Whenever I see these little video guides- I just think to myself, why didn’t they get someone on there who knows what they are talking about. This is Molly Wood for CNet- Spotting Designer Knockoffs Online. “How To Tell Phonies From The Real McCoy!“  CBS’s put it on their morning show.  It was in response to the $61 million Louis Vuitton v eBay decision.  For example, here is the first hint on their website:

“… Louis Vuitton bags have five stitches across the top, the snaps all say Louis Vuitton, the color is specific. What should the zipper look like? Look for lots of clear, detailed photos with the listings. “     

(Which is partly true…. SOME Louis Vuitton bags have only five stitches across the top of the leather tab– the traditional monogram Speedys for example.  This is NOT true of all bags.  Some vintage bags do NOT have Louis Vuitton on the hardware.  Yes, look at the zipper and make sure it’s the right style for that bag.  And I agree, make sure there are good, detailed pictures.)

Hey, at least it isn’t as bad as my favorite worst video guide of all time.  Check it out if you haven’t.  It’s HILARIOUS!!! 

And, Molly… if you need a hand with one of those videos- give me a ring! You know I’d be happy to help you out.

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Ouch… a Paris Court ordered eBay to pay $63 million in damages to Louis Vuitton for negligence in allowing the sales of counterfeit Louis Vuitton on the website.  (Read more about it here…)

You have to hand it to Louis Vuitton.  They got the job done.  They single handedly lit a fire under the figurative backside of eBay Inc, and got them to do what needed so much to be done… to clean up the marketplace.

The court decision makes so much sense to me… and obviously eBay is appealing, but the fake situation on eBay was SO bad for SO long… it’s not shocking that the courts would lay down a heavy hand.

Let’s face it.  eBay has made a lot, and I mean a LOT of money on the sale of counterfeit goods on their site.  (I’m estimating on average eBay sells about 16,000 Louis Vuitton items a month at an average sales price of $375 with average start prices of $175.  That makes the average fee for Louis Vuitton items at about $17.  Multiply that times 192,000 items a year… and we’re looking at $3.8 million in fees annually for the LV brand alone.  LV’s claim of 90% fake on eBay was probably about right until the big overhaul in fall 2006… so you do the math.)

I mean, we (putting myself with the collective community of online shoppers to whom authenticity absolutely essential) had been almost badgering eBay for years and years to do something… and yet the situation on eBay just literally got worse and worse. The countless fakes, the one day auctions, the zero feedback seller with 50 NWT LV listings, the fake second chance offers, the $75 BINs for $1000 bags.  I mean, now we ask where all the buyers have gone?

They said that nothing more could be done- they were doing all they could, they’re just a venue, yada, yada, yada.  A few years ago, I could go through a whole page of Louis Vuitton listings on eBay and literally not find a single authentic bag.

That is not the situation now.  The vast majority of Louis Vuitton listings on eBay today are authentic.

So if eBay was just a venue, and was doing all they could do… what happened?

Tiffany & Co and Louis Vuitton sued.  eBay woke up.  They turned on the lights, swept the place out, cleaned the place up, batten down the hatches and locked the doors.

It was hard for all of us to adjust at first, but eBay has taken the right first steps to improve the atmosphere and the trust level that we all needed in a platform to be able to sell authentic luxury goods online.

eBay now monitors closely brands that are frequently counterfeited.  There are restrictions on how long you have to be selling on the site to list those brands, and how many you can list at once.  There is particular wording watched for that gives red flags that a listing may be fraudulent.  Brands that are watched don’t get listed immediatley, but go through and overview process for up to 10 hours before they hit the site.

eBay has come a long way, baby!

So I’m fine with the damages awarded by the Parisian Court…

What is frightening part to me:

Part of that ruling includes payment of 3.25 million Euros to Christian Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo and Guerlain for allowing perfume to be sold outside of the “authorized network”.

The result of this part of the decision is that eBay is completely barred from listing these cosmetic and perfume brands on its site PERIOD.

eBay’s “official response”:

“Today’s ruling is not about our fight against counterfeits; today’s ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive commercial practices at the expense of consumer choice and the livelihood of law-abiding sellers that EBay empowers everyday,” EBay said in an e-mailed statement. “We will fight this ruling on their behalf.”

Yipes?  So I get J’adore Dior perfume for my birthday and never use it (which I did, and I don’t… it’s just not my favorite).  I now can’t list it on eBay because I am not a member of the authorized distribution network for Christian Dior?

Hmmm… got to get back to you when I look into this more.

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The Louis Vuitton v. eBay decision that is.  It should be here on the 30th- tomorrow that is.

Are you ready?

After that amazing Candadian decision- $1 million for a fairly small fashion store (with only a couple locations)… and the $30,000 eBay had to pay Hermes last month after a decision against them in a French court for allowing 3 (yes, three) fake Hermes on the site…  I’m DYING to hear what the French Courts are going to say in the Louis Vuitton lawsuit against eBay Inc.

