Fakes in NYC
 

Does anyone know the best places in New York to get "fake" merchandise (handbags, rolexes, lacoste)etc. I'm going with my girlfriend at the end of June, and this sort of shopping, she says will be the hightlight of her trip! Thanks.

I recommend first that you get her a genuine copy of the book "Fake Factor" by Sarah McCartney.

"This sort of shopping....will be the highlight of her trip!"
Damn, I wasted all my time at the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Staten Island Ferry, Broadway shows, great restaurants, Central Park, Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center, etc., etc., etc. Why didn't someone tell me?

I don't know about fakes, but on Canal Street, I bought a real ROLLEX watch for a song.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/support/c...eitgoods.shtml

If your idea of a trip highlight is supporting organized crime and terror organizations, then try Canal Street. However, if you're concerned about where the money from counterfeits will go, then save your money or buy a smaller item from a legitimate retailer.

Do a search for "Canal Street knock-offs" here and you will find more than you ever wanted about this subject. The short answer is "Canal Street." Most of the stuff sold is real junk.

I really feel sorry for anyone whose idea of the highlight of a trip to New York City is shopping for trash on Canal Street. (It's either super trendy stuff for teens that you throw out at the end of the season or knock-offs so bad they look silly. There were a few places selling slightly better knock-offs - which are illegal - but the police have been raiding them and closing them down - due to the aforementioned ties to organized crime and terrorism.)

How about doing something other than shopping? Maybe something you can do only in New York - and not at every mall back home?

You know - the theater, a museum, a world class restaurant, the Statue of Liberty - anything but Canal Street.

I went to New York and shopped in China town. We went into one of the little purse shops. Very small, just purses. We asked if they had any Coach purses. after ensuring that noone was outside watching, they swung open the back wall of the shop, and behind pegs of purses, to our amazement was a secret room of purses. They pulled us in, closed the wall, and proceeded to show us some Burberry, Coach and Louis V. purses (all knock offs).

Just lucky I guess.

8-)

I guess I just don't get the appeal of knock-offs and fakes. We live overseas and you can get all sorts of stuff - but it just doesn't interest me. I have had friends have their "fake" LV luggage broken into.....probably because some bag handler thought anyone with a LV suitcase would have good stuff inside....who knows!

Personally - I don't even like the original stuff that much. Guess I'm just not into wearing labels.

Rentlover, I apologize for and please ignore the ridiculous alarmists. Locals and tourists have been purchasing knock-off goods in NYC for decades. Jeez, people, get a life!

The best place to find all kinds of knock-off goods, from oakley sunglasses to watches to purses, is Canal Street between Mulberry and Broadway. If you or your girlfriend don't see the "brand" that you want, be sure to ask. Often the vendors keep a lot of stuff in the back.

Also ignore the comment that 'most of the stuff is junk.' The watches generally will last for years if you simply replace the batteries (which can die in a few months after purchase), and the oakleys are about identical to the genuine (hey, it's just plastic). Handbag quality does vary -- but it's obvious, so shop around if the goods look cheaply made.

Enjoy NYC!

I came home with several Canal St knock-offs and I rotate and use the bags once in a while. The quality isn't there -- my Kate Spade "sewn on" tags were stuck in place with sticky glue and have since fallen off, but it is still fun changing bags for different occasions. By the way, my "real" Gucci bag's handle broke this week, and I haven't used it all that much. I am wondering if Gucci will do a repair on it? Gee, none of the handles on my fakes have broke yet.

You should make sure to stop by the sweatshops where the fake merchandise is manufactured. That will be a highlight of the trip too. Talk to the folks who make subminimum wages, treated like virtual slaves, all to help gangs that run the fake merchadise rings. It should be loads of fun.

Alarmist? Is it ok then Gekko to refer to you as an ostrich who'd bury his head in the sand rather than face the reality of the knock-off industry?

Or how about the logic that it's okay merely because people have been doing it for decades?

The OP asked a question. Not, for a lecture.

The OP did ask a question. And got a LOT of information. If some of the information is not what he/she wanted - well that's the risk of a public forum - having to face the facts as others with more information may see them.

