Recently in Florence i picked up a DON'T RISK IT! BUY LAWFULLY flier from my hotel desk.

Printed by local authorities it says:

"You should know that it is against the law to buy anything from unauthorized street vendors. THOSE WHO PURCHASE ALSO RISK HEAVY PENALTIES"

I read that last part and thought that it is unfair to put the burden on the perhaps naive tourist to determine who is an authorized vendor or not. Personally i think that if a casual tourist can run across these illegal operations, which are seemingly everywhere in Florence and Rome then the local police should too - all they would have to do is dress like an unassuming tourist and bust them quickly

So i take offense that i could be prosecute when i think the lax enforcement results in the situation.

The flier goes on


Have you ever bought such stuff from street vendors who you knew were unauthorized?

do you know of any ever prosecuted for doing so (I assume this is a strong warning to deter buying but that they would not really arrest or fine tourists for doing so???)

The flier goes on to say:

"HOW DO I RECONGISE UNAUTHORIZED VENDORS? They have no fixed point of sale, they carry their merchandise in sheets and large hold-alls, their merchandise is displayed on the footpath or on the road, they don't give receipts, they don't show prices and their merchandise is much cheaper than the original it is copied from.

WHERE DO VENDORS MAKE THEIR PITCH?
Mainly at the San Lorenzo market, the square adjacent to the Uffizi, near the Ponte Vecchi, and between Piazza del Duomo and Plaza della Repubblica."

The flier has a picture of fancy-looking sunglasses on it - obviously one of the most counterfeited brand-name goods.

Comments - have you bought or know anyone who has been fined. Do you think the policy of also charging the tourist buyer with fraud fair?

The sellers are so desperate that they will risk the arrest, and will return to the streets as soon as possible. No buyers, no sellers. That is why it is more efficient to go after the buyers.

Eh - sorry. Even the naivest tourist should be able to realize that designer handbags or sunglasses for 10 Euros MUST be an illegal fake.

quokka - i agree with you on that

but i guess i was thinking more of the Africans selling what anyone would know is worthless junk - they are unlicensed and you could get busted for buying a few buck plastic elephant?

Hi PQ,

>I read that last part and thought that it is unfair to put the burden on the perhaps naive tourist to determine who is an authorized vendor or not. <

Ya wanna buy a genuwine Rolex watch - cheap.

How bouta Gucci bag?

Prada shoes?

A genuwine solid gold ring worth $600? I can let you have it for only $200.

As someone who couldn't care less about "designer" goods I'll chime in. The basic post about Italians fining tourists who buy from street vendors hits me as an intentional rip off of tourists. I've heard of Rolex (even know someone who once had a fake one with Timex parts for the clock); have even heard of Gucci but wouldn't pay five cents extra for the name; up until the movie The Devil Wears Prada came out I would have accepted Prada as the house brand at WalMart if someone told me it was so so and if I had been offered something I was interested in with that name it, the name, would have meant nothing to me. "Designer sunglasses? If they are over $10 I consider them overpriced even if personally signed by the Queen of England and the King of Norway. Italy really ought to find better ways to raise money than thievery.

ditto to floyd

again what about the junk the Africans sell

and my main point is that it is SO easy for tourists to spot these unauthorized vendors in Florence then WHY can't the local police spot them, undercover, and close them down

I blame local law enforcement or lenient legal system for this problem and not the tourist who buys junk from say an African blanket seller

and me i would not know a $5 watch from a Gucci - i may buy the $5 watch but i would not fall for any label on it being authentic and think i was still overpaying for it probably

Why can't local authorities put a stop to this thing which has been proliferating for years in Italy and also because a general nuisance at places and detracts from the romance of say Florence.

I was in Florence in May and noticed many of these folks selling designer knock-offs. I was watching out of my hotel room by the Duomo. Perhaps one reason the police have difficulty rounding them up is because I noticed they work in packs. One or two set out the bags on a sheet, while three or four others fan out and watch for the police. When the police are spotted, they blow whistles or send signals to the guys with the bags who the wrap it all up and run. Sure enough, they are back moments later after the cops leave. This goes on for hours. My problem with fining the tourists is that I have witnessed people buy things just to get rid of agressive illegal vendors. I watched an older lady in Florence do this after she became exasperated just trying to make her way past.

For me, this has always been a bit of a puzzlement. It is hard NOT to notice the men with the sheets or cardboard.

After their lookout has alerted them to an approaching police officer, they hurriedly pack everything up, whereupon they try to "mix in" with the crowds. I have even seen them just casually standing next to a wall with their Santa bag in tow while the police then walk or drive by, seeming to just ignore them at this point.

Certainly the police know what they are doing. I guess they have to be caught "in the act" to be arrested.

If it truly is the problem they say, it seems there is a much simpler solution than arresting a casual tourist.

And why is rousting these African "merchants" trying to make a living not considered "racism"? You know it would be deemed that here in the USA.

>>>I blame local law enforcement or lenient legal system for this problem and not the tourist who buys junk from say an African blanket seller<<<

The problem is, what can they do? The vendors don't have the money to pay a fine, which means they would end up serving jail sentences. The prisons would be overflowing in no time. And all the vendors in custody could be easily replaced on the street, over and over and over again, so both the jails and the streets would be full of vendors. It would be like digging a hole in a landslide (like the so-called war on drugs, I suppose)

If there was no market for these knock-off goods, then there would be no vendors. I don't blame the Italian authorities for targeting tourists and other buyers as a means to try and contain it.

Agree with Floyd and PalenQ.

Plus, I never got the impression that the police really cared.
What I witnessed in Florence:
Police car appeared driving slowly, vendors scooped up their wares and leaned against nearby walls.
Police car disappeared.
Police had to see the vendors but gave them plenty of time to hide what they were doing.
Hub said, "Boy isn't that a cute and perfectly executed pas de deux?!"

Whether you've been aware of it or not, Italy has had for years a system of fining you -- the buyer of goods -- if you fail to carry a receipt of your purchase within some specified number of meters after leaving the store. The authorities can stop you, and ask you to produce the receipt since it shows whether you were charged and paid the tax.

It seems that the real question is: Is this law enforced? Does anyone know of a tourist who has gotten fined buying something from the illegal vendors?

Perhaps the pamphlet is bluster and nothing more.

The Italian authorities are trying to collect the 18% VAT tax that the street sellers are avoiding. Obviously they try to catch them, but it's difficult - so then they try to cut off the market.

I would take the flyer as a waring - not a threat. Why be involved in illegal dealings?

(I don't think they will do anything but warn a tourist - but why risk it?)

>>It seems that the real question is: Is this law enforced?<<

Sometimes. Depends. Might be. Might not. Why not?

>>Obviously they try to catch them, but it's difficult - so then they try to cut off the market.<<

There is no way the authorities are trying to catch these sellers of counterfeit goods. I have watched the game the police play with the men with their blankets laid out. As the police near they just cover their merchandise and immediately uncover when the police walk by. They literally continue their sales with the police 4 feet pasted them.

That is not any effort to catch the perpetrators.

And I won't even go into what goes on in Naples with theft.

It's pretty clear to me that these vendors are protected. And, yes, I have read reports of tourists being fined heavily. Very recently in Jesolo, for instance.

But let's not pretend this is unique to Firenze. It's possible that only in Firenze has anybody gone to the expense and trouble of printing up and distributing flyers. I've seen street vendors running away from cops in Athens and New York, too.

PalenQ,

You said the flier you picked up from your hotel desk was "printed by local authorities." What's on the flyer that indicates its origin?