You bring up some very good points, some of which I agree with. Most people do buy the fake items to trick others into thinking they own the real thing. Even though many of the people could not afford the real item, I do believe the real manufacturer is losing out big time. Their intellectual property and reputation are the basis of their business. When too many fakes are out there, it commoditizes an item that was previously a luxury item. Each counterfeit that is sold undermines the true value of the real thing.

As for organized crime - it has been proven many times that these items are made in illegal sweat shops (both within the borders of the US and outside). Many of the workers in these sweat shops do these jobs because they are forced to or have no other work. I can guarantee you they are not paid minimum wage and do not show up on any official pay charts. The factories steal intellectual property, do not pay taxes, probably don’t meet any OSHA standards, and are otherwise illegal. I don’t believe 3 women decided to get together on a weekend a make a few fake purses to sell for some spending money. I will venture to say it takes a lot of organization to pull this off and I strongly believe this is a part of organized crime. Yes, making fake purses is less of a social stigma when compared to smuggling and selling drugs and guns, but it still illegal, and is probably just a small part of a larger organization.

As for terrorism, I am not limiting this statement to the US. There are many illegal factories and sweatshops worldwide that produce goods to fund terrorist activities. Counterfeit items are not limited to purses and include money, electronics, clothing, car and aviation parts, medicines and medical supplies, and many other products (including poisonous toothpaste). There are hundreds of billions of dollars at stake and potentially people’s lives.

But the whole point of this article was to share some tips about how not to get ripped off on-line. Thanks for your comment.

I also doubt your assertions that the profits from these things go to organized crime and terrorists. and I flat out don’t believe the statement “Counterfeit goods cost consumers and legitimate manufacturers hundreds of billions of dollars every year.”.

Just because someone buys a knock off of a $2000 bag doesn’t mean the bag manufacturer is out $2000. In fact, the bag manufacturer has lost nothing, because the person couldn’t afford the bag in the first place.