Would you believe if I said that the fake designer clothing market is worth well over five hundred million dollars? Might even be more worth than all of the legit fashion clothing sold on this planet.
A knock-off product is created to be very similar to a designer brand’s product in terms of production quality and branding. But, instead of selling them for hundreds or thousands of dollars, they are sold for only a couple of bucks. It tricks you into thinking that you are getting a bargain of a branded piece of clothing, while in reality, you are just getting a product that may even be worse in quality than your regular clothes.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong if you want to buy one. Not everyone can pay $300 just for a simple shirt, but when people try to take advantage of you and lie to you, that is a problem. Getting scammed out of your money is not fair, especially since the quality of these items can be very low. This low production quality may result in a tear in just a few days.
So, if you want to avoid buying fake stuff, you will need to learn how to identify them. This is why we have made this guide for 2020, to provide you with a few detective skills regarding this subject.
Craftsmanship
The easiest way to spot whether a product is legit is to check its craftsmanship. Yes, products from popular brands can be overpriced at times, but they never skimp out on quality.
Before you buy anything, you will first need to carefully inspect it and look at its seams. Seams are usually the hardest part of manufacturing clothes. Most popular brands have perfected their manufacturing process which means that low-budget knock-offs will never achieve the same level of craftsmanship. Check whether the pattern and the fabric align at the seams. Make sure to check every around the item to ensure that it is not a fake.
Keep in mind that when you are buying designer outfits, you are not just paying for the popular brand, but also for their craftsmanship. You are not paying hundreds of dollars just for the zipper to fall off after a few days.
The Logo
The most common change scammers like to do to clothing is to change up the logo to avoid legal issues. If a company ever tried to sue them for mimicking their products, the scammers will just point out the tiny differences in their logo and they get out of trouble. It is easy as that.
So, if you do not want to be fooled next time when you are buying a Gucci jacket, inspect the logo as close as possible. The changes might subtle, but they will definitely be there. Some changes might be more obvious like changing the letter G from Gucci to a C with a small curve added to it so it can resemble the letter G. Other times, the changes can be minimal or maybe even non-existent which means you shouldn’t rely on this method.
Even the most trained eye can miss out on subtle changes of a logo during a detailed inspection. If you are unable to find out whether an item you want to purchase is authentic or not, you can check out ivbagaholic.com.
Another way you can use the logo to find out whether it is a real or a fake is by checking other locations. Most brands will put their brand name on the zipper, on the inside of the jacket, on the upper part of the sleeve and on the chest. If you find that all of these locations bear the real name then you are definitely looking at designer clothing.
Pricing
The most effective way of fooling people into buying fake products is with the pricing.
For example, you get into a store that looks pretty decent and you spot some expensive designer clothing sold at just a fraction of the price. You start questioning the price, but you also wonder why would such a legit store sell fake clothes? A few days after your purchase, you make the discovery that you have actually been scammed. Trying to return the item will always end up in a failure.
Avoid getting fooled by attractive prices because everything that seems ridiculously cheap is probably fake. The chances of it being a designer piece are very low and risking it is definitely not worth it.
Of course, second-hand designer clothes will be a lot cheaper than when buying it brand new, but they will never be that cheap. Whenever you are met with a certain item with very cheap pricing, I would advise you to check how much that same item is worth brand new. If the pricing is not below %25, it is possible that it is actually real.
Location of production
It doesn’t matter who is producing these fake clothes, they must specify the origin of the items otherwise the items wouldn’t be accepted through the border. They are legally bound to claim where the product has been manufactured.
So, if you have found a Louis Vuitton bag, you should check out what the tag says. Most high-quality brands are produced in the United States or in Europe. Cheaper brands and products usually have manufacturing factories in Asia, especially in China. So, if you check that the bag’s tag says Made in China, you are looking at a fake.
Availability
Another method of analyzing whether a store sells originals or fakes is to check its availability. Most retail and authorized stores have only a few of that certain item, they won’t have 30 in storage. So, if you open up an online store and find out that they have 50 of that product you are looking at in availability, it is probably fake.
By using most of these methods, you will never end up with a fake designer clothing piece ever again.
