Style Diet: I Carried Around A Fake Designer Bag For Week
As long as fake bags are unwittingly sold to unwitting consumers, authentication standards won’t improve. That puts a question mark over the business model of resale companies and threatens the continued development of The RealReal’s business, its market value and the entire resale industry. There are a host of reasons what’s happening is wrong. Most people don’t have access to experts who can tell them that the $3,600 bag they bought is fake. What’s even worse is that when a maker of fake bags succeeds in selling a fake on The RealReal, it encourages that maker to produce more fake bags, and that compounds the problem. One of the key aspects of a resale company is authentication.
This type of intellectual property theft is tied to human trafficking by sophisticated criminals. Imagine a horrible, unsafe, and unsanitary warehouse containing $20 million in state-of-the-art cigarette manufacturing equipment used to make fake cigarettes. Imagine criminals who have recruited unsuspecting youngsters to travel from China and beyond to “job fairs” seeking a better life. The innocent girls are sold into sexual slavery, and young men are chained to machines like the one in the cigarette plant, forced to do the work of the criminal enterprise. In this case, a raid of the plant found the owners long gone, tipped off in advance by customs officials in Bangkok. All that remained were the young male teenagers, chained to the machines to which they were slaves.
He now lives in Brooklyn and makes ceramics in his spare time. Mom pointed out a woman wearing a Louis Vuitton crossbody. “Let’s see if it’s real,” she whispered to me, and we crept over to her vicinity.
This stitching pattern is unique to the Italian house. The stitches should look this way on every genuine Prada bag – no matter the style. NHTSA says consumers who own a used car or are considering purchasing one should look at the vehicle’s history and ensure the vehicle has genuine air bag inflators. Three people have been killed and two people have suffered life-altering, disfiguring injuries in the past nine months due to the faulty aftermarket replacement air bag inflators, according to NHTSA.
He says not only is the manufacturing of fakes often linked to criminal networks and slave labour, but they can also be made from dangerous materials, including toxic chemicals. “People don’t realise when these items rub against your skin, they’re immediately detrimental to you,” Srinivasan says. Leung says the difficulty with AI-based authentication, indeed any type, is that it’s not foolproof. “[AI] is a great tool but if the gun is in the wrong person’s hands then … I could do the authenticating on the real bag [but sell a fake],” he says.
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Heading out to Puerta Maya tomorrow morning early to pick up my shore ex bud from the Glory…got a breakfast date. I read on one thread that there are several ATM’s in Cozumel that do not give you money back but deduct it from your account. It is a real nightmare trying to get the money back in your account once you return to the US.
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” He trudged back into the fray, formless and mechanical, like a part of the scenery. Brandon and I eventually got bored of watching him, and we played pencil-and-paper games in a notebook, periodically looking through the window at Dad. His work seemed incredibly tedious, alone in a silence pierced by sporadic beeps from the forest of machines, the spinning of internal disks echoing like an ethereal wind.
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So, before you click “add to cart,” think about what you’re really getting—and whether it’s worth it. At Lunar New Year two months later, I scanned the temple for brand-name logos out of habit, but I quickly lost interest. My trance was broken; it was hard for me to care what people wore.
There is no mention of having two tiers of authenticators. Investors putting up money in The RealReal might make a different decision if they were told more about how the authentication process works. They would be more likely to suspect that $3,600 bag being sold was as fake as the bag I bought. That would make The RealReal a less interesting investment opportunity. I contacted The RealReal about these authentication concerns, and the company invited me to tour its center in Secaucus, New Jersey, where it receives, authenticates, prices, posts and ships products. I accepted the invitation and was given a tour by the senior director of merchandising, who is responsible for all of the company’s facilities.
All our questions were answered and we had a sense of relief. The lock and the keys have matching numbers, but some numbers have been consistent with counterfeits. The engraving on the lock must be smooth and not chiseled or dotted. If it’s not smooth, the lock is fake, and the handbag likely is also.
Some shady sellers will use black-hat search engine tricks to promote their online sites where they sell their fakes. Beware of any search engine results that say “Cheap Chanel Bag” or “Wholesale Louis Vuitton” etc. There is no such thing as wholesale, or cheap luxury designer handbags. Still, trusting your gut instinct and having some authentication knowledge can steer you clear of these counterfeits and replicas.
