The quality of the fake handbags has increased to the point that many counterfeiters will actually try to sell you their handbag claiming it is an original.

- Make sure what you buy isn't a counterfeit!

Handbags and Counterfeits

So you’re about to spend a few hundred dollars (or more) on a purse. How do you know that what you’re about to buy is the real deal? Counterfeits abound in the world of handbags and luxury goods. The World Customs Organization estimates the trade in fakes at about 7 percent of world trade. According to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition if the knockoff economy were a business, it would be the world’s biggest!

Employ the Three Ps
Right off the bat there are three major components you should look for before purchasing a handbag.
· Place where purchased
· Packaging
· Price

Place where purchased – back when counterfeiting of jewelry and handbags was limited to big cities the consumer was usually aware when they were purchasing something that was a fake. Cities like New York and Los Angeles had (and still do have) whole sections of town where the bulk of the items are counterfeit. These outdoor areas in which customers walk from stall to stall are chalk-full of mass-produced fakes. Today the pervasiveness of counterfeit goods—particularly in the area of handbags—has seeped outside the downtown city limits and into suburbia. Many boutiques receive counterfeit goods from sources on a regular basis that they sell to their clientele. Both the boutique owner and presumably the customer know the goods are fake but the quality of the fake has increased to the point that the two are sometimes interchangeable. Which leads to the next two points which are ever more important to employ when shopping.

Packaging – You know the saying “God is in the details?” Well, when it comes to the packaging of a high-end product that is gospel. Even though counterfeiters have gotten fancier in their packaging they still usually lack the style of the original. Most upscale designer handbags always come with a dust case in which to keep the purse. Counterfeiters are also doing this but the quality of the fabric they use for their case gives the fake away. Quality cases come in soft fabric with a satin-like drawstring. Fakes employ a tissue-thin casing with substandard drawstring.

Labels are another clue to look for. Most counterfeiters will include a fake label but don’t forget to spell check. Oftentimes the designer name is misspelled or the name is not in the designer logo or typeface. All small points, but important clues.

Price – You get what you pay for. If someone is trying to sell a “designer” handbag several hundred dollars below the asking price you know that something is up. Designers rarely mark their products down that low—and if they do, they will go through a well-known store such as Bluefly.com to sell them.

Having said that, many counterfeiters are getting a little arrogant. When counterfeit handbags first hit the market they were sold with a “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” that they were real—and the price reflected their fakeness. That isn’t always the case today. Because the quality of the fakes has increased, many counterfeiters will actually try to sell you their handbag claiming it is an original. And they may only be willing to lower the price by $50-$100 off the original. This is when the consumer needs to employ the other two Ps with precision in their search for a real designer purse.

For more information on counterfeiting visit the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition at http://www.iacc.org/

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