Increasingly Difficult To Identify Counterfeit Luxury Goods

The new generation of fashion forgery has made it easier for many people to believe that these fake products are completely different from the cheap imitation packages sold with "Prado" or "Cucci" signs on the street corner for consumers who know they are buying fake goods.

A handle of Karineh Gurjian Angelo's Yves Saint Laurent handbag was broken. She took her handbag to a YSL boutique to repair it. Not only did it not be repaired, but the sales assistant also told her that the handbag was fake.

The sale showed that the bags were not lined correctly, and the details at the bottom were not stamped to prove that the package was not true, which made her feel very ashamed.

"I feel like I am going back to school and being educated in the headmaster's office," Ms. Gurjian-Angelo said. She is a photographer. She often shoots accessories and is very familiar with high-end handbags.

She bought eBay YSL black handbag from 300 dollars to keep her happy. The low price had made her suspect that it might be a fake, but when she got it, and when the price tag looked like a genuine product, she said she thought, "Wow, it's true."

The new generation of fashion forgery is well made, which makes more people believe that Ms. Gurjian-Angelo has become a victim. These imitations are completely different from those that sell to consumers who know that they are buying fake goods on sale at the corner of the street, selling cheap imitation packages with "Prado" or "Cucci" logo. These goods are made of high quality materials, with a brand on the zippers and buckles, as if the place and date of the product are also stamped in the right place. Even smart shoppers are fooled by them, especially online.

Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonito, says that sellers of counterfeit goods can easily build e-commerce websites that look legitimate. They look like a sale of genuine websites with complete product descriptions, promotional pictures and signs. They also buy keyword ads for search engines to attract consumers who want to buy cheap products. MarkMonito is a company that helps companies protect their brands.

The prices of imitation products are rising, so that consumers who want to buy genuine products at a discount price are in a fog. Nevertheless, the high price of counterfeit products is only small compared with the price of a genuine product. The price of Ms. Gurjian-Angelo's YSL genuine handbag is more than 1500 dollars.

Second hand markets are often counterfeiters selling fake goods to unsuspecting consumers.

Ebay said it vigorously cracked down on counterfeit goods, and partly used special tools to report products to brands or other intellectual property rights holders. Ebay says that when the brand thinks the product is untrue, the product will be deleted within a few hours. Ebay will also independently examine the list of millions of counterfeit products.

EBay Dougherty Dan, a deputy general counsel for intellectual property rights, said in a statement, "counterfeit products on the website are very rare. Buyers' protection will be protected through our buyer protection program." If the product is not promised by the seller, this protection plan will enable the buyer to return the merchandise. (Ms. Gurjian-Angelo did not take action on her package.)

Some manufacturers are introducing the covert security measures into products, looking for online unauthorized product sales websites, and trying to prevent them from fighting back.

The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that the value of counterfeit and pirated products around the world is about $600 billion, which doubled in 2015. According to a report from the US customs frontier Protection Agency and the Immigration Customs Law Enforcement Agency of the United States, last year, American law enforcement officers handled nearly 20000 goods infringing intellectual property rights, an increase of 34% from 2010. In 2001, there were about 3600 pieces.

Government agencies said shoes were ranked first among the items seized, and clothing and handbags ranked third and fourth respectively.