(And yes - if your Gucci handbag broke you should bring it back and have it repaired for free - if it's real.)

And yes - people have ben puchasing illegal knowck-offs for years. Does that make it right? For years there was racial segregation, women weren't allowed to vote, and slavery was legal.

Does that mean all those things are moral, ethical and just fine? Or do you just not care - as long as you have the opportunity to waste your time and your mind shopping for rubbish?

offlady, gucci will repair it, but at a hefty fee (although not as hefty as a new purse). I bought a gucci 20+ years ago in Rome for about $50. The strap fell apart. yaers later I took it to a Gucci store. $60 later I had a new strap. about a year after that the bag started falling apart in several place. I didn't get it repaired, I threw it out.

Most knockoffs are junky, the leather of suede is fake. The clip on the designer labels after you make the purchase (on display is some other label like pagoda instead of prada). It's an experience going down to canal street. I couldn't imagine spending more than 1/2 hour shopping down there, but it's worth a visit just to see for yoursrlf.

Gucci should repair that bag for free. I have never purchased a bag from them but have had my old (25 years or more) Fendi bags repaired more than once...just took them to the Fendi store in NYC and they had them fixed without charge. Did the same thing with Marc Cross (no longer in existence) lizard wallet and handbag. Gucci certainly should do that for you....I think you should bring the bag to a Gucci store, rather than a department store with a Gucci department, for better service.

Today we took my Gucci bag to the Gucci store that it was purchased at. The clerk charged me $25 for a "diagnostic fee" which would later be credited to my "repair fee." My husband (who bought the bag & matching wallet for me last Christmas) tried to explain to the clerk that it is clearly a design flaw and we shouldn't be charged at all. The bag is like new with hardly any wear & tear. I won't take the time to explain how the strap came undone, but I was surprised at poor construction design.

In years past I've had my Coach bags repaired for free. Now they too charge a diagnostic fee which party covers shipping cost.

I just love these kinds of posts, guaranteed to bring out the judgmental lectures every time.

My girlfriend got some great, high quality Kate Spade knock-offs on Canal Street but I don't know the exact location.

Yes, it would be such a terrible shame not to support your multimillionaire designers by overpaying for their merchandise. I just read that Greenwich CT had to revamp its computer system to allow entry of a seven figure automobile into it's tax base so they could record a' rare Ferrari, one of Tommy Hilfigers fleet of autos.

By all means support the rich and buy their designer originals!

"Or do you just not care - as long as you have the opportunity to waste your time and your mind shopping for rubbish?"

It's her time and her mind, what she does with it is her business, not yours.

The bottom line is the majority of this stuff is cheap and will fall apart.

BTW, I have a lot of friends who are NYers (Manhattanites) and don't know one who has ever bought any of the fakes.

I love shopping at Century 21 (for the real thing), H&M, A/X, FCUK, Mexx, Bloomies, Sephora, Duffys, and Syms for inexpensive great stuff.

I <i>live</i> in Manhattan and have friends uptown, midtown &amp; downtown (ages mid 20's to late 30's), and just about all of them enjoy an occasional visit to Canal Street for whatever it is they particularly like to buy (be it handbags, watches, &quot;Burberry&quot; scarves, sunglasses, DVDs, shoes, etc.).

I buy 3-5 pairs of the oakleys every year, for running and the beach. If they break or get lost, at $5 each, who cares? My tourist friends really enjoy the watches and purses.

One note on the bootleg DVDs - about 50% of them don't work at all, about 35% are low quality pan-and-scan, and about 15% are pretty good, so buyer beware.

Oh, because you LIVE in Manhattan, then you must know what's trendy and the thing to do? And, I guess if you're in your 20s or 30s, then you must be doing the right [read that: trendy]thing! What bunch of bull!
No, I don't live in Manhattan and I'm not in my 20s and 30s, but I too have friends (of all ages) uptown, midtown and downtown...and they do NOT shop for fakes!

