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On the day I'm writing this, 254 Balenciaga bags on eBay are being sold as "authentic", and of those about 40 are worth looking at more closely, as potentially authentic. That's just over 15% - a pretty good day. In general, about 90% of designer bags on eBay are fake.
Of the 40 maybe-authentics, the prices range from 10% above retail (for the very latest not-available-everywhere colors), to maybe 10% below for current bags that are still readily available in stores. Bags that may sell substantially below retail are 2-3 years old, used hard and very worn, with frayed corners, stains, broken tassels. Particularly desirable older colors may sell close to, or even above, retail. And then...there are one or two bags that might, just might, be a really good deal, maybe 30% - even 50%!! - below retail. If they're authentic.
So before you bid, are you sure you’ve found the one listing in 10 that might be authentic? Or the one in a blue moon that is authentic, new, listed at a fraction of retail, and that nobody else has noticed? Well, then, here are some more things to pay attention to.
MyPoupette membership means nothing
In order to be certified as a MyPoupette Recommended Seller, the seller must agree not to sell any non-authentic designer goods, of any brand. Nonetheless, MyPoupette sellers have occasionally been spotted selling replica Balenciagas. In the past, the organization has not been known for swift and ruthless enforcement of rules among its members. Things seem to have changed recently; if you see an MPRS selling a fake Balenciaga, report them to MyPoupette.
The MyPoupette logo means even less
Some replica-sellers boldly place the MyPoupette logo in their auction listings. It's not linked to the list of recommended sellers, but how many buyers really click and check, do you think?
Powerseller status means nothing
At least one known cabal of current and future powersellers work together with their replica supplier to help each other list and sell fake bags as authentic, at high prices. They are very successful. They make a pledge of secrecy. I am neither kidding nor paranoid about this.
Receipts mean nothing
Receipt templates from designer boutiques, Barneys NY, Neiman Marcus, etc., can be purchased online. Actual receipts can also be purchased. Receipts from other purchases at NM or Barneys may be strategically placed in a photo, with the item number and price obscured.
Private feedback means something
It may hide a damning negative, or a damning positive. "Excellent replica! Everyone thinks it's real!" or "Seller refunded immediately when I suspected bag was fake!" are not necessarily things you want other buyers to see.
Private auctions mean something - maybe
When a seller makes an auction private, you can't see who the other bidders are. A seller might do this if they've had problems with competitors interfering with their auctions, or with those pesky eBay "good samaritans" who let you know when you're bidding on a fake. They also do it as a way of hiding "shill bidding", where they get their friends to make lots of small incremental bids on their listing, pushing up the price and making it look like a hot item.
Update: In response to feedback, I want to stress the "maybe" above - legitimate sellers also sometimes make their listings private to protect their bidders from harassment from hucksters offering "the same thing (i.e. a fake) at a tenth of the price." Like all these points, consider this in the context of all aspects of the listing.
A guarantee of authenticity means nothing
If the seller does not offer a no-strings full refund, the guarantee means nothing. If the seller requires the buyer to provide proof of inauthenticity, don’t bid. As much as sellers may hate it, the burden of proving authenticity is on the seller, not the buyer.
Store managers do not authenticate
Do. Not. Authenticate. No matter what the seller says, you cannot take a bag into a store and get a letter from the manager on official letterhead stating that the bag is either real or fake. (You might, at best, get an opinion from an inexperienced sales associate, but chances are very high that it'll be incorrect.)
The loophole: If you send a damaged bag to the company to be repaired, it will be indirectly authenticated, because they will not repair a counterfeit. Do you really want to damage your bag and send it in for repair to find out whether it's real?
Independent consultants provide authentication services, for a fee
Their opinion may stand up in court, but it will not get you far with a replica-seller. If you try to back out of an auction by saying "dudeiloveyou or poupette says this bag is not authentic," you will likely get a flaming response, an Unpaid Item strike, and seriously burning ears while the seller reviles you, the consultant, and both your progeny to eternity.
Alternatives: high-end consignment stores who regularly sell these items; or eBay listing companies, who have both experience with authentication and credibility with eBay.
Slight detour about independent consultants, in case any replica-sellers are reading this
I know you wonder why someone not affiliated with or authorized by Balenciaga (or Louis Vuitton or Chanel) is qualified to make assessments of authenticity about those products. [I am not a consultant, by the way.]
