the most obvious things to tell a fake bag from a real bag are the color and the 'leather' material as the 'leather' is supposed to be sent from outside. you can see the color but it's very diff to tell the 'leather' from the photos. the price difference between a fake bag and a real bag has become very small. so, why not get it from the authorized retailers? i don't know anything about the tax etc as i don't have to pay that. perhaps a friend or a forwarding company can help ship the bag to you from the States so that you can skip the tax? i'm not sure about this one.