Avoid ending up with counterfeit handbags by verifying the authentication card and buying from trusted sellers only. You can also have a reliable authentication center to verify your handbags. So how can you spot fake luxury handbags like an authenticator? They mention that you can usually spot them by inspecting the font, material, and stitching. Faux luxury handbags usually have a cheap lining, hollow hardware, and poor logo appearance.
I never actually paid anything for the bag in the first place because my first payment wasn’t due until a month after I’d purchased it. After Cameron obtained the certificate alleging her bag was fake, she contacted Cosette, which offered to run another check on the bag, or issue a refund in line with its seven-day returns’ policy. “They just wanted me to apply for the refund and drop the matter fake bags online,” says Cameron, who is speaking out in the hope she may help other women in a similar position. Photos released by the US Attorney’s Office showed units filled to the brim with thousands of counterfeit high-end handbags of every color and design. We know that our customers trust us to get this right. That’s why they’re here, and we do all we can to earn that trust.
Unfortunately, designer bags carry a pretty heft price tag and honestly, I think it’s kind of ridiculous to spend that much money ON A BAG. Nevertheless, I have decided that I’d like to start building a small designer bag collection. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I like to invest in a few really nice items instead of a bunch of crappy items. So my goal is to start buying pieces that I’ll have in my closet FOREVER and I feel like a designer bag is something that I will cherish for a long time and potentially pass down to my children.
An attorney can advise you on the best defense strategy. I recently came across this gorgeous Hourglass Small Handbag with crocodile embossed in the color orange. And the quality is on par with what you would find in a high-end designer store, but at a much lower cost.
When the record program crashes while he sings, Clark “calmly” threatens the audio engineer. See post #6 from Peter – apparently it can be a problem. The advice is either to accept that you might be fined or leave the fake at home and use a different bag. Stay vigilant against other scam tactics, including phone calls, social media messages and notifications on messaging platforms such as Messenger or WhatsApp.
Even with the recent price increases, pre-loved Polene bags often are priced below the threshold for authentication services offered on sites like eBay and Poshmark. I’ve seen a lot of replica bags pop up, and hope the following authenticity guide can help you avoid any heartache. Verifying the authentication card is also a way to protect yourself from fake bags.
Named for French-British actress Jane Birkin, the bags have long waiting lists for customers ready to pay €40,000 (US$45,000) or more for versions made with crocodile skin. Ten people went on trial last week, including seven former Hermès employees. Whether you’re out running errands or getting ready for the day at work, our crossbody bags and shoulder bags are the perfect size to hold everything you need while taking your style to the next level. Dress up a simple outfit by adding a bright shoulder or crossbody bag—and don’t forget to Shop the Look to coordinate your shoes with your bag. You may obtain a return authorization by visiting our Returns Center or via phone, Live Chat or e-mail. You will then be able to print a prepaid return shipping label and drop off your package at a FedEx location.
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Police have carried out more than 100 raids to break up Manchester’s counterfeiting networks, seizing over 1000 tonnes of goods in the process, all destined to be sold on the streets in the UK and abroad. “To think they just do counterfeiting is naive,” said Blackwood. “The same networks … bringing in clothes, trainers, jewellery, they would start bringing in drugs, prescription drugs from all over.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt a rush of excitement when I hold a genuine piece (even if it’s not designer). It’s an experience that a knock-off just can’t replicate. So, when you buy a fake designer bag, you’re indirectly contributing to these unethical practices. The thrill of the bargain just doesn’t outweigh the cost of compromised values. We walked to Canal Street and made eye contact with sellers on street corners, somehow all in uniform, clad in black puffer jackets and Gucci hats.
Going down to Puerta Maya pier on Wednesday and will check out the prices at Rags and Rocks. Don’t know about Cosumel but they sell those purses at the Dulles Town Center Mall about five minutes from my home. You’d think the designers would have tried to stop it, especially when they are sold about thirty yards from Norstroms where they sell the “real thing.” But I have to tell you . They really are beautiful and the prices are nothing short of fantastic. Have never bought one myself and have no idea how they hold up but it really is hard to tell them apart from the “real thing.”