I will admit they I have bought a fake or 2 years ago when I first caught wind of them. One fake I bought was a tiffany heart bracelet. My daughter, about 10 or 11 at the time really wanted one. There was no way I'd buy her the real thng at that age, so I bought her a fake and put it in a Tiffany box for the holidays. When she opened it she knew it had to be fake, because she also knew I'd wouldn't get her the real thing. A couple of years later she received the real thing as a Bat Mitzvah gift. When she compared it to the fake, she admitted that the fake actually looked pretty good. In fact I still have the fake and it still is untarnished and looks fine although no one ever wears it.

I have some out-of-town in-laws that love these things. I'm not exactly sure why but they do. I also think the quality of the fakes has gone down hill.

Isn't being trendy all about being fake? I can understand the idea of people wanting to be trendy buying fake stuff since they can't afford the real stuff and want to be &quot;in&quot;. Makes perfect sense to me.

Good to know that some people are doing their &quot;civic&quot; duty but not providing more money to TAX paying designers so that they can give their money to the knock-off artists who don't pay tax.

I guess that's the difference between Hilfiger and a criminal. At least with the criminal the taxing authroity won't have to create a new account for them.

To add to the &quot;bottom line&quot; -- the area (Canal Street) is overcrowded, smelly (especially on a hot day), annoying (overcrowded = pushing and shoving), and just not worth it (to put it very mildly). Instead, you and your friend should pay a visit to Century 21 ( 22 Cortlandt St. Between Church Street and Broadway (212) 227-9092) where you can find the authentic merchandise at heavily discounted prices. You'll be able to choose from clothing to handbags to shoes to even make-up! Go early in the morning during the week and you'll have a great time -- I guarantee it.

I won't go into whether buying fakes is immoral or not but I will suggest that buying fake sunglasses poses some risk.

Being fake, how do you really know if they are actually 100% UV resistant as the label may claim. If they are not, then your eyes will be exposed to much higher amounts of UV rays since, due to the dark tint, your eyes will dilate allowing more light (including UV rays) into the retina.

Without real UV protection, you are actually exposing your eyes to more damaging UV rays than you would without any sunglasses at all.

A fake purse is just silly but fake sunglasses are a risk to your sight.

Yes, peterboy, but if your life revolves around what kind of image you're presenting by wearing only the trendiest of stuff, being half blind the rest of your life might be a small consolation to pay. Trendy people admittedly live only for the moment!

I had a Tiffany heart pendant with chain purchased at the 5th Avenue store that tarnished on me which was a tremendous disappointment. So that,along with my authentic but broken Gucci bag says authentic doesn't always mean quality either.

Sterling silver tarnishes.

A little toothpaste (non-abrasive, like Tom's of Maine) will take that tarnish right off! I have many silver pieces which require attention once they tarnish a bit (ALL silver tarnishes).

Didn't see your response, GoT! We obviously thought the same thing....

So true, GoTravel, and people should never mistake &quot;strength&quot; or &quot;durability&quot; for quality in fine things. A polyester blouse may wear like iron, but you must be very careful with a fine silk one. A molded plastic decorative egg could be dropped on the floor without damaging it. I wouldn't try that with a Fabrege one. The &quot;luxury&quot; of real silver is that it does tarnish. The servants will polish it for you. You want it not to tarnish -- get stainless steel.

Shouldn't the higher price indicate better quality?

An attorney told me once to &quot;never cheapen your product.&quot; After years of experience, you've learned how to do things in a fraction of amount of time that a greenhorn person. So you charge more per hour, per item, etc., because your customer is getting years of experience behind that product.

Offlady, you are a bit naive.

offlady, we've already explained that silver that tarnishes is NOT an indication of lack of quality. And as for the handbag breaking. Hey that can happen, but that doesn't mean the quality wasn't there, and what's more I believe as you've been told, they'll repair it. Let's see you take the cheap one in for a free repair.

Don't confuse quality with durability as I've already explained.

Silver will always tarnish (oxidize); however, if you use abrasives (like toothpaste) to remove it, you are taking off a deeper layer of silver than you need to. Polish small things with a soft cloth, try not to grind off silver with particulates.