The credibility of these consultants is based on a) documented experience, from systematically looking at hundreds - even thousands - of both authentic and counterfeit bags, typically specializing in one designer; and b) their very independence from the company in question. They do not have a vested interest in the outcome - they give their opinion, they get their fee. The company's own interests, on the other hand, are best served by a) accepting the fewest possible number of bags as authentic, and b) not being sued.
Authenticating from a photograph is frequently sufficient, because most replicas simply aren't very good, and a telling detail will stand out to an expert.
PayPal protection is...well, um, in theory...
PayPal's service is not supposed to be used to send or receive payments for counterfeit items. Because it is tied to eBay, and monitors its accounts for "suspicious activity", it will occasionally freeze a seller's account for investigation. If the account has a balance, PayPal may end up holding hundreds or thousands of dollars hostage while the seller provides lists of suppliers, shipment tracking numbers, and proof of authentication. Because of this risk, replica-sellers who use PayPal tend to pull their balance out as fast as they can.
Now, when a buyer files a complaint, PayPal will issue a refund up to the amount of funds in the seller’s account at the time the claim is awarded. You see the problem. The seller is already predisposed to keep their PayPal balance at zero. When they see that the buyer has filed a complaint, any current PayPal balance will be cleared fast.
eBay suspension
If a seller is suspended from eBay, she will try to get a new ID in order to start selling again (or she may already have several IDs active at once). This is not as straightforward as it might seem - the seller needs to be able to convince eBay that she is a completely different person, by doing all of the following:
* using a different name
* changing or masking her IP address
* using a different credit card, or a pre-paid gift card (for eBay fees)
* using a different paid email address (no hotmail or gmail)
* using a different physical address (e.g. a PO box)
* opening a new checking account (or using an old one)
* listing some fake transactions for her friends to win, to get positive feedback on the new ID
The chance that a replica-seller is who she says she is on eBay is...slight.
Who are these people?
Apart from the "terrorists" and "money-launderers" (I'm not sure where these scary people are, but I don't think they're selling 3 bags a week on eBay), it seems the majority of replica-sellers are women. For some, this is their only income. Others are doing it as a way of supplementing their income and making ends meet for their family, or to pay for school. (Hear those violins? But it's true.) On the risk-to-return scale, selling replicas is somewhere between working at 7-11 and armed robbery.
They tend to sell in multiple venues: iOffer, Overstock auctions, sell.com, their own websites, friends & colleagues. eBay selling is risky, but results in the highest profits. Making an eBay sale is a mixed blessing: “woohoo, I just sold a $75 Balenciaga bag for $400!!” But also: la trouille! waiting for the buyer to receive the bag, realize it's a fake, and unleash a world of trouble.
Returning a bag can hurt these sellers badly. The money received from the sale may have gone immediately to pay an overdue bill. When you demand a refund, she may have to wait to sell another bag or two to get the money to refund you. She'd prefer not to refund, of course, but may choose that over an eBay/PayPal account suspension.
Replica-selling is a strange and murky business
The bottom line is that it's illegal to sell a replica, even if you're honest about it being a replica. In fact, an eBay listing for a "replica Balenciaga" is very likely to be pulled, because it will trigger eBay's automated VeRO monitors. Dishonestly listing a bag as authentic is the best way to keep the listing alive long enough for someone to bid. The only way a bag listed as authentic will be pulled is if it is reported by vigilant eBay members.
Frankly, I don't even care much about the replica side of things - if someone wants to purchase a look-alike bag for a fraction of the price of an authentic one, that's fine with me, as long as she knows what she's buying, and pays a fair value for it.
When you pay for a fake Balenciaga on eBay, you're paying for the seller's effort and risk in making the contacts, finding a supplier, paying cash to a mysterious source in China for a minimum order quantity, importing the bags through customs where they may be confiscated, and making them available on eBay where she risks being suspended or even prosecuted. You decide if it's fair.
But when the seller mutters "what, she thought that $1200 bag she got for $400 was going to be authentic?" - well, she's got a point.
My own experience?
