What are the consequences of importing fake items?

Dear Everyone,

I am from Australia. What if I accidentally order something which is fake from my supplier? What are the consequences at my position when I receive the goods? Do I have to pay fine? Or will I get charged from customs? Is there any way that I can proof that I did not know that the item was fake? Does anyone have any experience or know anything about it? Please share your thoughts.

Thank you! Looking forward to hear from you guys.

If customs will know that the items you purchased were fake, you will never receive them. If they inspect your product and know that the item is a fake, they will usually destroy them. Most likely, toss them into an incinerator.

If you are caught by eBay, your account will be suspended or banned.

If you are caught by local authorities then, charges might be filed if they believe you to have known them to be fake.

The list goes on and on.

Dear Jimmy,

If I use PayPal to pay for my goods, can I get a refund if I find out that the goods are fake? Example, I found a supplier selling iPods, ordered, and made payment via PayPal. Then when the goods arrive, customs tells me that they are fake. What should I do? Talk to PayPal to get my money back? Or talk to the supplier? Also, do I have to pay a fine to destroy the goods from customs?

Thanks for you help! Looking forward to hear from you!

First off, it's best to dispute the purchase with the seller. If you find the items are fake, you can ask to return the goods and get your money back. If they refuse, you can take other steps including threatening to turn them into authorities for selling you counterfeit merchandise and for violation of the fair trade act of 1989.

In most cases, they won't want to mess with this headache unless they are an overseas seller. That way, they won't care either steps. Now, PayPal has a claims process and they can do a chargeback if they deem the reasons valid.

Dear Jimmy,

Thanks for your prompt replies. As you know there are alot of supplier selling fake items, especially Asian countries. If the seller is from overseas does that mean that I can't do anything to get my money back once the payment is made via PayPal? You said PayPal will chargeback if my reason is valid, right? What if my reason is: I did not know in the first place that the products were counterfeit until the goods were delivered to me. Would that be a good reason to retrieve my losses? Hoping to hear from you soon. Thank you.

Yes I would assume PayPal would favor your claim. But if someone overseas was trying to scam you; let's say China. Simply for the fact that 97% of businesses in China cannot accept credit card transactions because credit cards are barely existent there. I doubt you will have a scammer in China sending you crap knowing that PayPal can reverse the payment and screw their merchant account. And if you can find the very few suppliers that actually do accept PayPal or a credit card then, most likely they are a manufacturer of the product line they are selling.

Dear Jimmy,

Thank you so much for your info and advice. Wishing you and everyone in SaleHoo a successful 2007! :D

Hi Jimmy,

I am from Germany. I am interested to buy branded clothes as wholesale basis. Brands such as Tommy Hilfigger, Ralph Lauren, Armani, D&G, Burberry, Ed Hardy, Juicy Couture, etc. but if I look online, I only get addresses from China.Are they (all) selling fake products? Or some of them are selling original products? How can I know them? Is there any way to find them?

I will be very happy if I hear from you.

Thanks,
John

In truth, yes all of those supposed suppliers are selling replicas and fakes. Those designers do not sell products to wholesalers period. Those suppliers are selling items that are lookalike only and designer inspired. Do not fall into the trap of letting them try to convince you you are buying the real thing.

What about the leather bags like Fendi, Cavalli, Burberry, Prada, etc. Are there wholesalers of originals or do they all come from China, meaning just replicas?

All that come from china are fakes. Do not believe anything you hear about chineese factories making these products or being authorized manufacturers. They are manufacturered in italy and milan. And are only sold in high end stores and botiques. Most designers prefer to have product that is not sold destroyed rather then let them be sold as wholesale.

Hi Jimmy. Im from Australia and also wanted to buy designer handbags, shoes, and clothing. Is it completely hopeless for me to do so, even if im registard a business :(

Hi, the fact where some people say most designer brands are made in Italy and Paris is not really a fact. Nike and some other shoes and clothing brands make their clothes in China in sweatshops and maybe sometimes up for sale, i have seen some people find real suppliers with real items, nike is made from sweatshops, if you do some research you can find them for cheap. As for my friend getting this fake ipod when she ordered, they never siezed or opens the goods but she reckons it was because the packaging looked real. Also another friend from alibaba is ordering 2x n95 copies, high quality, they will see how it goes and the supplier said they can handle customs, i will let you know on what happens.

Jimmy, If replicas or fakes have such high consequences, why do you offer dropshippers/wholesalers for these items. Is there a way to legally sell them without getting in trouble with the law/ebay/customs? Is advertising them as 'look-a-likes' or 'replicas' acceptable by ebay or other sources? Where can one find more laws about selling replicas?

Hi - SaleHoo only lists wholesalers of designer replicas (meaning look-a-likes without any branding or logo), rather than actual brand-name replicas bearing the brand name or logo.

Unauthorized use of the name, logo or brand name of a company is a violation of the Intellectual Property Rights law.

When goods are imported that are breaking this law, Customs has the right to seize and destroy goods. Read more about it here:

Link hidden: Login to view

Brand names are becoming more stringent in their efforts to clamp down on counterfeit goods as the number sold online have ballooned. Last year for instance, Louis Vuitton filed a lawsuit against eBay: Link hidden: Login to view

If you search Google for 'intellectual property legislation' you'll be able to find out more. Different countries have slightly different policies. Wikipedia has a good guide with references: Link hidden: Login to view

I have been reading all the above information with interest. I am also in Australia and after doing a little searching I am under the understanding that in Australia you cannot import an item which has a registered brand or trademark that has been registered in Australia, without the owners permission. If the brand or trademark is not registered in Australia it is OK and if it happens to be a copy it is then not classed as a fake and therefore not confiscated. If you go through the Aust customs website (I didn't save the address) you can check for reg trademarks and brands. If this was not the case, every single item of Abercrombie & Fitch would be confiscated, as they only sell in their own stores, and that currently is not the case. All you have to do is check the number of listings on Ebay Aust. I have also checked and their brand name is not registered here. If however I am wrong I would appreciate your comments.

A correction to my previous statement. Abercrombie & Fitch is registered in Australia up until March 2010. The website to check for registered trademarks in Aust is Link hidden: Login to view

Hi - That is correct. In both the US and Australia the owner of the trademark must apply to Customs to have their trademark protected in that country. If they haven't done this, then Customs will not seize copied goods.