I hope you are referring to their lifetime warranty and replaced them free of charge when they broke! Top company.
https://koss.com/blogs/stories/use-koss-headphones-limited-l...
Maybe it was the sort of loss leader that's financed by the marketing department.
2. They charge $9.00 return shipping, and I bet make a healthy profit?
3. They might break even, minus the goodwill, on Ibud replacements? (I don't know Apple products anymore. Excuse the nomenclature. Ibud sounds off.)