Louis Vuitton, et al, is seeking 51 million Euro ($80 MILLION) in damages for negligence and the illicit sales of counterfeit bags on their site.

(As an aside- as someone who’s been on eBay since 1999, I will say that eBay has done a pretty good job in the last couple years at getting, I’d estimate 95% LESS fake Louis Vuitton listed on the site than they did years ago…

There was a day when the vast, vast majority of the Louis Vuitton bags listed on the site were fake.  Now, the opposite is true.)

This is the part that scares me…

Part of the decision will answer perfume brands Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy and Kenzo who have an issue with eBay even when they allow AUTHENTIC goods to be listed.  They claim that even this is illegal because these companies hold tight control on their distribution chains and ONLY permit specialist, authorized dealers to sell their goods.

I can’t wait…

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(Photo Credit: Mark Owens Photo)

Louis Vuitton doesn’t care if you’re rich/ and or famous- if you’re wearing a fake, they’re gonna do their darnedest to get you to stop.

So apparently, Dave Navarro was given some fake LV guitar straps and has been wearing them for like- eight years. Finally, Louis Vuitton tracked him down and sent him a nice little cease and desist letter asking him to quit wearing the straps and adding,

“We have no doubt that this copying has been willful and is intended to trade upon the fame and cachet of the LV Trademarks to elevate the status of the infringing Guitar Strap, and of Jane’s Addiction.”

Ouch! They aren’t kidding around. (Check out Dave’s blog for more on the situation…)

I personally, have never understood celebrities and socialites who wear counterfeit LV or anything else. I mean, they can afford it. Musicians should understand the importance of protecting their work- lyrics, music, etc.

Anyway, Dave… if you’re reading this, Louis Vuitton does special order. Have you seen Keith Richards’ killer custom Louis Vuitton monogram Guitar Case? Although they won’t do everything… they’ll do all kinds of cool pieces that have to do with movement. As in, moving or transporting things from one place to another. I’d love to see a Special Order Louis Vuitton strap. I’ll bet it wouldn’t be that outrageously priced, and it’ll for sure hold up better than the fake ones you’ve got now.

Two. If you want to get rid of some of that authentic Louis Vuitton luggage that you blogged about when venting on this little issue- we, of course, would love to help you out!

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Sounds easy enough, but after my last post about the Monogram Manhattan PM picture issue, I got an email asking me to check out a Louis Vuitton Multicolore Manhattan PM.  “Is this authentic?”

It’s a simple rule.  If Louis Vuitton never made a particular style bag in a particular “skin”- then it is just not authentic.  For example, the Manhattan PM is a monogram line bag… only.  It has never been made in any other line.  So, if you see a damier, MC, epi, denim etc. Manhattan PM- it’s fake.

(Caveat- this rule doesn’t apply with special order items.  You can special order many styles in skins that are not available to the general public.  These bags are very expensive to have made- and you won’t find them for $79 - or even $379- on the internet.)

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We’ve been asked about this before, so I thought you might want a good close-up.

Notice the subtle differences. The authentic Louis Vuitton Judy Blame Limited Edition Denim Cabas Raye Pleaty patch pictured above has:

1. really rounded, even embossed font- the o’s, a’s and e’s are circular, not oval in shape
2. even and regular stitching
3. the same stitch count on every bag: thirteen stitches across the top and bottom and eight stitches down each side
4. tall “d” in the word “Edition”- it’s slightly taller than the capital E
5. tall “l” in the word “Blame- it’s slightly taller than the capital B
6. notice that in this font, the letter “u” has no tail

Compare these features to the patch in a replica Judy Blame Cabas Raye Pleaty:

It differs from the authentic patch in that:

1. the font is too large on a patch that is too small for the bag
2. the o’s, a’s and e’s are too oval in shape- should be circular
3. the stitch count is off… ten stitches by seven instead of thirteen by eight
4. the “itt” in Vuitton should be closer together
5. the spacing is off, and uneven- see “Louis”- the “Lou” are spaced wider than the “uis”, the “P” in “Paris” is too far from the “aris”
6. the “u”s should have no tail- the font in this patch has a tail on the u
7. the R in ® should be larger in relation to the circle

Another fake embossing patch:

 Although this patch has picked up on the circular o’s, a’s and e’s… it’s off in many ways:

1. the lowercase letters are too big in relation to the capital letters- notice the “a” in Paris next to the “P”
2. the red coating on the outside edge of the patch is too red
3. the stitch count is off
4. the spacing is irregular and off
5. notice the little half stitch- stitching is irregular
6. font is wrong

Hope this is helpful… if you’d like any other side by sides- or more detailed explanations, be sure to request them.

The replicas are getting more and more accurate- be careful buying online.

Check my guides for more authenticity help.  We not only want you to buy from us- but we want you to be able to avoid fakes wherever you might be buying…

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Police just nabbed $25 Million in fake Louis Vuitton bags, Nike Sneakers, and Duracell & Panasonic Batteries of all things (I’m not making this up). Wow. Read the story from the New York Times.

