Is this a audioquest cable counterfeit fake?

Was it new or used?

How much less than MSRP did you pay?

I once bought a fancy”Audioquest” hdmi cable on eBay at about 10% of retail as an experiment. Was it fake? You bet! Did it work? Yes, but a real Audioquest cable that I had (a supposedly cheaper model) had much more vivid picture.

ebay has turned into a cesspool. 15 years ago it was an exciting place to buy stuff (I got a great deal on a very nice Stellarvue app refractor, you can’t fake Starlight instruments focused!). 
 

Don't buy from China or Hong Kong on EBay, is my advice.

Try and trust your ears

I just purchased a cart from him. Dude is fantastic. It was overnited from Hong Kong and I didn't ask nor pay for it. My second purchase from him and he's flawless. Be careful jumping to such broad claims. 

If it's a fake Cut it open and let's see the guts, if your really sure it's a fake what's it matter! My AQ coffee I bought from Best Buy, only because They gave me a huge CC one time looked just like the Diamond did in that unboxing video. Maybe the seller didn't know he had a fake! Either way he should've excepted a return, why risk a negative FB. I wouldn't bought it without him taking returns.

Also a fellow could swap out a real one for a fake and try to send it in, works both ways. I'm not implying you did that but I'm sure it's happened before somewhere like the turntable guy awhile back after 30 days he was scammed when the buyer said it was damaged.