I wasn’t fully taught how to spot fake bags during my training process, but I’ve found many employees learn as they go. Genuine designer handbags often feature unique identifier codes, facilitating verification of authenticity with the brand. Recent revelations about the French fashion house Dior producing a $2,780 handbag for just $57, might make you question the financial and ethical aspects of such investments. Unfortunately, such practices are not uncommon among luxury brands.
I mean they even had shoes with boxes that were replicated!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes.I wanted to play the stupid person who has no idea about the real bags and I asked a lot of questions such as how to make sure no one could spot the bag was fake. The sellers would show me the stamps and identification codes. They did a very good job to be honest but as a true connoisseur of the real bags I could spot the flaws in these numbers. The CHANEL stamps located inside the bags didn’t make sense. As for caviar leather, that one is really hard to reproduce.
Tory Burch is well-known and priced higher than many brands, but it’s not considered a luxury brand. It’s often compared to Louis Vuitton and Prada but is more like Coach and Kate Spade. Tory Burch is a mid-range brand that offers high-quality products. To avoid buying fakes, purchasing directly from Tory Burch stores is best.
Tradesy only has “advanced website technology” to detect and automatically remove inauthentic listings. So you kind of have to trust that the seller is selling an authentic item. Tradesy doesn’t authenticate the bag before it’s listed on the site. Pitt, who lives in Brisbane, asked Real Authentication to run the process again – her bag was deemed fake by the company. Pitt hoped that because she paid using PayPal she would have more luck getting a refund. In the end, she got her money back from Cosette after raising a dispute.
Vendors on the street selling cheap, fake bags and counterfeit luxury watches. On the surface, one wouldn’t give the origination of these fake bags and watches much thought. It’s just the greedy designer labels that object to the trade-in knock-offs.
His company offered a per diem to eat lunch and dinner while he traveled, but instead of spending it on his own meals, he bought gift cards at chain restaurants to use later. He traveled for more than a decade like this, saving in silence. It took us a few moments to reestablish the cadence we had as father and sons. “Time for me to get back to work, to support this family!
So how can you be sure that that gorgeous, designer purse is the real deal—and not just a cheap fake? Don’t stress, there are actually super easily identifiable traits that real bags have in common (like quality leather, clasps, zippers, and correct logos). Read through the expert tips included below and you’ll have all the intel you need. But these smaller, more intimate coteries go beyond a shared love of reps. “We’ve been to each other’s houses,” Lisa tells me of her replica group. It’s not what you think a bunch of people buying fake bags would be like.” And for many women in circles where social currency can be purchased, rep-buying has evolved into a kind of edgy declaration of identity. To them, status isn’t having the means to join the $10,000-handbag clique—anyone could be so basic.
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These handbags are usually the ones that sell the best. As supply and demand go hand in hand in the market of fakes, the most common fakes are the ones that most people ask for. Paris prosecutors are seeking prison terms for the leaders of a ring accused of making and selling fake handbags from iconic French luxury house Hermès, including some former employees. One of the only ways to make sure you are getting a real designer handbag is to purchase it directly from the designer or from an authorized retailer. If you do want to go the second-hand route, make sure you check up on the policies of consignment stores or online retailers to see if they guarantee authenticity. Between December 2020 and February 2021, Wiltshire Trading Standards received several complaints that Ms Krueanarong had sold counterfeit handbags.
Most times, when a fake comes in, the stitching is very sloppy and/or crooked. Coach takes pride in the craftsmanship of its products, especially when it comes to its edges, stitches, and zippers. It’s also good to compare the color of the bag to the official Coach listings of the bag online. First, I check the material of the hang tag, which every Coach bag has come with for decades. I’m not sure I agree that buying $29 fake Gucci slides is a form of anti-capitalist protest when you could be spending QC-rubric-making energy on…not buying things at all.
If you’re shopping secondhand, do your research about who you may be purchasing from and how they authenticate items. Sometimes people try to make fakes of these patches, but they don’t really work. If you are looking for value, go to a trusted consignment site like Lux Second Chance where there is a large selection of authenticated Louis Vuitton’s bags for you to compare prices. If you are buying a purse from an online vendor (besides @ Lux Second Chance), pay attention to the packaging and presentation.
