Why Do People Buy Fake Designer Bags Or Fake Designer Anything?

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I think it's funny how people continuously ignore the fact that the market for fake bags is directly related to the market for authentic bags. The only sure fire way to eradicate the fake industry would be for everyone to simultaneously decide not to pay outrageous amounts of money for ANY bag. But, of course, that is not going to happen. But that is my contribution to doing away with the fakes. I don't pay thousands for a bag and I DON'T buy fakes. None of my friends or acquaintances buy fakes that I know of and if they did I would let them know that they were supporting a whole host of unsavory things that they probably didn't want to support, but I'm not going to become irate every time I see a stranger carrying a fake. That's me taking responsibility for my actions and mine alone. I'm not so "enlightened" that I think I can change the world by being derisive and nasty to people who do differently than I do.

If I'm going to put my energy into doing away with any of the world problems out there, fake purses would be WAY far down on the list for me.

YES!!




Now can someone have the LAST WORD??
like me...lol

How about doing something positive today?
Volunteer at women's and children's shelter
Volunteer at your local humane society (my fave!)
Visit a veteran's hospital.
visit a mental hospital/ drug/etoh treatment center
There are lots of lonely ppl out there

:goodpost::ty:
 
I think it's funny how people continuously ignore the fact that the market for fake bags is directly related to the market for authentic bags. The only sure fire way to eradicate the fake industry would be for everyone to simultaneously decide not to pay outrageous amounts of money for ANY bag. But, of course, that is not going to happen. But that is my contribution to doing away with the fakes. I don't pay thousands for a bag and I DON'T buy fakes. None of my friends or acquaintances buy fakes that I know of and if they did I would let them know that they were supporting a whole host of unsavory things that they probably didn't want to support, but I'm not going to become irate every time I see a stranger carrying a fake. That's me taking responsibility for my actions and mine alone. I'm not so "enlightened" that I think I can change the world by being derisive and nasty to people who do differently than I do.

If I'm going to put my energy into doing away with any of the world problems out there, fake purses would be WAY far down on the list for me.

:woohoo::tup: Well said!
 
I grew up in Seoul, South Korea where it's COMPLETELY normal for young girls to carry fake designer bags-- In fact, I never even understood it as being wrong until I moved back to the USA. It's a cultural thing, I think-- but one thing I noticed is that most korean girls who carry fakes don't even realize the origin of the bag-- because it's so normal and engrained in the clothing/accessory industries there... They just look at the design, and if they like it, they buy it!

Obviously this is just my perception having spent 12 years of my life there- things could be very different now, who knows. But I think that with fake purses being so readily available around every corner (and typically for $20-$50 ea) it's totally normal to see hundreds of people carrying them :O

SO. Do I think it's ok? Not really. But sometimes I think culture comes into play too. Not everybody grew up with the same ideals or comes from a country that shares them. Just my two cents!
 
I dont find it hard to judge at all actually.;) Apart from the fact that most fake bags look supertacky.(yes darling, the proportions are usually off, the quality of the finish poor, the leather inferior etc etc etc they dont fool everyone you know... those who carry them may think they look cool - but yu know - we may be polite in front of you but we do laugh behind your back, or bag so to speak.:D we do not laugh thinking you have no money - we laugh because you have no taste.) Apart from the purely visual disaster, it is a form of theft and your family who is in the law enforcement business should explain that to you. The companies that produce the original designs, invest in quality design, manufacturing, pay taxes and generally contribute to society, whether one likes it or not. The illegal fakes are just that - illegal leeches. If you want to help the world's poor you can encourage local artisans and factories producing a certain standard of work - not copies.

While I never had and never will buy a fake bag - your snarkiness mixed in with misinformation and intimidation is rather off putting. The only part I can agree with, is to support local artisan. And please, don't confuse the following:

1. Carrying a real bag can be very far away from "having taste". Plenty of premier designer disaster out there - or else why would so many people here enthusiastically engage in discussion about "which bag do I buy"?
2. Most of the luxury brand group invest heavily in marketing, not design. Creative directors are often stakeholders, not on paid salary.
3. Please don't propagate the urban myth that law enforcement will arrest people with fake bags. Chanel is the most aggressive of all brand in prosecuting counterfeit, even with them the maximum they can do is getting injunctions against the fake purse sellers. I would like to know which government in this world would have that spare budget right now to deploy law enforcement against ladies with fake bags - and they'd better have a good explanation why the national debt isn't paid with that spare money!

Grow out of your castle already.
 
I'm not a nasty person at all- but this is something I just don't understand, especially when you can walk into a high street store and buy something that looks much nicer than knock off- usually it is blindly obvious.

I went to London on monday and within 10 minutes I saw TWO fake bags- one girl dressed in bright pink trainers and a tracksuit carrying a birkin bag (it was obvious it was knock off- but are we really supposed to believe it is anyway?!) and then another decked out in Primark, fake UGGs and a fake Vuitton bag. The £20 handbag I was wearing from the Next sale look 100x nicer than theirs did so it just doesn't make sense.
 
