China prices for knock off designer ?
Oct 2nd, 2009, 08:57 AM
#1
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China prices for knock off designer ?
I am going to china next week and just curious what the prices are for Knock off purses and jackets... ? Just an estimate of of what people have paid so i know where to finish bargining?
Oct 2nd, 2009, 09:40 AM
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If your return trip is going through the US, I'd like to caution you against purchasing knock-off items in China solely because Customs will charge you duty on those items as if they're real or they'll just seize the item. It's not worth going over there to buy a poorly made item only to have it seized.
Oct 2nd, 2009, 10:43 AM
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There's such a vast range of designer goods, even if limited to purses and jackets, and such a wide variance of quality in the copies, how can this question possibly be answered?
Add to this that very many here will have been thoroughly taken to the cleaners at 'Silk Street' and Hong Qiao, but be highly unwilling to accept the fact, and you're not looking at any significant chance of getting reliable information. It's anyway in the nature of bargaining that there is no fixed acceptable price, which will vary according to the perceived degree of outsiderness of the customer, the site at which the purchase is made, fluctuations in overheads, and the amount of traffic, just to start with.
What you need is general advice on how to bargain, and where to shop. You could start with this old thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...bargaining.cfm
If you follow the advice there, you should get a fair-ish price.
Peter N-H
Add to this that very many here will have been thoroughly taken to the cleaners at 'Silk Street' and Hong Qiao, but be highly unwilling to accept the fact, and you're not looking at any significant chance of getting reliable information. It's anyway in the nature of bargaining that there is no fixed acceptable price, which will vary according to the perceived degree of outsiderness of the customer, the site at which the purchase is made, fluctuations in overheads, and the amount of traffic, just to start with.
What you need is general advice on how to bargain, and where to shop. You could start with this old thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...bargaining.cfm
If you follow the advice there, you should get a fair-ish price.
Peter N-H
Oct 3rd, 2009, 08:06 PM
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I think you'll be fine purchasing a few knockoff items. Just don't bring a huge suitcase full of them!
I was just in Beijing last week and found the prices to be a little higher than when I was there 2 years ago (dollar was also lower now then it was 2 yrs. ago).
They do have a catlog of knockoff bags that you could take a look at.
The fake Louie Vuitton and Chanel, etc. were a little more expensive. My mom got a medium fake Louie for 150 RMB and you could pay up to 200 RMB for a large bag.
Just be firm and walk away if they don't take your offer. If they don't come running after you or yell at you at price, then you can go back and make the same offer/offer a little more.
Have fun!
I was just in Beijing last week and found the prices to be a little higher than when I was there 2 years ago (dollar was also lower now then it was 2 yrs. ago).
They do have a catlog of knockoff bags that you could take a look at.
The fake Louie Vuitton and Chanel, etc. were a little more expensive. My mom got a medium fake Louie for 150 RMB and you could pay up to 200 RMB for a large bag.
Just be firm and walk away if they don't take your offer. If they don't come running after you or yell at you at price, then you can go back and make the same offer/offer a little more.
Have fun!
Oct 4th, 2009, 06:20 PM
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"Designer good" it is not! It is a cheap fake and everyone that owns the real deal will know it is fake. What's the point.
I just don't understand the point of this nor the ignorance in the people that support this trade.
I just don't understand the point of this nor the ignorance in the people that support this trade.
Oct 5th, 2009, 07:47 AM
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I am use to Cheap..that is why i am thinking of buying something fun and fake in China... where we live we have never seen a real Designer Handbag...so no one cares. But i have X-mas gifts to get.
Any other suggestions on good buys?
Any other suggestions on good buys?
Oct 5th, 2009, 08:19 AM
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Why not buy local goods? They are much more interesting than fake western items.
Items I've bought as gifts in China: calligraphy brushes, engraved chops (the traditional stone stamps you can have custom engraved), Yixing tea pots, good teas (Jasmine pearl, fancy teas like peony), silk brocade items (cosmetic bags, eyeglass cases, etc). There is an endless array of interesting Chinese goods available.
Items I've bought as gifts in China: calligraphy brushes, engraved chops (the traditional stone stamps you can have custom engraved), Yixing tea pots, good teas (Jasmine pearl, fancy teas like peony), silk brocade items (cosmetic bags, eyeglass cases, etc). There is an endless array of interesting Chinese goods available.
Oct 5th, 2009, 12:20 PM
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I agree with Kathie on this one, for sure; there are so many pretty things to buy and so many reasons to avoid knock-off designers. For some of those reasons, may I refer you to this thread? http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...kes-in-nyc.cfm
Oct 5th, 2009, 03:28 PM
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The pearls are fake, or low quality. Check prices for fake and low quality pearls before leaving home, or face paying too much when in China. Nothing with an internationally traded value is cheaper in China than it is elsewhere.
Silk scarves vary very widely in quality. Some, of course, are not actually silk.
