With the explosion of online marketplaces, counterfeit shoes have become more unavoidable than ever! Shoppers are continuously looking for designer shoes such as a pair of great Sebago shoes for an affordable price. It takes shopping smarts to get a great deal on a pair of designer shoes and avoid sellers trying to cheat you out of an authentic product.
In this chapter, you will discover how to:
- spot warning signs in sellers’ online profiles
- protect yourself from counterfeit scams
- look for hallmarks of authenticity in various designer products
And much more! It is possible to find great deals and great designer shoes online, as long as you shop with caution.
- How to Find Authentic Designer Shoes Online
- Common (and Fake!) Excuses Vendors Use to Explain Why Designer Shoes Have No Labels
- A Closer Look: Designer Shoes Made in China
- A Consequence of Outsourcing: The Counterfeit Market
- Verification of Authenticity
- Chanel
- Christian Dior
- Christian Louboutin
- Gucci
- Jimmy Choo
- Manolo Blahnik
- Nike Air Jordans
- Prada
- Timberland
- UGG®
- Final Word
Fun Facts About Designer Brands
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How to Find Authentic Designer Shoes Online
$$$ Price
Like it or not, designer shoes are expensive. Sorry to dash your hopes, but if a shoe that usually costs 400 dollars is offered for a mere 89.99, the deal is probably too good to be true. The same goes for those “70% off!” sales. React to low prices with skepticism. It is possible to find relatively affordable second-hand designer shoes, but you should vet these vendors just as thoroughly as you would a discount Internet site. Ask the second-hand vendor for the original paper tags and shoe box. If they no longer have these items, carefully check the shoes’ labels.
Workmanship
Designer shoes are expensive for a reason! The quality of the shoes should be top notch, and a respectable vendor will take complaints regarding the shoes’ quality very seriously. Be suspicious of traces of glue. (Authentic designer shoes are generally stitched together.) Inspect the shoe’s stitching, its heel, and its insole. Pay close attention to the shoe’s label. The label should be well-aligned and precisely stitched to the shoe.
Inconsistent Merchandise
Most Web sites or vendors that sell authentic designer shoes will focus on this niche market. It is a bad sign when you see a Web site offering shoes as well as perfume and kitchen appliances. Or if you see a seller whose merchandise ranges from $5.99 Kmart brand jellies to $500 Gucci pumps.
Feedback
Carefully examine a seller’s feedback. If there are complaints regarding service or quality of product, stay away. Occasionally vendors of counterfeit goods will be exposed by an unhappy customer. But be careful! The best counterfeit sellers have excellent feedback, because they are able to successfully fool their customers even after the fake shoes have arrived.
Here is another common trick: Some vendors of counterfeit goods build up positive feedback ratings by selling a lot of little items before launching their big scams.
In conclusion, a seller’s feedback rating is a great place to start, but it will not definitively indicate whether or not you can trust the seller.
Shipping Costs
Most counterfeit shoes are manufactured in Asia, so it is no surprise that many counterfeit vendors have to ship their merchandise from this part of the world. However, these vendors often try to disguise this fact. If a vendor claims to be based in Europe or the United States but attempts to charge you 50 dollars for shipping, it may be a red flag that the shoes are actually coming from somewhere farther afield.
No Returns
Do not purchase shoes online or through a secondhand market that has a “No Returns” policy. You should be able to return the shoes if you inspect them at home and are not satisfied with the product.
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Common (and Fake!) Excuses Vendors Use to Explain Why Designer Shoes Have No Labels
Authentic designer shoes should come with labels and paper tags. Here are some common, and most likely fake excuses that vendors of counterfeit shoes may use to convince potential buyers that the shoes are real despite the absence of tags or labels.
Vendor: The shoes don’t have labels or tags because they come directly from the manufacturer.
➡ Think Fast: Designer shoes are not sold directly from the manufacturer, especially not at discount prices or in small quantities. (Different rules may apply if you were, for example, purchasing 100 pairs of Gucci pumps.)
Vendor: We remove the labels before shipping.
➡ Think Fast: Why would a vendor of designer shoes ever do this? These shoes are valuable because people want to show off that coveted designer label. Cutting off the label on a Gucci pump is like blotting out Da Vinci’s signature on the Mona Lisa. There is no innocent explanation.
Vendor: We remove the labels on secondhand merchandise.
➡ Think Fast: It is true that labels are often altered when designer shoes are sold secondhand, but they should not be removed. The standard practice is either to cut the label, or draw a black line through it.
Vendor: The shoes do not come with labels or tags because they are
a sample pair.
➡ Think Fast: This excuse covers the vendor’s tail on two ends. First, he explains that there are no tags because the shoe is a sample, and second, he creates a way to account for any minor differences you might notice between the “sample” shoe and the designer item sold through the regular marketplace. If a vendor were able to get his hands on a sample designer shoe, there would be some kind of “sample” label.
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