How to verify Philips COA (Certificate Of Authenticity) label
Philips introduced the COA (Certificate Of Authenticity) label to prevent counterfeit HID bulbs. Lately, Philips also introduced a new QR code-based COA label that caused some confusion among the buyers. We will clarify the new COA label and show you the process of verifying the new COA label.
Philips' first-generation COA label has a hologram marker with a mix of numbers, letters, and a set of ID numbers in the middle of the COA label. The HID bulb with this label is for the link www.philips.com/original. When you either go to the link Original.philips.com or scan the QR code, enter the security code (hologram marker) and the label ID. Additionally, enter the characters from the image at the bottom to verify that you are not a robot.
When the HID bulb is verified to be authentic, Philips website will say, "Label ID and security code are valid." If the HID bulb is not a genuine Philips product, the page will display, "Label ID and security code are invalid."
Another layer of security that Philips came up with is the tamper-proof stickers. The stickers are on the top and bottom of the package. The package will have a distingue residue mark after removing the tamper-proof sticker. However, the tamper-proof sticker is typically found only on the North American OEM HID Xenon bulbs. However, Philips D5S OEM bulbs do not have a tamper-proof sticker. We are not sure about the irregularity, but this has caused some confusion for the buyers.
The other confusion is with the Philips HID Xenon bulbs from Europe. Philips X-TremeVision and WhiteVision HID Xenon bulbs are sold in the European market and not in the USA. It is one of the reasons why we import these bulbs directly from Europe. These two brands do not have the tamper-proof sticker either. When some of our buyers called Philips North America, Philips said that Philips' HID bulbs without the tamper-proof stickers are fake and not genuine Philips bulbs. Such misinformation has caused problems in the past. First, the question that should ask Philips North America is, "Do you guys sell Philips X-TremeVision Gen. 2 (Or, WhiteVision)?" The answer is that Philips North America does not sell those two models. Consequently, what they are saying is not false but does not apply to those two models.
The truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as 100% prevention
to prevent counterfeit bulbs. The best way to avoid caught in the web of counterfeit products is to purchase from a reputable and official Philips authorized dealer like HIDCONCEPT.COM.