Any audiophile will already know that Beats by Dre headphones are garbage. But for the rest of consumers who pay out the nose for these inflated status symbols, here’s proof that’s a little more accessible to the budget-conscious layperson.

According to Gizmodo, not only are Beats’ headphones cheaply made, with glue (instead of screws) and off-the-shelf components, but they even contain useless metal weights, put there for the sole purpose of making the product seem heavier and more “premium.”

These glorified Playskool headphones are then sold to the public at insane prices. The public then wears them to school, on the bus, and at the gym, in a sad attempt to appear cool, not realizing they actually look like complete saps for blowing their hard-earned money (or their parents’) on headphones that are no better than the ones that came free with my Sandisk MP3 player twenty years ago.

Don’t get suckered by this scam! You can read more at Gizmodo, as well as the original detailed report from Popular Mechanics.