If a NWT listing shows the Polene side of the hang tag, ask for a photo of the other side and make sure the style name matches the actual bag. Please email and a member of our guest services team will be back to you in about 3 business days. If you have any questions about your purchase, please email For groups of 10 or more or for additional information, please email and a member of our guest services team will be back to you in about 3 business days. You can share your special occasion with us here at The FRIENDS™ Experience. Guests should purchase general admission tickets and visit us during public hours.
Dawn Lawson from Herefordshire bought a fake Prada backpack for a fraction of the cost of a real one. According to Dr Haider Ali from the Open University, it’s “people who have relatively little regard for the law” and “people who have negative attitudes towards big business”. “The real issue is when people think they’re getting the real thing and they’re not. Those people need to be protected. But the vast majority of consumers know exactly what they’re getting”. While these fakes were better than the ones that one bumps into on a random US big city alleyway, they were all very obvious fakes in my book. However, it was interesting to handle and inspect so many fakes in one day. According to Madison Avenue Couture, the designer creates only a few of these bags to maintain their exclusivity.
You can pack an unloaded firearm as long as it’s placed in a locked, hard-sided container. You must also declare all firearms, firearm parts, bullets and cartridges to your airline during check-in. For details on how to transport these items in your checked baggage, please contact your airline. Sites like Portero offer discounted deals on used luxury goods, or you can decide to “rent” handbags and other designer accessories from BagBorroworSteal.com. In the past, sure-fire signs of a counterfeit, such as misspelled brand names or mismatched hardware, made it easy to tell whether a bag was real or fake.
In a TikTok video, the woman is shown rummaging through bags at a local thrift store when she notices a red leather bag that appears to be quite familiar. Ashlee then opens the bag and notices that it says Hermes on the label. She seemed completely taken aback, knowing that the bag cost less than $10 (about Rs 840). It has a little stain on the front, but it’s not a big deal,” the woman says in the video as per Newsweek. The rule also extends to social media influence as it prohibits anyone from selling or buying fake indicators of influence, such as followers or views generated by bots. American Family Field and the surrounding parking lots and roadways are private property.
Legal battles like the case between LVMH and eBay have also been fought where French courts awarded victory and compensation to LVMH for the sale of counterfeit goods online. Even insiders aren’t immune, as we learned with the imprisonment of a group of former Hermes employees who were caught up in a counterfeit ring involving the production of fake Hermes bags. Super fakes are counterfeit handbags with a high degree of attention to detail, effectively replicating the original designer’s craftsmanship process and creating a near-undetectable fake.
With designer shoes, it’s not smell, but touch, that often proves the best guide, Ben advised. “The materials are the biggest one on the shoes because they feel a certain way,” he said. Inside were identical-looking pairs of beige Balenciaga-branded sneakers, one real, the other fake. “I want to know if you can tell the difference between these two,” he said, handing me one of each. The profits are often laundered through legitimate-looking businesses, from restaurants to luxury car dealerships, and declared as income.
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Visually, the leather on the fake bag is shinier with a smaller grain. The authentic pebbled leather park tote will never be shiny (though in the black leather has a slight sheen, all other colors are very matte). I also noticed that the leather on the fake tote had some striations or veining. I’ve never seen a real bag from The Row with any veining, and I think they purposely choose leathers that are completely without irregularities. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that a designer handbag is just an accessory.
The logo that fully says “Louis Vuitton” on round rivets must be perfectly circled. Authentic hardware is durable and resistant to fading, unlike cheaper alternatives found in counterfeit goods. Counterfeit goods are often manufactured in sweatshops or by exploitative labor, where workers are paid meager wages and subjected to poor working conditions. These operations frequently involve child labor, forced labor, and human rights violations, directly contributing to the exploitation of vulnerable individuals. Brian Truong is a Vietnamese-American writer who grew up in Texas. For his essays, he has won the 2023 Georgia Review Prose Prize, judged by Jennine Capó Crucet, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and shortlisted for the Disquiet Literary Prize.
