Rats, you caught us, applepiecookie.....We're really the owners of these discount pocketbook companies. Rats, we've been exposed. You're just too smart for us!
Get real, lady!!!!!

Clever, clever applepiecookie..especially since you just joined Fodor's this month.

Applepiecookie, you might want to think about getting a bit more familar with posters on Fodor's before accusing a long time Fodorite that they are advertising. Just a thought...

Team-Meet you at the old bag's in an hour.

Signed
Coach

Personally. I think buying a knockoff is stealing from the legitimate designer and manufacturer etc etc but it is stealing-or at least a suckers' game- charging/paying hundreds or thousands for some cockamamie pocketbook or jacket or whatever.

"People have a right to buy whatever they want."

That's not true and you know it. People don't have the right to buy furs made from endangered species, illegal drugs, guns without a permit, and so on.

Questions: applepiecookie, why are you so defensive about this issue and so supportive of the sale of counterfeit goods that support organized crime and, in some cases, terrorism? Is your closet full of counterfeits and you don't want to admit that you're breaking the law and abetting criminals, all to save some bucks on bags that anyone with a discerning eye can easily tell is fake?

As for NYTraveler being an advertiser, that assumption is as off-kilter as your defense of counterfeit merchandise.

I do not recognize this apple person thus the following is purely supposiition.

Whenever I see the justification for buying illegal goods it is becasue they have either given permission or accompanied some teemager to buy the stuff. It is akin to thrill you get when you break you law when you were a kid and got away with it. The justification is that it is basically a victimless crime and who cares if you are buying amd wearing rip off crap or not. They have saved money and now own a fake bag to fool whomever they can fool.

I have seen a number of vendors arrested on Canal Street and other locations. One was very sad. An elderly Asian woman was arrested and resisting somewhat. I only assumed she thought she was going to be departed.

A few years ago, some tourists were trapped in the basement of Chinatown store when the place was raided by cops for selling illegal goods. They were never arrested but detained until they were cleared. Now that would make a great trip report.

applecookie -

You are absolutely incorrect about my having anything to do with the website listed - except for buying an occasional bag there. Nor do I own Century 21 - which I also mentioned. (That accusation would be like my saying you make your living selling fake bags - with the same "evidence" that you do so.)

Do you assume that every single poster who mentions a hotel or restaurant they like has a financial interest in it?

Believe me - I have not been giving advice on Fodor's for years - both the US and Europe boards - and been quoted in at least 5 of their books - because I am a shill for someone else's quite well known web business.

"People earning a living selling fakes deserve our sympathy. They are hardworking."

Lots of criminals are "hardworking."

In simple terms, applepiecookie.......What a bunch of hokum!
(I was going use a stronger word, but I feared getting censored!)
By your reasoning, it's okay to rob a bank or break into someone's home if you're hardworking and don't have a college degree.
By your reasoning, it's okay to buy an illegal fake (is that a redundancy?), as long as you know it's illegal. Does that mean it's not okay if you think you're buying the genuine article and not a fake?

"People earning a living selling fakes deserve our sympathy. They are hardworking."

Just like the heroin dealer down the block. Good guy, right? Definitely hardworking by your definition.