Imagine this, from the first salary you earned, you finally brought the luxury bag that you have always dreamt of but only to know later that the bag was from a counterfeit luxury brand and that it has no luxe features that were promised to you.
You would be completely heartbroken right?
Counterfeited luxury brands are a big industry itself and customers who are unaware of these potholes are often lured into the traps as the products are available at a much cheaper price. Few times, even people voluntarily support the sale and purchase of these fake luxury brands’ products themselves.
However, if you are someone who wants to stay away from fake luxury brands, then here are a few ways that will help you to differentiate between counterfeit and original luxury brands.
- Unreal discounts: While shopping online or locally, if you find a luxury item at an unbelievably discounted price and make you wonder that it might be too good to be true, then probably it is.
Try to have some idea on how much discount a luxury brand usually offers and if you come across luxury brands that offer 70-80% off on the MRP, then likely that is a counterfeit luxury brand.
- Fake website: One of the best methods that will help you to understand whether the brand you are shopping from sells original or counterfeit items is by going to their websites.
For people shopping online, confirm the URL and make sure that the site is safe by looking at the HTTP icon and lock sign. Another method to verify the authenticity of a website is by pasting the brand’s URL on www.scamadvisor.com or on http://whois.domaintools.com/. These sites help in identifying whether you are shopping from a reliable website or not.
- Craftsmanship: An original luxury brand puts a lot of effort into its craftsmanship.
The stitching not only appears uniform but is also cleaner as compared to counterfeit luxury brands.
Moreover, genuine luxury brands have more stitches per square inch when compared to counterfeit luxury brands items. That is also one of the main reasons original luxury brands are more expensive as compared to counterfeit ones.
- Fabric: Ever wondered why luxury items are so expensive, it is because the items they produce have a lifetime guarantee with them.
The brand stands behind its products to ensure the customer buying the products will have the best of the best materials.
Therefore, another key method that will help to identify if one is shopping from an original or a counterfeit luxury brand is by noticing the material that they use.
For example, original luxury brands that make leather products will source genuine leather to craft the best product for you whereas, on the other hand, counterfeit luxury brands will use faux leather that will make it easy to lure in unaware customers.
- Packaging: Another factor that vastly helps in identifying whether you are shopping from an original or counterfeit luxury brand or not is the way they package their items. Original brands put a lot of care and money into their packaging. However, for counterfeit luxury brands, such measures are not usually. The items are shabbily packed or substandard plastics and sagging cardboard boxes are generally used in these cases.
Now there you go, some key points that will help in differentiating between original and counterfeit luxury brands.
Owning a luxury item is an experience in itself and no counterfeit luxury brand, therefore, should stand in your way.
Apart from the above-mentioned factors, sometimes there are some obvious signs too that can help you to differentiate, you just have to be a little careful while shopping!!
