"How to Spot a Fake Designer Swimsuit" Part Trois

Just wanted to drop some more tips for you gals (and guys) about the swimwear market on Ebay. Thankfully, after making myself utterly annoying, Ebay has finally started to clean up the boards. Most of the flash-in-the-pan bootleggers are packing their bags and moving on to the next scheme. Only time will tell what market they leech upon next (I'm guessing the pantyhose market?). This guide is going to concentrate more on these individuals and their tricks of the trade, rather than the merchandise they are selling.

Coming up will be tips on how to spot a counterfeiter/bootlegger on Ebay.

Truth be told, these creeps can be called alot of things. But original certainly isn't one of them. Their main Modus Operandi is banking on the ignorance of unsuspecting buyers. Basically, they are counting on your lack of knowledge. After my daily stroll through the site, I've noticed that the "last of the dying breed" of bootleggers are posting an influx of Celebrity pictures with the supposed "genuine swimsuits" that they want you so desperately to buy.

On the Gucci section, there is a certain individual (you know who you are) posting pics of Jessica Simpson on the set of her "Dukes of Hazzard" photo shoot wearing a pink Gucci monogram bikini. Last guide, I mentioned that Gucci did not produce such a suit. Apparently, this is partially incorrect. Gucci did, in fact, produce such a suit. BUT, here's the kicker.......it was not released to the general public.

 PICS OF JESSICA IN HER AUTHENTIC PINK GUCCI SUIT

PICS OF THE FAKE PINK GUCCI SUITS ON EBAY

As you can see, the fakes don't even slightly resemble the real thing. Wow....just wow. What a poor attempt to exploit a celebrity item. You'd be better off going to the Jersey shore and buying the same worthless crap for $10 (and then tossing it the Atlantic on your way back home).

Now.. I don't think it's a shocker that luxury brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. are known to either limit certain items for "VIP" (aka celebs) consumers or specially make these items for films and music videos. I personally know celeb stylists who have worked on these projects and they have informed me that this is very common. But being that this is such an "insider" practice for "VIP'S", do you honestly think that some smuck on Ebay with no history or authorized representation would be auctioning this same suit for 50 bucks a pop? Talk about connections, huh?

*enter sarcasm*

Now I know we all look to celebs to see what's "hot" and "trendy", but you must realize that the bootleggers are watching them, too. And being that we live in such a celebrity obsessed culture, they feed upon this.

The same goes with the infamous Paris Hilton photo on Bondi Beach sporting a white Murakami Louis Vuitton swimsuit.

      HILTON IN HER CONTROVERSIAL SUIT

Although the web was a blaze with speculation from numerous sources that Paris, herself, was caught in public with a counterfeit Louis suit (who woulda guessed?), an official rep came to her defense saying that the suit was an "VIP" item with a limited release. So this goes to show you that although an item may be extremely rare, it is never too rare for the rich and famous. So please ladies and gents....don't be fooled by these cheap shots to lure you into the web of counterfeit knock-offs.

Last, but certainly not least......

Can someone please help me understand those horrid pictures of that adult film star with the fake Coach scribble suit that's being posted on Ebay? Where do I even begin with that one. The bootleg swimsuit is only half of the problem. The other half would be why counterfeiters would underestimate the intelligence of people so much that they would assume we'd believe Coach would have a sleazy broad like that pose for one of their ads. I guess Coach's celebrity spokespeople were on vacation, huh?

This is nothing but a cheap, desperate ploy to convince people that these fakes have a shread of legitimacy.

PICS OF THAT VERY UNFORNTUNATE MODEL AND HER FAKE COACH SUITS

(fire your agent, hon!)

More Common Traits of Bootleggers:

• Most bootleggers on Ebay have little feedback history. This is because the same bootleggers constantly switch usernames and even locations. Alot of the foreign criminals will list locations such as Canada, USA, and United Kingdom. But the items are really coming from high counterfeit hubs such as China, Turkey, Taiwan, etc.
• Private feedback just screams "I'm hiding something". So this is a blinking sign, for pete's sake.
• Unfortunately, the swimsuit business is convenient for them. Mainly because they will use the standardized hygiene regulations by the Health Department to explain why they don't accept returns. While the regulations are facts, the real reason they don't stand by their merchandise is because they know full well the item is a knock-off.
• They prey upon inexperienced Ebay buyers. If you notice, most of the buyers bidding on these suits have 10 or less feedbacks. I guess they are too new to read the guides and warnings, but it doesn't hurt to drop a bug in their ear *hint hint*.

Stay tuned folks for more tidbits to come. Be sure to read my other two guides on this topic. And please don't forget to vote on the bottom of the page on whether or not this guide was helpful in your endeavors.