Hears Buying Guide: Amsterdam Earplugs, 20 dB vs 25 dB, Sleep SKUs, and the 100-Day Box Rule

The invoice is from Koningsplein, not a hearing clinic

hears.com is the Shopify storefront of Hears B.V., a Dutch private limited company at Koningsplein 1–3, 1017 BB Amsterdam. The Dutch register lists KvK 90415647, vestigingsnummer 000056147333, statutory seat Amsterdam, and an incorporation deed dated 5 June 2023. Terms I opened on 26 September 2026 said Dutch law governs and the site is run from offices in the Netherlands. Write support@hears.com. The FAQ also prints support@gethears.com; the refund page adds hello@gethears.com. No public phone number sat on those pages.

What leaves Amsterdam is a pair of reusable earplugs with a membrane filter, four tip sizes, and a case. The music line is TPE. The sleep line is silicone. The shop claims design and production in Europe, ANSI / EN / AS/NZS marks on the music pair, CE plus ANSI on Hears Sleep, and iF Design plus Red Dot awards. A slice of each order is said to go to the Hearing Health Foundation. That is a parcel. It is not an audiogram and not a prescription.

Walk away if you typed “hearing aid” into the search bar

The FAQ on hears.com/pages/faq answers the question in one line: Hears earplugs are not meant to replace hearing aids. They are not electronic. They have no battery, no app, and no volume wheel. The same FAQ says the company is not selling a certified medical device and that the plugs do not lower internal ringing or treat an existing ear condition. If a clinician already fitted you with a hearing aid, or you want louder speech rather than a quieter room, this cart is the wrong tool.

The right buyer already knows the room is too loud and wants a reusable filter they can wash. Concerts, clubs, offices, flights, and motorbike wind are the jobs the product pages name. Hears One is the 20 dB SNR option for first-time festival wearers who still want speech. Hears Plus and Hears Moto sit at 25 dB SNR for louder rooms, travel, and helmets. Hears Sleep is a different product: a low-profile silicone pair meant to stay in on a pillow. You will try XS, S, M, and L tips until the seal stops leaking. Keep the box. The 100-day return still wants it.

Skip the shop if you need a custom-moulded musician plug from an audiologist, industrial protection with a published NRR on a worksite card, or a pair you can lose at a festival without caring about a forty-dollar ticket. Skip it if you refuse to pay return postage on a change of mind. Skip it if you want a guaranteed night of silence or a promised end to ringing — the Sleep page itself says harsh alarms still get through, and the FAQ refuses a cure story. Skip a single $43 pair if you assumed postage was always free; the threshold is $50.

• Anyone shopping for a hearing aid or a clinician-fitted custom mould — the FAQ says this is not that product
• A workplace that needs a labelled NRR on a safety card; the live SKUs print 20 dB or 25 dB SNR, not a published NRR
• Shoppers who will not keep the original box and every tip for a 100-day return, or who expect Hears to pay return postage on a change of mind
• People who need a published decibel rating on Hears Sleep — that number is unpublished on the product JSON
• Buyers who want a same-day colour swap; exchanges are store credit after inspection

I opened the USD cart on 26 September 2026

I opened the cart on 26 September 2026 on the United States dollar storefront. The core Hears product (handle hears-earplugs) billed $43.00 for almost every colour in both 20 dB SNR and 25 dB SNR. The only surcharge was Pacha Edition 2.0 at $46.00, SKU H1-Pacha2. Hears Sleep billed $39.00 across Purple Moon HS-PM (barcode 8721082842617), Midnight Black HS-MB, Cloud Blue HS-CB, and Milk and Honey HS-MH. Hears Moto listed $43.00 at 25 dB SNR only. The homepage still flashed a sale badge on Jet Black even though the compare-at field on the product JSON was empty.

• Hears 20 dB SNR: Jet Black JB/20/H1, Silver Night SN/20/H1, Brass Blue BB/20/H1, Clear Glass H1-CG, and the rest of the colour run at $43.00; Pacha Edition 2.0 H1-Pacha2 is the $46.00 exception (26 September 2026 USD JSON)
• Hears 25 dB SNR (Plus): Jet Black HP-JB, Clear Glass HP-CG, Pine Green HP-PG, Nebula Navy HP-NB, Lunar Chrome HP-LC, Burgundy Breeze HP-BB, and matching colour SKUs at $43.00
• Hears Moto 25 dB SNR: JB-M, SD-MOTO, PG-M, CG-M, LC-M, NB-M, BB-M, CP-MOTO, TG-MOTO, BL-MOTO at $43.00
• Hears Sleep HS-PM / HS-MB / HS-CB / HS-MH $39.00; Deep Sleep Mask HM-SM $49.00; Carry Pouch MG-1 $9.00; Cleaning Kit CK-1 $10.00; Extra Case carrycase-1 $7.00; Protective Bumper PB-1 / PB-2 $12.00
• Jondal Edition $43.00 in the product JSON (Ireland collection still showed a sold-out Jondal at €36.95); Hear(t)s Tee and Text Me Tee $80; Worry Free Tee $85

