Buyer beware in Italy

[Member]

I read from the weekend's Globe and Mail newspaper that Italy punishes heavily on countfeit goods purchasers as well now.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050820/RTICKERSEC20/TPBusiness/?query=Italy

 

It can be very serious for those innocent visitors.

[aring75]

I'm sorry...I hate to "blame the victim" here...but why would you think some guy selling Prada handbags on a streetcorner is legit? I mean, would you buy designer goods from the back of some guy's van in NYC and expect it to be the real deal? No. Chances are, it's either fake or stolen.

 

Remember what mom always said. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! LOL!

[Lolipop]

I can only back up that what both of you have said, I live here in Italy and the crackdown on counterfeit goods is extremely harsh at the moment, the authorities are handing out enormous fines for those caught buying these goods, we read about it everyday in our newspapers here.

If you really must have that designer handbag or pair of sunglasses, buy them from an authorised dealer, to some extent you can try and handle the price with them, just don´t buy fakes from street corners or markets.

[Iamthesea]

 

This past Thursday, Venice police fined a Canadian woman buying a counterfeit purse even though they admitted that, since she had just stepped off a cruise ship, she was probably not aware of the law.

 

So obviously, there are signs posted somewhere that buying "fakes" is against the Italian law.

 

They need to start a crackdown with Ebay. Lots of Prada from Italy on that site.

 

This needs to be posted on all the boards here.

[Stanley]

It's quite easy to tell us that we should not buy goods from shady characters popping out of alley's or walking up to you at the bus stop.

 

I would like to say BEWARE in general. On our trip to Italy last summer was interesting. First, we were warned, by a local person, on a subway car that there was a gypsy on the train with us and to watch our pockets and bags. We definitely had a gypsy standing right with us. She was a small but very pregnant woman and had a little boy with her. Even after the big, loud announcement by this other local woman, this little gypsy woman put her hand into my front pocket. I made a fuss and just then we got to the next stop and this little woman and her son got off the train quickly and disappeared into the crowd. I was lucky, THIS TIME.

 

I'll be darned if not a couple days later I was pick pocketed on a bus. Stupid me was carrying way more US$ then I needed to be and I lost about $300. I kicked myself for being so lax. I thought that it just couldn't happen to me twice. Not so lucky this time.

 

Also, I can't even tell you how many times we were way over charged for meals or items we bought. I was very good about counting my change eqch time and each time the person over charging us smiled, acted dumb and gave us the correct change.

 

Anyway, just a warning to everyone to keep your valuables close to your bodies, keep your hands in your pockets in crowded places or just don't have anything in those pockets that you aren't willing to lose. We heard lots of pick pocketing stores when we got back to the ship. Especially in Naples. Naples is corrupt. Take a tour from the ship and don't wander the streets. If someone is going to try and sell you something on the street it's going to be in Naples.

 

Now, having said all this.... We had a great time for the entire cruise. We have lived long enough to know better then let this sort of misfortune ruin our good time. We just call it a lesson in life.

[Stanley]

Iamthesea.... The fake purses being sold in Italy are not made there. Also, the bags aren't being sold my Italians. Here in Houston and all the major ciites we have visited are selling fake Prada and every other nice purse. On a trip to Hong Kong nearly 4 years ago we couldn't believe all the rip offs being sold there. Not just handbags. There were watches, clothes, and shoes as well. You could buy bags for $15, Rolex watches for $20. It was ridiculous. These rip offs are being made in China. Then shipped everywhere. I'm sure Italy wants to put a stop to it because the real Prada is being made there. It's the same with rip off CDs and DVDs.

[gambit57]

You could argue that buying an authentic Prada is a ripoff in itself. :p

[RocksNoSalt]

Wow! I was in Florence 4 years ago and we were walking down the street when several Jamaican gentlemen approached us with "Ladies, Gucci, Prada?" Of course we were interested, but cautious. They had a set up on the steps of a church. Yes, on the steps of a church. They had tons of huge duffel bags full of the knock offs. I must say they really looked better than the NY knockoffs. We decided not to buy. It started to rain and we lost interest. Good thing, huh? We just couldn't believe how they were out in the open. They did have people as their look outs. A police car was parked just down the street within seeing distance. Quite an experience.

[seattlekckckc]

We are leaving for the Med cruise on the Grand in less than a month, and I am glad this thread has been posted. A couple things, I have bought fake purses here and there at "purse parties" (very popular here in Seattle), where innocent looking Moms are peddling the wares. I gave in to peer pressure and bought a couple. That said, I NEVER carry them! I know they are fake, and I hate that they are fake. I really dont know what to do with them, I dont want to garage sale them as I dont want to be the peddler then!!! I hate to send it on the donation truck, becasue some bozo at Goodwill is going to mark it crazy high thinking it might be real. I just really enjoy my real ones so much more (and to those who think spending the money on a real Kate Spade - my downfall - is wasting money, to each there own! I have no other vices, except for designer purses) (OK, maybe shoes too!)!

