Just My Handbag: Handbags, Designer Handbags

Replica Handbags: fakes

August 25th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

When a rare handbag like the Hermes Birkin costs thousands of dollars, there’s a market for replicas - fakes. Calling these handbags “replicas” is nonsense; they not replicas in any sense of the word, they’re counterfeits and fakes.

The counterfeit market that produces replica handbags which are sold for just a fraction of the original bags’ price. This industry robs the original bags of their individualism and uniqueness. They also supply several million people with bags that they ordinarily cannot afford if they were authentic.

Low-quality imitation handbags

Replica handbags are often made with similar materials as the originals but some of these may be of a lower grade. The replica handbags are usually produced in third world countries which do not have any clear defining laws regarding imitation and counterfeit products. The replica handbags are then shipped to neighboring countries and eventually they reach other further countries. Most of these third world countries that manufacture the bags also sell them in their markets and other low-end department stores. Tourists visiting from Europe and the Americas often buy the knock offs because they look like the real thing.

Some brand name companies have resorted to several anti-piracy or anti-counterfeit measures but these may not be enough to squash the booming counterfeit industry.

One of these counterfeit measures is to lessen their distributors and sell their wares exclusively in their boutiques. Others have also brought to court individuals who are caught selling these counterfeits. Some more enterprising companies that make fake goods oftentimes do not put the brand on the replica handbags until the time the bags are purchased. If there are no brand names on the bags, they cannot be called counterfeit. The brand names, tags or logos are often stitched on the replica handbags after the buyer has paid for them.

The fake handbags are bought by ordinary people in their blind ambition to own the real thing. They are hampered by the astronomical prices which the originals ask for so they opt for the replica handbags which can be bought for a few dollars. Compared to the original designer bags, the knock offs are very similar in looks. The quality is another thing entire because the fake bag’s materials tend to deteriorate more quickly.