The Homa Files

Punch Line: It used to be that flashy names like Rolex were the ones susceptible to counterfeiting. 

Now, there’s more money in downscale brands …

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Excerpted from NY Times: Even Cheaper Knockoffs, Jul 31,2010

After years of knocking off luxury products like $2,800 Louis Vuitton handbags, criminals are discovering there is money to be made in faking the more ordinary — like $295 Kooba bags and $140 Ugg boots.

In California, the authorities recently seized a shipment of counterfeit Angel Soft toilet paper.

The shift in the counterfeiting industry plays to recession-weary customers looking for downmarket deals.

Knockoffs of lesser-known brands, which are easy to sell on the Internet, can be priced higher than obvious fakes, and avoid the aggressive programs by the big luxury brands to protect their labels, retail companies and customs enforcement officials say.

“If it’s making money over here in the U.S., it’s going to be reverse-engineered or made overseas.”

The lesson for many counterfeiters has been that they have a better chance of getting away with it if they copy smaller brands and market them on the Internet.

This entry was posted on August 6, 2010 at 6:28 am and is filed under Mktg - Brands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.