I'm not a nasty person at all- but this is something I just don't understand, especially when you can walk into a high street store and buy something that looks much nicer than knock off- usually it is blindly obvious.

I went to London on monday and within 10 minutes I saw TWO fake bags- one girl dressed in bright pink trainers and a tracksuit carrying a birkin bag (it was obvious it was knock off- but are we really supposed to believe it is anyway?!) and then another decked out in Primark, fake UGGs and a fake Vuitton bag. The £20 handbag I was wearing from the Next sale look 100x nicer than theirs did so it just doesn't make sense.
A friend of mine phoned me this afternoon to say she had found a site on which she could buy an LV bag on sale. I told her that LV never has sales and that she would get a counterfeit.
She replied that for 129 euros (!!!) ....she didn't run any risks and could use the bag to go to the market if the purse was bad quality.......
I reminded her that counterfeits are forbidden...and that if she ordered the bag...she might never receive it because the French Customs are very strict and would confiscate the parcel on arrival as they probably know about that site....
It's the only thing which deterred her from buying the bag!
 
EXCELLENT POST! I agree 100%

thank you! I ve been getting a certain amount of hate mail actually for that post from open minded people who 'do not judge others'.

The most ludicrous one was someone who told me to stop spreading the 'urban myth' 'that the police would arrest anyone carrying a counterfeit bag. Just to clarify I never said that and is hard to believe anyone stupid enough to believe such a thing. The police have better things to do than go after the slightly overweight suburban housewife with the fake LV (or her teenage daughter carrying the really ugly 'faux' chanel) The police may be mildly interested in the street vendor who sells them. but in all likelihood not even that. They want to catch the 'big fish' - importers of fake goods, distributors etc. The woman with the fake birkin is practically a victim rather than a criminal as her greed has led her to pay over the odds for substandard goods. (yes substandard goods - when we buy counterfeit. we pay that little bit extra for the fake logo.)
As for me - well I am going to volunteer for the FASHION police. ;)French VOGUE in collaboration with Hermes and Chanel are putting together an elite squad of fashion police. Competition is fierce, they test you so we have to be able to spot a fake (moving target) from min 20 paces away. First offenders get a caution, second offenders have to attend a six week 'refine your fashion sense' course. Third offenders - well best not to go there...:graucho:
 
thank you! I ve been getting a certain amount of hate mail actually for that post from open minded people who 'do not judge others'.

The most ludicrous one was someone who told me to stop spreading the 'urban myth' 'that the police would arrest anyone carrying a counterfeit bag. Just to clarify I never said that and is hard to believe anyone stupid enough to believe such a thing. The police have better things to do than go after the slightly overweight suburban housewife with the fake LV (or her teenage daughter carrying the really ugly 'faux' chanel) The police may be mildly interested in the street vendor who sells them. but in all likelihood not even that. They want to catch the 'big fish' - importers of fake goods, distributors etc. The woman with the fake birkin is practically a victim rather than a criminal as her greed has led her to pay over the odds for substandard goods. (yes substandard goods - when we buy counterfeit. we pay that little bit extra for the fake logo.)
As for me - well I am going to volunteer for the FASHION police. ;)French VOGUE in collaboration with Hermes and Chanel are putting together an elite squad of fashion police. Competition is fierce, they test you so we have to be able to spot a fake (moving target) from min 20 paces away. First offenders get a caution, second offenders have to attend a six week 'refine your fashion sense' course. Third offenders - well best not to go there...:graucho:

Of course you'll be able to spot the fake from far away. After all, it's being carried by the slightly overweight suburban housewife.
 
People buy fakes for as many reasons as there are people purchasing fakes. You don' t always know who they are, nor can you presume to know what they can or can't afford, just what they choose to (or not) spend their money on. There are plenty of wealthy women who carry fakes, and many women living paycheck to paycheck in order to have the "boutique experience" and reassure themselves and others that their handbags are signifiers of their status and affluence. I've reached the point where I can't invest much energy in worrying about other people's choices, because I understand that I can never really know. I do what I do, and hope they're happy with their own decisions. :shrugs:
 
Lush Life said:
People buy fakes for as many reasons as there are people purchasing fakes. You don' t always know who they are, nor can you presume to know what they can or can't afford, just what they choose to (or not) spend their money on. There are plenty of wealthy women who carry fakes, and many women living paycheck to paycheck in order to have the "boutique experience" and reassure themselves and others that their handbags are signifiers of their status and affluence. I've reached the point where I can't invest much energy in worrying about other people's choices, because I understand that I can never really know. I do what I do, and hope they're happy with their own decisions. :shrugs:

As a slightly overweight suburban housewife who carries authentic bags, thank you! Well said!!!
 
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