Fake Louis Vuitton bags will not be made of the same quality as genuine ones – and potentially not leather at all. A tell-tale sign of an imitation piece is that all the exposed leather does not darken at the same rate or does not darken at all. I knew about it because I saw a TV show where they busted the seller of the fake bags in NY, and obviously the OP did too.
The only thing better that comes to mind is actually holding the garment in my own, thirsty hands. The heartbreaking reality of returning said piece back to its retail home can be devastating. According to the survey respondents, the ones that should be primarily responsible for taking fake items off online channels are platforms (48%) and brands (24%). In recent years, online platforms have been taking action toward protecting their buyers. Alastair Gray, expert counterfeit investigator, claims that the attacks that occurred in Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015 were funded by the counterfeit handbag business.
Cosette insists the bag was genuine and had been authenticated. Louise Cameron wouldn’t call herself rich, not by any means. But the 44-year-old mother of three from Adelaide had always dreamed of owning a designer bag.
This bag is one of the most counterfeited handbags on Canal Street in NYC, and is often a badge of honor for both the seller and buyer. Counterfeiters can have a difficult time choosing the exact handbag to copy. Most genuine manufacturers make a great deal of different models. Many counterfeiters will produce a large set of sub-quality prototypes and then see which ones sell the best. With that data-set, they mass produce those styles and flood the market with a higher quality version of the fake. They do this until the original manufacturer changes the style again.
He was surprised that our fascination had lasted beyond our vacation. At temple, we ran into families we barely knew and handed their kids red envelopes with fifty-dollar bills—money we pinched and hoarded when left to our own devices but in front of others we threw away magnanimously. On Lunar New Year, we dressed up and visited our Buddhist temple outside Dallas.
Always verify the legitimacy of the message before sharing confidential information. I would definitely think those bags are not authentic. The former Hermès workers would make the bags with crocodile skins from an Italian supplier, using zips and other components smuggled out of Hermès workshops. And i would say, if you mingle with people who are used to all original stuff, they could sense a fake item from afar. This issue is more on the psychological aspect of a person.
You’re better off wearing a good quality non-designer bag than wasting your hard earned money in a counterfeit version of a designer bag. Visit esinakan.com for affordable leather handbags for modern women. In some countries wearing a fake designer, anything is against the law. Whether it’s a fake bag or a fake watch, you may find yourself on the wrong side of the law with the bag you through you were lucky to afford for less. You can’t know the rules of every country regarding counterfeit goods, it’s better to just keep off fake designer bags completely. Once the counterfeit bags are sold, the money generated from the sale will likely end up in the hands of criminal organizations.
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I still loved that Mom and I shared a secret skill we could bond over, though I now wondered how long we’d keep it up. We returned back to where Brandon and Dad were sitting. When the waiter gave us the check and left, I watched as Mom extracted the wad of gift cards from her purse and handed them to Dad.
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Perhaps it is the easy to replicate pattern, or perhaps it is the recognizeability of the design. The price tags on the real bags typically range from $1,000 to $10,000. The Monogram Canvas material is typically the most counterfeited, but the Multicolored Monogram pattern is often copied as well. On Canal Street in NYC, something that can be spotted everywhere is the iconic Chanel ‘double C’ logo. It is most often seen in the back of stores hidden away from the prying eyes of police officers.
This allows counterfeiters to use extensive anonymity www.affordbag.ru, it says. About 1.6 million Mercedes-Benz counterfeit parts were seized last year and 142,000 offers of counterfeit products deleted on social media and online platforms, a release says. Of course, I didn’t need to travel to Turkey to figure this out. But, the concept of buying goods brazenly marketed as genuine fake struck me as a genuine affront to all that is good in the world.
Most people cannot afford to buy a Birkin bag that costs as much as a car or a small house. When I first started selling Wayuu bags on Lombia + Co., I was buying in Usaquen and there were all sorts of rumors about fake Wayuu bags. Vendors were telling me that other vendors in the Sunday market were selling fake Wayuu bags and beware. The shipments, which originated in China and Hong Kong, contained a wide variety of counterfeit goods, including handbags, wallets, and jewelry. Allen was notified of these seizures, but never petitioned to have the goods in the shipments released. An analysis of shipping records revealed that between September 2021 and March 2022, approximately 46 shipments from China and Hong Kong had been sent to the Ferndale warehouse where ‘Keepin Up With Kara’ operated.
