How to deal with counterfeit items - any advice?

Hi,

I've had some problems with wholesalers selling me counterfeit products. Sometimes I've been able to tell which products are fake and return them to the seller, but often the products are very good copies and its difficult to tell the difference. What can I do in these situations? Am I responsible for products that appear to be completely legit? I recently got very serious e-mail from a company stating that I was responsible for these goods. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?

Unfortunately you can be held liable for reselling counterfeit goods - even if you didn't realize that that's what they were.

The only way to ensure that this doesn't happen is to make sure you are dealing with a factory authorized wholesale. You can either email the brand to check that the wholesaler you are dealing with is authorized, or ask the wholesaler to provide you with chain of title documentation.

All the best :)
Grace

Just to echo what Grace has said, if you are importing and selling fake items, knowingly or not, you can be held liable, in fact the chances are increasingly so that you would be if caught.

Grace has also pretty much provided you with the only definitive way of finding out, however you can help yourself by being selective with who you deal with.

For example, don't try to import branded products from China. That's the quickest way to get yourself into trouble. Not saying that is what you are doing, just an example : )

There are two specific site, that I will mention by name: dhgate.com and wholesale-outlets.com, which have been very misleading in terms of the legitimacy of their products. They sell counterfeit goods and, in most cases, seem unwilling to respond to any concerns about their products. I'm not sure why dhgate.com is still featured on this site given its reputation with most people. I'm looking into the possibility of filing a civil lawsuit against some of these wholesalers, unfortunately, they are in China, which seems to make it next to impossible.

Hi jsndnlb,

Its sad that you are having trouble with the products that you got from these suppliers. But if you read the profile page for DHgate we have stressed out that products on this site are 99% counterfeits, see for yourself:

Link hidden: Login to view

Ideally these suppliers, especially those based in China are a gold mine for NO-brand name products - that is why DH gate is part of our directory. Just don't be fooled by the enticing offers on the branded ones as these are never the real thing.

Also if you have browsed through the forum, you'll find over a hundred posts warning/advising members NOT to buy anything branded from such suppliers as 9 out of 10 times these will surely be fakes, knock-offs or counterfeits.

I'm not really sure if you can file a lawsuit against them since they are not based in the US.

Cheers :)

You've got to be very, very careful buying any brand name goods from China. Hong Kong suppliers are usually okay, but Chinese suppliers are 95% likely to be selling fakes.

We have DHGate in our directory because they are a great resource for finding generic products. They also guarantee any transactions, so if you are unhappy with a supplier there you should file a complaint with DHGate, who will help you get your money back.

As you say, filing a lawsuit against a company in a different country is pretty much impossible, particularly in China where illegal counterfeiting is not taken that seriously anyway.

Please feel free to ask any other questions you have about this issue.

Cheers,
Grace

Hi I just reacently became a member of salehoo, and am pritty new at this. before salehoo i orderd some jersyes from china. I didnt relise they were fakes untill ebay pulled one of my items. But not before one sold. i contacted the byer and fully explained to him that it was a fake. He recieved it and actually wanted more. So I did some research and found that a lot of fans would rather pay 60.00 on a nock off than 300.00 on a real one. Any ideas or input on this. I have since put an inquary into reebok, nike and addidas to become an authorised dealer. But I dont expect a wole lot scince i am not established yet. I do have my retail licence are there wholesalers that do sell real reebok addidas and nike apperal that i might be able to purchase from. One more thing one of my orders was from tradegot and i only recieved half of it. Any ideas on how to get my mony back or do i chalk it up as a loss. Thank you jason

Hi Jason,

Flea markets and car boots sales are good place to get rid of stock like this. And the customers tend to be very open to buying fakes - indeed, expect to! - at places like this.

There is definitely a lot of demand for fakes, but it's just so risky importing them that I don't recommend it as a long term strategy. The penalties are pretty horrendous if you get caught!

Thank you, I think i will take your advice.

Just to agree with Grace, finding a market (outside of one like ebay) for fake products is extremely easy. You open a stall at a market and they will line up around the corner for your products, but, and it's a really big but, you have to ask yourself is it worth it.

Problem number one, actually getting them into the country without getting caught by Customs.

Number two, even if you have some luck and get a load through somehow, the problem of fakes in the market place sees agents constantly monitoring marketplaces on the look out for just this.

Most cases people are lucky and Customs catch the load as it arrives, and for a first offence you will most likely just loose the load without any further action being taken.

What tends to happen if you manage to get the load through and then set up selling, and get sprung by agents, is a completely different story.

Then you will not only loose your stock, but you have a very high degree chance of legal action been taken against you as well, and that can cost you a lot more than cash!

Imagine that sort of emotional strain on a family, having the brand owning company coming after you, wanting their slice of flesh for you doing your best to put them out of business.

Not a pretty picture.