 

Also, I understand the crack down on buyers, but what about the sellers?? How can they let them sell them in the street? If it illegal buying them, how come someone set up on the stairs of the Church does not get stopped by police and all of their goods confiscated???

 

Casey

[Iamthesea]

The fake purses being sold in Italy are not made there.

I didn't day they were made in Italy, I said that fake Prada purses are being sold on Ebay by persons from Italy.

 

In any event, I don't understand anyone spending more than $50-$100 on purses in the first place - not even $40 for a fake. Unfortunately, I have two daughters that are crazy about brand name purses and shoes. I would rather save my money for a cruise. :D

[iancal]

When you buy the item in a retail shop that represents the item as genuine AND you pay a price that reflects the normal retail price for the 'real mccoy' and still end up with a knock off ....then you just got ripped off

 

When you buy it on the street or from some tourist trap that is obviously not an agent, and pay 30 cents on the dollar /euro then you are not being ripped off. You are helping the seller steal rights to the product. There is no misrepresentation.

Let's not kid ourselves.

[Member]

When you buy the item in a retail shop that represents the item as genuine AND you pay a price that reflects the normal retail price for the 'real mccoy' and still end up with a knock off ....then you just got ripped off

 

And if the cruise passenger is being caught by Italian police of buying this knock-off and fine to it, what is the lesson here?

[JennCandi]

Why is it illegal to buy a knock off? I can understand the problem with selling them, if you are pretending they are real. Everyone knows they aren't real! In chinatown, you can pick the label that you want put on your bag.

[critterchick]

It's a crime because you're participating ripping off the manufacturer. Knowing that you're doing it makes you more complicit.

 

Somebody once gave my secretary a Coach bag for Christmas. When the strap broke, she brought it to a Coach store for repair (they have a lifetime warranty), only to be told that it was a fake because it had no serial number. She was mortified, to say the least, as was the gift-giver, who (told her at least) that it had been purchased at a name retail store. I'm not sure what ever happened, but I would be that the gift giver wasn't being entirely honest.

[gambit57]

Why is it illegal to buy a knock off? I can understand the problem with selling them, if you are pretending they are real. Everyone knows they aren't real! In chinatown, you can pick the label that you want put on your bag.

 

There are stuff called patents, trademarks, and intellectual property rights. Basically, it's to protect teh creator of something. Otherwise, if we're allowed to buy knockoffs at a severe discount, what incentive is there for a company to come up with something people want if others are just going to make cheap knockoffs of it? Why would a company go through the expense to develop and market a product if no one buys it cuz they buy the copies?

 

When a fake is bought and sold, there are two guilty parties. The seller and the buyer. It's just kind of shocking to see the buyer prosecuted b/c that's not how it normally goes for practical reasons. You stop the seller, then there will be no buyers. If you only have limited resources, it's a better use of your resources to stop the seller. Also, countries that rely on tourism don't like prosecuting buyers b/c it discourages tourism if the country gets a rep for being hard on visitors. Better to nail the sellers cuz it's clear they know they're doing wrong. However, that still doesn't change teh fact that the buyer is in the wrong too.

[VictorVictor]

While this is probably obvious to some, just thought I'd clarify something. The organizations that sell fakes are not just joes that run these things from their backyard. Most of them are very sophisticated international syndicates. In many ways, the profits we are talking about here along with operations are very similar to that of a drug syndicate. So obviously many countries want to take down the pirates/knock off artists. But as you can tell, with demand at the point where any random joe being the middle man selling these knock offs making a couple hundred bucks a day, you gotta cut it off from the demand side too. That's why I don't really blame the italian police for instituting laws like these. In many ways most of the knock off you see are being run by some very nasty characters who fund many other very nasty activities....

 

Just thought I'd bring this up in case anybody was wondering why its so hard to crack down on these kind of things.

[Stanley]

In Houston there is a particular street where there is shop upon shop that sells rip offs. We see on the news every few months that the shop owners get busted. They pay a fine (paid by their suppliers) and have their rip offs confiscated. Then in a day or two they are selling a new batch of rip offs and a few months later they go through the same routine again. Go figure.

[Globaliser]

It can be very serious for those innocent visitors.

Come on, we need to get real. None of the people who are buying these goods are "innocent". They all know they're buying fakes.

[iancal]

Many countries have laws that lead to prosecution of both the seller and the buyer of stolen goods. Many countries are about to extend this to cover intellectual property, patents, trademarks, ideas, etc. Read the papers, there are examples of this every day-everything from cable signals, cd's, videos, medicine (patent and prescription), airplane parts, liquor,clothing.....you name it. Victor Victor is correct, this is big business and much of it is controlled by unsavoury characters who would not be welcome in most of our homes. One exception would be something like those 'Polex' watches..then it is buyer beware.