn’t have a reset button on the plug that it’s a fake. I bought the kiss hoping to support breast cancer. There is a hologram of 5mfwd r8ucu d6n7t, can you tell me if this is a fake or not. I certainly don’t want to get shocked or burn my hair.Thanks for listening to my concerns, Petrina French
My dad recently purchased the GHD IV straighteners off what he thought was a reputable website. I’ve just been examining them and not only is the hologram not GHD, the date on the inside is not real, the GHD logo is highly faded and the label (on the wire), which supplies the registration code to verify it’s authenticity is not present. My dad paid through paypal. I’m almost certain that these are fakes and am worried to use them, having heard of stories of them catching fire… I haven’t yet told my dad of my worries as i feel guilty if he’s lost his money through counterfeit goods. Is there any way he would be able to get his money back?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Petrina French,
I had the same hologram code on a GHD I was planning to buy. I refused to buy it until the seller gave me the code which was the same as yours 5MFWD R8UCU D6N7T
I emailed GHD with that code, and was told it was a counterfeit.
Apparantly that code is common for counterfeits.
Sorry
MY SISTER PURCHASED GHD IN LIGHT PINK FOR Y NEICE WE LIKED THEM SO MUCH WE ORDERED ANOTHER PAIR THEY CAME FROM A DIFFERENT SITE AND THEY ARE DEFF FAKE WHAT CAN WE DO????????????????/
petrina … its a fake then!!
i just bought the exact same kiss ones and my code on the wire is that number :@ so angry!
on my actual irons near were u turn them on is a complete differnet number to the one u listed. and it is 561u1 cebzu 5g0ab is yours the same?
i av been looking on a few sites to see if they say its differnt like the wire and things but this ‘copy’ looks like a very good copy!!
Hi Petrina,
I know there’s probably little point in me messaging now as its been a few weeks but I think your straightener (and mine too unfortunately) is fake as they have the same serial code
I bought the rare straightener off ebay (against my better judgement) and have just determined it as a fake. I hope you haven’t burnt your hair!
Hello,
Love your website and alll the useful information it
Thank you so much for sharing and spreading the awerness about spoting fake straightners.
I would like to know do you provied discount/wholesale prices for large purchases?
I am interested in the CHI flat iron MORE than the GHD can you provied CHI authnicated flat irons?
your early reply is highly appreciated.
Have a good day.
Hi everybody,
So sorry to hear you all got stuck with fakes. If you paid with a credit card or Paypal, you can dispute the charge. This is the best chance you’ll have of getting your money back. You can also report the sellers to GHD. Unfortunately there are way too many fakes out there but every little bit helps in spreading the word and stopping the counterfeiters.
Good luck.
P.S. Absolutely do NOT use the straighteners. A common cost-cutting measure for counterfeit GHDs is to remove safety features so please be careful and be well!
Stacey: It’s a delicate issue but what if you bring it up casually by mentioning that you saw in the news (here’s an article: Beware Counterfeit Hair Straighteners) about fake GHDs and there was a warning about buying on eBay and what to look for? I’m sure your dad would rather know that the product could be dangerous. If it was recent (45 days, I think?) he can apply for a refund from Paypal.
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Hi Gada,
Thanks for getting in touch. We only sell GHD straighteners right now; drop us an email (http://www.edwardshairsolutions.co.uk/ContactUs/tabid/69/Default.aspx) so we can discuss.
Cheers.
my husband just ordered what he thought was genuine Ghd’s but after looking closer at the website it is a fake one, they have taken our money and not sure what to do now?? Phoned bank to stop them taking any more money, and found they had actually taken more than they were meant to. now wondering if i will recieve goods or not. Emailed them to cancel order but won’t hold my breath!!! Gutted
hii i brought a straightenerr from someone for 60pounds but im not sure wether its fake or reall. can u please hellp me
[...] How to Spot Fake GHD Hair Straighteners « Hair styling advice and … [...]
Hi everyone, I too have been ripped off and ordered the GHD pink straighteners from what looked like an authentic GHD reseller. They were clever and used the GHD logo and branding colours. The website itself is also a .co.uk website. They did take out more money than I authorised too and unfortunately, it was a debit card and not credit. I have contacted Trading Standards and basically, there is nothing I can do to get my money back and will just chalk it up as a bad experience and will only buy GHD’s from the hairdresser now. When the shabby product finally arrived there was an invoice in there and I decided to look up the company name, which translates to a Chinese swear word! Sorry for anyone else in the same situation as me, but guess we will all have learnt by now!
Hi Sami, i recieved a GHD off ebay and it had the same serial number as yours quoted 561u1 cebzu 5g0ab. It had this code and another that was different on the power cable.
I think the only way to get a real one is from a salon or striaght off GHD.
I ordered some pink ghd’s from a website (which no longer exists – I checked today!!
)as a Christmas present for my daughter. They share the hologram code 5mfwd r8ucu d6n7t so I know for certain, after reading all the messages above, that they are fake ones. I paid via Paypal so am hoping that I might get some of my money back. Feel so angry that I was sucked into ordering these, the website was so professional and looked genuine too. What an idiot I feel!! Totally gutted.
Hi i was bought the Pretty In Pink ghd Limited Edition box set for christmas from my dads girlfriend…i have registered them and it sent me an email etc saying thanks for registering but my plug on my straightners has 1 plastic prong does this mean theyre fake even though theyre registered..everything else that has come with them is the same off the website has all the tags instructions etc but just has the 1 thing with the prong? what shall i do?
thanks x
I have recently bought some ghds which i have since found out to be fake.They have 2 different numbers, one on the label attached to the flex which is the same as the one some of you have quoted and one on the hologram The payment went through pay pal so i thought they would be able to help but when i contacted them they said the only way they could help would be if i had not received the ghds.They do not accept any responsability for fake or inferior products so unfortunatly i am left with ghds i cannot use and out of pocket financialy.So anyone hoping to get a refund from pay pal forget it. Lesson learnt !! I have since purchased from an official website.
hi i have a ghd that was bought online too, everything seems real it has all of the markings of a real 1 but on which website can i go onto to check my serial no.?
Thnks
I just bought weeks ago and received yesterday a GHD IV Styler that looks real to me. Skeptical as I’m I went to look for more info online. After looking in many eBay reviews I spotted mine as 100% sure fake looking the tine details. And not satisfied i just google my hologram code and found quite many sites asking about or informing the code. 5mfwd r8ucu d6n7t.
I believe soon we will able just to google the code and found hundred of people looking for the same FAKE !@%!@% code!! =(
SO sad.
Now I’m welling to tell as much people as I can to spot fake GHD stylers. Mine was in a GREAT HUGE black box “ghd IV styler” “limited edition styling set” and even came with and hair spray “thermal protector for normal-fine hai”. Man I believe it’s water and the inside straw don’t eve go deep to the bottom of the bottle.
I will soon post the pictures of the product, box, etc online.
Any info please fill free to contact me.
alessandrohudson@gmail.com
Going to ebay to get some help (hope).
Hi, I brought a pink GHd Gift set off of Ebay for my girlfriend for xmas and thought they were the real deal. That was until I got a email from a fellow ebayer who also brought some from the same seller to tell me they were fakes so I phoned GHD and they confirmed mine were also fakes. So I have got onto paypal to get my money back by opening a claim and hopefully will be sorted by Feb. I paid 127.00 will never buy name goods off of ebay, gutted some ppl have the nerve to do this, even the communication with the seller before all of this come about was spot on. so ppl be careful