Bundles exist. The Blackout Bundle (the-blackout-bundle-1) is one Hears Sleep, one Deep Sleep Mask, and one Carry Pouch; the product page printed $72, cheaper than $39 + $49 + $9 bought apart. The Full Set is two Hears pairs, two Sleep pairs, and two Protective Bumpers. The Bulk Bundle is six Hears pairs. The In and Out Bundle is one Hears pair, one Sleep pair, one mask, and one bumper — the title also names a Carry Pouch. I could not verify checkout totals for Full Set, Bulk, or In and Out because the product JSON reused the $43 / $39 variant prices.

20 dB SNR is the club filter; 25 dB is the louder-room filter

On the Hears product page the first option is not colour. It is Noise Reduction: 20dB SNR or 25dB SNR. The FAQ still calls those Hears One and Hears Plus. One is the concert and club suggestion. Plus is the travel and office suggestion, and the collection table points Plus at rooms above 110 dB. SNR is the EU figure; NRR is the US one. The FAQ says SNR usually reads a little higher than NRR for the same plug because the maths differ. I did not find a published NRR on the 26 September 2026 JSON.

Hears Moto is not a third attenuation number. It is a 25 dB SNR pair the shop positions for helmets: flush body, wind as the named problem, same four tips and keychain case as the music line. Colours overlap the Plus palette, with Moto SKUs such as JB-M and LC-M. If you already own Plus and only ride on weekends, I would not buy a second pair unless the helmet shape is why the first pair keeps coming out.

Hears Sleep is the SKU people confuse with the music pair because the logo is the same. The material changes to hypoallergenic silicone. The shape is written as low-profile so a side sleeper’s pillow does not lever the plug out. Certification on that page is CE and ANSI, not the ANSI / EN / AS/NZS trio printed on the music pair. The shop says Sleep cuts snoring, traffic, and hotel noise while still letting a sharp alarm or doorbell through. That is a design claim, not a result I can promise you. The dB number that sits on One and Plus is simply not printed on Sleep’s variants.

Four tips in the box, then you stop guessing your ear canal

A single Hears box, per the warranty FAQ, holds the plugs, a durable travel case, four tip sizes (XS, S, M, L), and a starter card. The music product page repeats that list and names a keychain case. Sleep includes a carry case. There is no charging cable because there is nothing to charge. Setup is mechanical: pick a tip that seals without a sharp ache, seat the filter, and wear them in a loud room before you trust them at a show. A leaking tip is the usual reason a 20 dB pair “does nothing.” Try the next size before you write support.

Cleaning is on you. The FAQ and Sleep page say wash, dry, and store in the case; they refuse a published expiry date. The Cleaning Kit CK-1 at $10 is the official care SKU. Extra Case carrycase-1 is $7 if you lose the keychain tin. Protective Bumper PB-1 / PB-2 is $12 if you want a sleeve on the case. None of those accessories change attenuation. If the filter tears or a tip rips, that is a replacement part problem, not a software update.

Fifty dollars is the free-shipping line; under that, the fee is unpublished

The shipping policy and the FAQ agree on one number: orders above $50 USD ship free. A dummy Shopify product titled “Shipping treshold” even sits in the catalog at $50.00, which is how I know the threshold is not a rumour. What I could not verify is the charged postage for a lone $43 Hears pair or a lone $39 Sleep pair. The policy says rates are calculated from weight, dimensions, and destination, with standard and express options, and that methods vary by country. I am not inventing a $6.95 line that the checkout never showed me.

Processing is usually one business day, weekends and holidays excluded, and the warehouse can move a parcel in a few hours. Address changes and cancellations are best-effort only if the bag has not left. US product pages list DHL Economy at 3–5 business days, USPS Standard at 2–3, and USPS Priority at 1, plus a line that no extra import duties will be imposed. The country table is more useful: United States 3–5 calendar days standard, United Kingdom 3–4, Netherlands and Belgium 1, Germany 2–3, France 3–4, Canada 6–7, Australia 5–6, Japan 4–5, Israel and South Korea 10–15, Lithuania 15–25, rest of world 12–16. Those are policy ranges, not a tracked promise.

Duties split by geography, and the pages do not tell one story. The FAQ says that outside the EU, Hears B.V. does not collect VAT, GST, duties, or taxes; if your order sits above your country’s threshold, you pay the import bill. Refuse the customs fee and the parcel comes back, then a handling fee comes out of the refund. The UK block is sharper: orders at £140 or less (goods plus shipping) typically skip import duty; above that, UK Customs may add duty, VAT, and clearance, and Hears will not reimburse it. Ireland and US geo-banners said duties and taxes were included. Read the banner for your country, then the FAQ, then the checkout.