“Most people feel like luxury fashion is inaccessible,” he said. “Really, the reason people don’t feel involved is a lack of education.” It’s a skill that’s increasingly in demand, too, as a deluge of counterfeit fashion goods made in places like China, Hong Kong and Turkey flood the global marketplace. Sales of all counterfeit goods have tripled since 2013 to an estimated $7 trillion annually and the counterfeiters’ top target is fashion goods, according to research by the OECD.
There is an increase in solutions and involvement by marketplaces and tech solutions to impede counterfeiters from selling so easily. In 2017, Alibaba formed a 20 member alliance of companies with brands such as Louis Vuitton, to fight against counterfeits on their marketplace. Reporting a counterfeit seller can be done quite easily via Facebook, but the sheer volume of sellers selling counterfeit handbags on marketplaces makes it a gargantuan task. Once again, these products are often portrayed as the authentic version. Buyers are at risk of accidentally buying counterfeit versions of what they are looking for on almost every social media platform.
Furthermore, over half of those surveyed said they hadn’t bought a handbag online but would consider it. Depending on the age group, it may be easier or not to use social media and marketplaces to buy a counterfeit handbag. Fortunately for consumers and brands alike, tech companies are coming up with creative solutions aided by bots and artificial intelligence to gain more insight on counterfeiting. Websites such as Fakespot analyze the authenticity of reviews for a particular product, giving them a grade ranging from A to F, depending on the total grade of authenticity they detect.
Check the overall structure, logo, metal clasp, chain, and stamp. Also, look at the paper tag, model information, and inside label. This guide covers these points to help you spot fakes confidently.
Canal Street in Chinatown in NYC has the fake version of this bag hanging in all their shops. Unfortunately, the quality of the fake YSL handbags can sometimes be pretty horrendous. Because Yves Saint Laurent designs the handbags with a focus on highlighting the quality leather, fake version just cannot compete.
During the raid, 361 handbags were seized and following examination, 344 of these were subsequently found to be counterfeit. In one of the stalls, there are a handful of non-Thai foreigners, all male, bartering over a large sum of counterfeit handbags. Considering the prices that I’ve seen these bags sell for online, there’s a good chance that these guys were con-artists. When an unsuspecting consumer is sold a fake replica for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, there is a CLEAR victim and predator.
Depending on when the bag was produced, the Prada brand stamp changes. Prada might consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery, but we completely understand if you do not agree. To make sure you do not waste your money, our experts have listed 10 ways you can tell whether a pre-loved bag is Prada or nada. Mercedes-Benz protects it brand by utilizing its Intellectual Property Enforcement Team to investigate counterfeit parts, it says. Counterfeits can be a danger to all road users, the release says.
When you think of counterfeit, knockoff, and fake designer handbags, you probably picture streets full of vendors and tables of what look like elegant, high-end bags offered for the same price as yesterday’s dinner. Purchasing counterfeit goods not only harms a brand’s reputation and sales but also perpetuates unsafe working conditions in rogue manufacturing facilities. Moreover, counterfeit products may contain harmful substances and lack quality assurance, compromising consumer safety and longevity. Consumers are urged to conduct thorough research and purchase designer items from reputable sources to ensure authenticity and uphold ethical standards.
I’ve featured some dupes on my blog not to replicate specific products, but to offer alternatives that achieve a similar look or style. This topic is quite complex and deserves a separate discussion, but it’s important to note the difference between creating something similar and outright copying and claiming it as an original. Purchasing a counterfeit bag isn’t just about saving money. It’s about supporting a market that’s riddled with unethical practices.
The company also reports there was an average of more than two raids carried out daily by trade supervisor and law enforcement authorities on counterfeit products for a total of 740 raids worldwide in 2023. Given the dearth of genuine fake products, I know that what I’m saying here is a probably a minority opinion. The tide is on the favor of mass producers, re-sellers and mega-mass demand.