4 ms·

> The rep handbag game has become incredibly good too, to the point that there is now a subculture of people (some who could even afford the legit offerings) wh

> The rep handbag game has become incredibly good too, to the point that there is now a subculture of people (some who could even afford the legit offerings) who collect and pay real money for the reps that are largely indistinguishable from the real thing -- but that might cost $800 instead of $18,000. To add another product category, replica watches are almost indistinguishable from real watches these days, Rolex are probably the most widely counterfeit watch brand. A good replica sub goes for $1,000 while the real watch is around $10,000 Replica watch subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/RepTime/ https://www.reddit.com/r/RepTime/ Rolex Submariner Legit vs Replica Video: https://youtu.be/oYY0bI_Aiqc https://youtu.be/oYY0bI_Aiqc

timr 3y ago
Yeah...but your average street tout doesn't have a $1,000 replica Rolex on a blanket -- they have a $20 Rolox. Also, those fake bags, watches, etc. don't have packaging. These "AirPods" came with boxes that were basically exactly like the real thing. Obviously, any New Yorker knows about knockoffs, but these were qualitatively different. They were also prevalent for a week or two, and then seemingly disappeared...as if there was a sudden crackdown or something.
- filmgirlcw 3y ago
  The fake bags definitely have packaging. Fake documents, fake dust covers, fake Hermes boxes. They go all out in some cases. Usually not for the $30 hand bags sold on the street (though you’d be surprised as to the fake documents some of the Louis Vuitton's have inside), but the higher-end reps can be astonishing. A $30 bag masquerading as a $1000+ bag on a street corner isn’t going to have the same accoutrements that a $30 pair of fake AirPods masquerading as a $150 pair will. But a fake $800 bag masquerading as a $18,000 bag will usually come with the goods. Same is true for watches. It’s just the cheapest stuff sold on the street in those categories don’t bother. The fake AirPods box thing I’ve seen for a long time, again, the tell is usually small differences in font/printing and how they do the pull tabs. The box fit is often different too, but since most of these are presented sealed, people don’t know. Maybe this really was a ring of fenced goods, who knows. But my guess having seen these things for years is that they were almost certainly a big group of the very common fake AirPods that proliferate eBay and Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp and the like and that are probably incredibly popular in foreign markets where the official products are both more expensive and a greater percentage of GDP.

timr 3y ago

Yeah...but your average street tout doesn't have a $1,000 replica Rolex on a blanket -- they have a $20 Rolox. Also, those fake bags, watches, etc. don't have packaging. These "AirPods" came with boxes that were basically exactly like the real thing. Obviously, any New Yorker knows about knockoffs, but these were qualitatively different. They were also prevalent for a week or two, and then seemingly disappeared...as if there was a sudden crackdown or something.

filmgirlcw 3y ago
The fake bags definitely have packaging. Fake documents, fake dust covers, fake Hermes boxes. They go all out in some cases. Usually not for the $30 hand bags sold on the street (though you’d be surprised as to the fake documents some of the Louis Vuitton's have inside), but the higher-end reps can be astonishing. A $30 bag masquerading as a $1000+ bag on a street corner isn’t going to have the same accoutrements that a $30 pair of fake AirPods masquerading as a $150 pair will. But a fake $800 bag masquerading as a $18,000 bag will usually come with the goods. Same is true for watches. It’s just the cheapest stuff sold on the street in those categories don’t bother. The fake AirPods box thing I’ve seen for a long time, again, the tell is usually small differences in font/printing and how they do the pull tabs. The box fit is often different too, but since most of these are presented sealed, people don’t know. Maybe this really was a ring of fenced goods, who knows. But my guess having seen these things for years is that they were almost certainly a big group of the very common fake AirPods that proliferate eBay and Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp and the like and that are probably incredibly popular in foreign markets where the official products are both more expensive and a greater percentage of GDP.