The 100-day trial still wants the cardboard

Hears sells the 100-day window hard: you may return after wearing the plugs. The refund policy is stricter than the homepage chant. You have 100 days from delivery. The earplug must be complete, in its original state, with packaging intact. Tees must be unused, unwashed, and tagged. Email support@hears.com with an order number; the shop then points you at a self-service portal. Returns sent anywhere except that portal address are refused.

You pay return shipping unless the item is defective, damaged, or the wrong colour. Original outbound postage is not refunded. Customs delay is not a valid return reason. Inspection takes 5–7 days after the warehouse receives the parcel. Want a different colour or a 25 dB filter instead of 20 dB? You still ship the first pair back and wait for store credit. There is no direct swap. Damaged or wrong items need a photo within 14 days. I would photograph the unopened box on day one.

One more inconsistency belongs on the packing slip, not in a marketing email. Country chooser banners on both the United States and Ireland collection views promised “easy, tracked 30-day returns.” The refund policy, the FAQ, and every product page I opened said 100 days. I am treating 100 days as the controlling text because it lives on the legal page. If a banner later limits you to 30, ask support@hears.com to confirm in writing before you wait until day 80.

I would rather keep a $43 pair in its tray for a hundred days than trust a geo-banner that quietly says 30. The Amsterdam company will take a used plug back, but only if you still have the box they can inspect.

— Priya Nair

The fields I could not read off a packing slip

I could not verify a VAT number on the public terms, privacy, or refund pages — only KvK 90415647 from the Dutch register and the Koningsplein address on the terms. I could not verify under-$50 postage, or checkout totals for The Full Set, The Bulk Bundle, and The In and Out Bundle. I could not find a published attenuation figure for Hears Sleep, a published NRR next to the 20 / 25 dB SNR labels, or a lifespan in months. I also could not tell whether the US product-page line about no extra import duties overrides the FAQ’s outside-EU duty warning; those sentences sit on different pages.

Questions I would send to support@hears.com before I pay

Does one $43 pair actually ship free?

No. Free shipping starts above $50 USD. A single Hears pair at $43 or a single Sleep pair at $39 sits under that line. Adding the $10 Cleaning Kit, the $9 Carry Pouch, or a second pair is how most carts cross the threshold. The exact under-$50 postage is calculated at checkout and was unpublished as a flat dollar amount on the policy pages I read on 26 September 2026.

Can I wear them at a show and still send them back?

Yes, inside 100 days from delivery, if every part is there and the packaging is intact enough to pass inspection. Email support@hears.com, use the portal address they give you, and budget your own return label. Used is allowed. Incomplete is not. Original shipping stays with Hears. If you lose a tip at the venue, you are no longer in the “all parts complete” column.

Who pays customs if I am not in the EU?

Hears B.V. does not collect VAT, GST, duties, or taxes on deliveries outside the EU. If your country’s de minimis threshold is crossed, the carrier will ask you for the import bill. Refuse it and the parcel returns; a handling fee then comes out of the refund. UK orders at £140 or less are the one published safe harbour. US and Ireland geo-banners said duties were included — treat that as a market-specific checkout setting, not a global promise.

Which filter do I pick for a club versus a long-haul cabin?

The shop’s own split is 20 dB SNR (Hears One) for concerts and clubs where you still want speech, and 25 dB SNR (Hears Plus) for louder rooms, travel, and people who find ordinary noise exhausting. Hears Moto is the 25 dB pair shaped for a helmet. If you cannot decide, the cheaper experiment is two $43 pairs and a return of the one you do not wear, not a custom mould. I would not buy six pairs in the Bulk Bundle until one filter has survived a week on your ears.

Will Hears Sleep hide a smoke alarm?

The Sleep page says the pair reduces background noise and still lets sharper sounds such as an alarm or doorbell through. That is the opposite of a total blackout plug. If you need to hear a child, a pager, or a building alarm, do not treat Sleep as a silence machine. Test the pair at home with your actual alarm before you rely on it in a hotel. I cannot promise you will sleep through a snoring partner; I can only repeat that the shop designed for that job and still refuses a total mute.

How do I change 20 dB for 25 dB after the parcel arrives?

There is no one-click swap. Request a return inside 100 days, ship the complete pair back, wait 5–7 days for inspection, then spend the store-credit email on the other SNR. Direct exchanges are not offered. If the parcel arrived damaged or in the wrong colour, you have 14 days and you need a photo. If you only hate the colour, that is a credit return, not a defect claim.