Looks like it was the warehouse runners who got arrested. It’s always the runners, the street vendors & people selling out of their garages who get busted. Where are the guys at top? Find them, and we might make some progress.

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(Photo: Staci Schwartz for the Village Voice)

I appreciate a good critique. And so, when I began Lynn Yaeger’s critic of the Murakami Exhibit and shop at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in the Village Voice, I was right with her.

She speaks of the Murakami/ Marc Jacobs collaboration as resulting in “cutesy-poo Louis Vuitton handbags”.

Of the fake Canal Street set up by Louis Vuitton outside the museum the night of the Brooklyn Ball, Lynn said:

“Actors impersonating impoverished illegal immigrants trying to make a living? Who came up with this swell idea? Not since Marie Antoinette dressed as a shepherdess has such blatant bad taste, such revolting hauteur infected a social gathering. (Maybe it’s a French thing?) In any case, this grotesque Potemkin Village is torn down by the time I visit, so instead of expressing my outrage at fake fake-bag booths, I’m battling toddlers to get a look at Murakami’s cartoon films.”

And while I may not agree with her analysis, I certianly can see how she gets there.

She shoots the whole “Lonesome Cowboy” and “Hiropon” easy targets… rips on the outrageous prices, and items in the store such as the “hideously glommed-up gold number called the Marilyn”.

That’s all fine with me…

But here’s where she loses me. Lynn goes on to tell the story of her frustration as she sat on the waitlist for a Louis Vuitton Murakami Cherry Blossom bag back in 2003. Apparently, her name never came up… and so she settled for the Cherry Blossom Canal Street special pictured above.

“In the end, I went down to Canal Street, the same ratty Canal Street that Vuitton thought was so witty to make fun of. And there I found a wonderful fake flowered satchel for $35, which I thought a cool guy like Murakami would probably get a kick out of, since the nameless third-world artisan who made it added some flourishes that LV hadn’t thought of, like silver faux-snakeskin trim and mirror studs.”

From there, it’s just down hill… trolling Canal Street & eBay for current fakes and ripping on Louis Vuitton’s anti-counterfeit educational measures.

Come on Lynn. If all this bugs you so much, why would you ever buy a fake?

If you really want to beat the system, you don’t buy a fake. You know that. A fake (besides all the regularly argued reasons why it is just bad- not to mention illegal) is tacky and inauthentic. By inauthentic, I mean the wearer looks fake. The carrier wants other people to believe that the very things that bug you- that they got through the wait list, paid the ridiculous prices, and actually like the cutes-poo design. All this is a high price for the collateral damage that the counterfeit market produces.

If you want to beat the system, you buy an authentic Louis Vuitton… at a discount price- by buying pre-owned. It’s legal, it’s relatively economical (if you’d have bought that Cherry Blossom bag, and kept it in great condition- you could probably sell it today for about what you paid- or more!), it’s environmentally friendly :), and you’re no poser!

Hey, Lynn. Let us know if you’re in the market. Promise us that you’ll never carry that ridiculous bag above again, and we’ll give you free shipping on any of our beautiful, authentic pre-owned luxury bags!

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This is hilarious.  I don’t usually critique people’s guides- because the people who write them are usually just trying to help people out.

Expert Village, on the other hand is obviously just trying to make some money (and who isn’t) but how hard would it have been to get some real information (and maybe even a real expert) in the video.

My three favorite lines?  (There are more- this video is a classic!) 

1.  After explaining the registration card in a Prada bag, she says,

    “So if someone asks you, ‘hey, is this bag real or fake’ you can say, ‘oh, I watched this “how to” video, and yeah, it is real because I have my card!”

2.  After explaining that fake Coach bags have “circles” all over them (not “C’s”)… she shows a simple Coach leather wallet- that is not in the signature (monogram C) style, and says, 

    “For example, this bag is Coach, but it doesn’t say (sic), have the C’s all the way around it.  So most likely, a boutique (?) is not going to try to imitate this, because they want to try to sell the most fashionable thing.”

3.  In closing, after sharing those two tips (if it has a registration card, it’s real- and any bag that isn’t signature/monogram is real), she says:

    ”Pretty much, that’s how you tell a real bag from a fake.” 

****  Just in clarification:

1.  The paper work that comes with a bag (receipts, tags, registration cards, etc.) is often faked better than the fake bag itself.  I’ve seen receipts with watermarks, and other very close copies. Don’t rely on these items alone for authentication

2.  Counterfeiters don’t discriminate in what they fake.  The rip-off cosmetic bags, wallets, limited edition pieces in monogram, all leather, canvas- you name it. 

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… to wearing fake Louis Vuitton.

Don’t get me wrong… we can’t get enough of Amy Winehouse either. It’s just that we’re hoping that with the $1,000,000 paycheck that she’s getting for doing a show for Louis Vuitton during Paris Fashion Week- she’ll somehow find it possible to replace the creative fakes she’s been seen toting around.

(No, that blue “Louie Vuitton” in the picture above isn’t a Richard Prince watercolor- it’s just a garden variety knock-off.)

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