The Louis Vuitton bag had hard synthetic feeling materials for the purse body. In fact, all of the bags that arrived were of inferior quality: One Michael Kors bag that arrived later had a price tag on it that reads MSRP $1295.00 but It was clearly made out of plastic. She pointed out craftsmanship details like flaws in the stitching, inferior materials, and a dead giveaway - the Coach purse I purchased on Amazon had an SKU number on it that didn't exist anywhere on the Coach site or on other Coach affiliated websites. "They're fakes," she said after looking at them. I took some to Valerie Salembier, who runs The Authentics Foundation, an anti-counterfeiting organization in New York. It seemed legitimate.įour of the five purses arrived. But even more confusing, the Coach bag was fulfilled by Amazon and mailed by Amazon, so this wasn't an obscure Amazon affiliate selling the bag remotely. I also purchased a Prada Soffiano tote for $213 and I found a Coach bag on Amazon that seemed strange, since Coach's website says Amazon is not one of its official retail outlets. I bought a Louis Vuitton "Neverfull GM Bag" for $200, a Michael Kors bag that the website said was originally $389 marked off to $85 and another Michael Kors for $90 that didn't list an original price. Many had live customer support buttons, "about us" pages, and highly sophisticated check-out carts. Purses were marked down from $500 to $200 or from $350 to $125.įor the sake of this assignment, I purchased a bag at one of the supposed Coach factory outlet stores for $74 the cheapest purse I could find on the site.Īuthorities Battle Counterfeit Goods Market, Multi-Billion Dollar Industry More Lucrative Than DrugsĪs I searched "outlet" and other brand names like Prada, Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors, I found many similar sites: they had look-alike graphics, the exact brand logos and top of the line product shots. The prices on the purses were marked down, but they weren't dirt-cheap as I'd expect from a knockoff vendor like those you see on Canal Street in New York or in cities across Asia. Without that clue I probably wouldn't have realized I was at a fake site until much later in the purchasing process. Without giving away the name it was coachfactoryoutlet(then some gibberish).com. The artwork and logos similar to what I'd expect at Coach, and while I don't know handbag models by name as many fans do, the product shots looked just very similar to what I'd expect at the Coach site.īut when I looked at the web address, it wasn't. But this year when I went online to see if I could find a Coach outlet, I got some weird results: sites that looked like they might be Coach, but something was a little off.
KNOCK OFF DESIGNER BAGS CODE
Last Christmas, I saved $150 using a discount code at Coach on a present for my mom it felt like a real victory. They seed Google results so they show up in searches, and they are even stealing their logos, artwork and product pictures to trick unknowing consumers into spending way too much on fake bags.Įven worse, many are selling their counterfeits through online consignment stores where it's even harder to spot the fakes from the real thing. But a new wave of sophisticated counterfeiters are creating online sites that look almost identical to the authentic brands. So to get a deal, purse aficionados comb online retailers for discounts.
They can cost thousands of dollars, and some women save for months to afford a coveted bag.
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