I've never thought of myself as a gambler, but so far I've purchased 6 Balenciaga bags on eBay, from a bit to a lot below retail, and they're all authentic. I've been lucky. And I did a lot of research before I bought.
first posted by AtelierNaff 11/23/2005
Of the 40 maybe-authentics, the prices range from 10% above retail (for the very latest not-available-everywhere colors), to maybe 10% below for current bags that are still readily available in stores. Bags that may sell substantially below retail are 2-3 years old, used hard and very worn, with frayed corners, stains, broken tassels. Particularly desirable older colors may sell close to, or even above, retail. And then...there are one or two bags that might, just might, be a really good deal, maybe 30% - even 50%!! - below retail. If they're authentic.
So before you bid, are you sure you’ve found the one listing in 10 that might be authentic? Or the one in a blue moon that is authentic, new, listed at a fraction of retail, and that nobody else has noticed? Well, then, here are some more things to pay attention to.
MyPoupette membership means nothing
In order to be certified as a MyPoupette Recommended Seller, the seller must agree not to sell any non-authentic designer goods, of any brand. Nonetheless, MyPoupette sellers have occasionally been spotted selling replica Balenciagas. In the past, the organization has not been known for swift and ruthless enforcement of rules among its members. Things seem to have changed recently; if you see an MPRS selling a fake Balenciaga, report them to MyPoupette.
The MyPoupette logo means even less
Some replica-sellers boldly place the MyPoupette logo in their auction listings. It's not linked to the list of recommended sellers, but how many buyers really click and check, do you think?
Powerseller status means nothing
At least one known cabal of current and future powersellers work together with their replica supplier to help each other list and sell fake bags as authentic, at high prices. They are very successful. They make a pledge of secrecy. I am neither kidding nor paranoid about this.
Receipts mean nothing
Receipt templates from designer boutiques, Barneys NY, Neiman Marcus, etc., can be purchased online. Actual receipts can also be purchased. Receipts from other purchases at NM or Barneys may be strategically placed in a photo, with the item number and price obscured.
Private feedback means something
It may hide a damning negative, or a damning positive. "Excellent replica! Everyone thinks it's real!" or "Seller refunded immediately when I suspected bag was fake!" are not necessarily things you want other buyers to see.
Private auctions mean something - maybe
When a seller makes an auction private, you can't see who the other bidders are. A seller might do this if they've had problems with competitors interfering with their auctions, or with those pesky eBay "good samaritans" who let you know when you're bidding on a fake. They also do it as a way of hiding "shill bidding", where they get their friends to make lots of small incremental bids on their listing, pushing up the price and making it look like a hot item.
Update: In response to feedback, I want to stress the "maybe" above - legitimate sellers also sometimes make their listings private to protect their bidders from harassment from hucksters offering "the same thing (i.e. a fake) at a tenth of the price." Like all these points, consider this in the context of all aspects of the listing.
A guarantee of authenticity means nothing
If the seller does not offer a no-strings full refund, the guarantee means nothing. If the seller requires the buyer to provide proof of inauthenticity, don’t bid. As much as sellers may hate it, the burden of proving authenticity is on the seller, not the buyer.
Store managers do not authenticate
Do. Not. Authenticate. No matter what the seller says, you cannot take a bag into a store and get a letter from the manager on official letterhead stating that the bag is either real or fake. (You might, at best, get an opinion from an inexperienced sales associate, but chances are very high that it'll be incorrect.)
The loophole: If you send a damaged bag to the company to be repaired, it will be indirectly authenticated, because they will not repair a counterfeit. Do you really want to damage your bag and send it in for repair to find out whether it's real?
Independent consultants provide authentication services, for a fee
Their opinion may stand up in court, but it will not get you far with a replica-seller. If you try to back out of an auction by saying "dudeiloveyou or poupette says this bag is not authentic," you will likely get a flaming response, an Unpaid Item strike, and seriously burning ears while the seller reviles you, the consultant, and both your progeny to eternity.
Alternatives: high-end consignment stores who regularly sell these items; or eBay listing companies, who have both experience with authentication and credibility with eBay.
Slight detour about independent consultants, in case any replica-sellers are reading this
I know you wonder why someone not affiliated with or authorized by Balenciaga (or Louis Vuitton or Chanel) is qualified to make assessments of authenticity about those products. [I am not a consultant, by the way.]