Peter N-H
Silk scarves vary very widely in quality. Some, of course, are not actually silk.
Peter N-H
Oct 5th, 2009, 03:47 PM
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Peter, I'm sorry but I disagree on buying quality pearls. I purchased at a reputable shop and have had them appraised already here in the states. I did quite well on my pearls. And, they weren't cheap but a much better price there than here.
If you are referring to buying from a street stall, then I agree. Just pull out a lighter to check for the pearl's authenticity. If they are fake they melt and the vender doesn't want that to happen in front of everyone.
If you are referring to buying from a street stall, then I agree. Just pull out a lighter to check for the pearl's authenticity. If they are fake they melt and the vender doesn't want that to happen in front of everyone.
Oct 5th, 2009, 07:09 PM
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BeachGirl247
>I purchased at a reputable shop
"Reputable" pearl stores in Beijing & Shanghai all offer 50% kickbacks to guides & drivers.
Silk products, like silk scarfs, silk ties, silk pyjamas get 40% in Suzhou #1 silk weaving & reeling factory.
Silk comforter is 30% kickback.
That's pretty much the standard for the rest of the country.
On behalf of your China local guide & driver, Xie Xie NEE!
>I purchased at a reputable shop
"Reputable" pearl stores in Beijing & Shanghai all offer 50% kickbacks to guides & drivers.
Silk products, like silk scarfs, silk ties, silk pyjamas get 40% in Suzhou #1 silk weaving & reeling factory.
Silk comforter is 30% kickback.
That's pretty much the standard for the rest of the country.
On behalf of your China local guide & driver, Xie Xie NEE!
Oct 6th, 2009, 06:55 AM
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Wow..great advice.
When we are in Shanghai i have a rep from one of my Vendors that is taking us shopping to local reputable shops to neg prices for us... So no Guide/drivers or street stalls..
BeachGirl247...what kind of pricing for your appraised pearls? Just trying to get an idea? and where did you get them?
When we are in Shanghai i have a rep from one of my Vendors that is taking us shopping to local reputable shops to neg prices for us... So no Guide/drivers or street stalls..
BeachGirl247...what kind of pricing for your appraised pearls? Just trying to get an idea? and where did you get them?
Oct 6th, 2009, 02:38 PM
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To assert that the Chinese are very canny business people, and yet to hold that they sell valuable items at well below the price that could be obtained for them if traded internationally, requires the kind of doublethink that qualifies you for instant membership of the Party.
If you are not an expert in pearls, you shouldn't be shopping. If you are an expert in pearls, you won't be shopping. If you are looking for fakes then fair enough, but only if you have carefully priced up fake pearls at home before you leave in order to assure you are getting a bargain on those, which is slightly more likely as long as you have done your homework.
Not only do the Chinese have long expertise in faking pearls, they have recently come up with a new way of remanufacturing low quality pearls to look like good quality ones. For this kind of shopping, as for carpets, antiques of any kind, and jade, you need to be experienced with the products in question and very well informed, or you might just as well stop a passer-by, open your wallet, and invite them to help themselves.
The point made about kick-backs is that the fact that sums of up to 50% are available to tour guides means that several multiples of whatever would be a reasonable price is routinely being charged to foreigners, leaving plenty of room for a massive kick-back to be paid, regardless of whether a tour guide is there to take it or not.
Even supposing, although it's highly unlikely, that one person contrary to common sense did actually get good quality pearls for a substantial discount on real market prices, that is no indication that anyone else will. In fact on the rare occasion money is paid for a hard-nosed expert written assessment of Chinese-bought pearls, this ALWAYS ends in tears, arguments with the credit card company over stopping payment (where possible), and so on.
Peter N-H
If you are not an expert in pearls, you shouldn't be shopping. If you are an expert in pearls, you won't be shopping. If you are looking for fakes then fair enough, but only if you have carefully priced up fake pearls at home before you leave in order to assure you are getting a bargain on those, which is slightly more likely as long as you have done your homework.
Not only do the Chinese have long expertise in faking pearls, they have recently come up with a new way of remanufacturing low quality pearls to look like good quality ones. For this kind of shopping, as for carpets, antiques of any kind, and jade, you need to be experienced with the products in question and very well informed, or you might just as well stop a passer-by, open your wallet, and invite them to help themselves.
The point made about kick-backs is that the fact that sums of up to 50% are available to tour guides means that several multiples of whatever would be a reasonable price is routinely being charged to foreigners, leaving plenty of room for a massive kick-back to be paid, regardless of whether a tour guide is there to take it or not.
Even supposing, although it's highly unlikely, that one person contrary to common sense did actually get good quality pearls for a substantial discount on real market prices, that is no indication that anyone else will. In fact on the rare occasion money is paid for a hard-nosed expert written assessment of Chinese-bought pearls, this ALWAYS ends in tears, arguments with the credit card company over stopping payment (where possible), and so on.
Peter N-H
