Some fakes are pretty impressive, as far as getting the looks right. Some even use authentic parts to get the right look. Anyone can buy Audio Note RCA jacks and wire to make their own Audio Note cables. But, I've seen the authentic jacks put onto fake Audio Note wire to make quite bad sounding knock-offs. These fakes are pretty common on the used market.
As to some of the suggestions that the genuine wire is itself a rip off if you add up the cost of the parts, that is a trickier analysis. Can someone really make their own Nordost Odin cable--are all the constituent parts available and is there a practical way to actually assemble the parts? I've seen their cables and they are made of multiple strands of wire that are individually wrapped with some kind of fiber, which is itself covered by another insulator. It is meaningless to add up the amount of silver, amount of teflon, etc. to derive a "cost" of the material. I am sure Nordost has a crazy high margin on these products, but, if you like the performance of the cable, you have to pay the price to get it, or make it yourself, or find a cheaper alternative.
As to some of the suggestions that the genuine wire is itself a rip off if you add up the cost of the parts, that is a trickier analysis. Can someone really make their own Nordost Odin cable--are all the constituent parts available and is there a practical way to actually assemble the parts? I've seen their cables and they are made of multiple strands of wire that are individually wrapped with some kind of fiber, which is itself covered by another insulator. It is meaningless to add up the amount of silver, amount of teflon, etc. to derive a "cost" of the material. I am sure Nordost has a crazy high margin on these products, but, if you like the performance of the cable, you have to pay the price to get it, or make it yourself, or find a cheaper alternative.