[LINK] Not a good week to shop in Beijing

[Scott Howard]

On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 6:11 PM, Jan Whitaker <jwhit at janwhitaker.com> wrote:

>
> <http://www.theage.com.au/world/copyright-convention-spooks-beijings-pirates-20120627-212tg.html>Question:
> are the products sold with the brand labels sewed in
> knock-offs or just extras made in the same factories where the "real"
> branded items are made? What makes a fake a fake? Is a rose by any
> other name -- etc etc.
>

They are a combination of all of the above, but most are NOT the real thing.

I've been to the area in Ho Chi Minh City where there is shop after shop
selling not fake goods, but rolls and rolls of the fake labels to sew onto
the fake goods, as well as extras like "YKK" branded zippers (which clearly
are not real YKK's), branded buttons, etc, etc.

In many cases they are not "knock-offs" as such, but just random goods with
brand-names on them.  I'd love to buy a replacement for my "North Face"
backpack I bought in Asia several years ago, but after much digging I've
confirmed that North Face never actually made a model that looks like what
I have.  You'll also find many shops selling the exact same item under half
a dozen different brands, based simply on the different tag that's been
sewn onto it.

Quality varies.  I've got some some "fake" items that I bought over 10
years ago that are still functional, and others that fell apart after a few
weeks.

Specific to Silk Street which is covered in the article, they have been
trying to crack down on counterfeit items for several years, especially
since they moved into the new location from the old Xiushui Market about 6
years ago, with the real push being due to the influx of tourists
purchasing the fake goods and taking them back to their home countries.
They are gradually starting to win, but there's still a very long way to go.

  Scott.