The credibility of these consultants is based on a) documented experience, from systematically looking at hundreds - even thousands - of both authentic and counterfeit bags, typically specializing in one designer; and b) their very independence from the company in question. They do not have a vested interest in the outcome - they give their opinion, they get their fee. The company's own interests, on the other hand, are best served by a) accepting the fewest possible number of bags as authentic, and b) not being sued.
Authenticating from a photograph is frequently sufficient, because most replicas simply aren't very good, and a telling detail will stand out to an expert.
PayPal protection is...well, um, in theory...
PayPal's service is not supposed to be used to send or receive payments for counterfeit items. Because it is tied to eBay, and monitors its accounts for "suspicious activity", it will occasionally freeze a seller's account for investigation. If the account has a balance, PayPal may end up holding hundreds or thousands of dollars hostage while the seller provides lists of suppliers, shipment tracking numbers, and proof of authentication. Because of this risk, replica-sellers who use PayPal tend to pull their balance out as fast as they can.
Now, when a buyer files a complaint, PayPal will issue a refund up to the amount of funds in the seller’s account at the time the claim is awarded. You see the problem. The seller is already predisposed to keep their PayPal balance at zero. When they see that the buyer has filed a complaint, any current PayPal balance will be cleared fast.
eBay suspension
If a seller is suspended from eBay, she will try to get a new ID in order to start selling again (or she may already have several IDs active at once). This is not as straightforward as it might seem - the seller needs to be able to convince eBay that she is a completely different person, by doing all of the following:
* using a different name
* changing or masking her IP address
* using a different credit card, or a pre-paid gift card (for eBay fees)
* using a different paid email address (no hotmail or gmail)
* using a different physical address (e.g. a PO box)
* opening a new checking account (or using an old one)
* listing some fake transactions for her friends to win, to get positive feedback on the new ID
The chance that a replica-seller is who she says she is on eBay is...slight.
Who are these people?
Apart from the "terrorists" and "money-launderers" (I'm not sure where these scary people are, but I don't think they're selling 3 bags a week on eBay), it seems the majority of replica-sellers are women. For some, this is their only income. Others are doing it as a way of supplementing their income and making ends meet for their family, or to pay for school. (Hear those violins? But it's true.) On the risk-to-return scale, selling replicas is somewhere between working at 7-11 and armed robbery.
They tend to sell in multiple venues: iOffer, Overstock auctions, sell.com, their own websites, friends & colleagues. eBay selling is risky, but results in the highest profits. Making an eBay sale is a mixed blessing: “woohoo, I just sold a $75 Balenciaga bag for $400!!” But also: la trouille! waiting for the buyer to receive the bag, realize it's a fake, and unleash a world of trouble.
Returning a bag can hurt these sellers badly. The money received from the sale may have gone immediately to pay an overdue bill. When you demand a refund, she may have to wait to sell another bag or two to get the money to refund you. She'd prefer not to refund, of course, but may choose that over an eBay/PayPal account suspension.
Replica-selling is a strange and murky business
The bottom line is that it's illegal to sell a replica, even if you're honest about it being a replica. In fact, an eBay listing for a "replica Balenciaga" is very likely to be pulled, because it will trigger eBay's automated VeRO monitors. Dishonestly listing a bag as authentic is the best way to keep the listing alive long enough for someone to bid. The only way a bag listed as authentic will be pulled is if it is reported by vigilant eBay members.
Frankly, I don't even care much about the replica side of things - if someone wants to purchase a look-alike bag for a fraction of the price of an authentic one, that's fine with me, as long as she knows what she's buying, and pays a fair value for it.
When you pay for a fake Balenciaga on eBay, you're paying for the seller's effort and risk in making the contacts, finding a supplier, paying cash to a mysterious source in China for a minimum order quantity, importing the bags through customs where they may be confiscated, and making them available on eBay where she risks being suspended or even prosecuted. You decide if it's fair.
But when the seller mutters "what, she thought that $1200 bag she got for $400 was going to be authentic?" - well, she's got a point.
My own experience?
I've never thought of myself as a gambler, but so far I've purchased 6 Balenciaga bags on eBay, from a bit to a lot below retail, and they're all authentic. I've been lucky. And I did a lot of research before I bought.
first posted by AtelierNaff 11/23/2005
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