Buyer beware in Italy

[Member]

I read from the weekend's Globe and Mail newspaper that Italy punishes heavily on countfeit goods purchasers as well now.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050820/RTICKERSEC20/TPBusiness/?query=Italy

 

It can be very serious for those innocent visitors.

[sailor moon]

Good to know! How do you verify if something is real or counterfeit? We will be in Venice next June for our cruise.

[Merion_Mom]

I don't doubt you or your source, but there is counterfeit crap ALL OVER ROME. It's right out in the open. I don't see how they can do ANYTHING to visitors who buy this stuff, when people are selling it right out in the open on the street. No one is attempting to hide anything.

 

Carol

[caviargal]

I don't doubt you or your source, but there is counterfeit crap ALL OVER ROME. It's right out in the open. I don't see how they can do ANYTHING to visitors who buy this stuff, when people are selling it right out in the open on the street. No one is attempting to hide anything.

 

Carol

 

And in Florence, Milan, etc.

 

There are supposed to be laws against selling these phonies but they are not enforced. After 15 trips to Italy, I think it is not even worth worrying about.

[K&RCurt]

Good to know! How do you verify if something is real or counterfeit? We will be in Venice next June for our cruise.

 

A Prada handbag sells for 400.00 to 1,200.00 Euro. If you see one for 33.00 Euro as in the article referenced above, it's fake or stolen!

[Merion_Mom]

OMG, I went into the Prada store near the Spanish Steps, thinking that I might pick up a trinket for my 19 year old daughter........the cheapest, nothingest, not-even-leather key chain was 200 euros!!!!!!!!

 

And I must say, despite my warnings, some of my students DID buy purses from these sidewalk hawkers, and the quality didn't seem too bad! :)

[worldsbestcandles]

Also, since Italy used to eb a place where shopping was a deal, with the conversion to the Euro it no longer (not even taking into account the exchnage rate at the moment!). When I went in 2003, the student group I went with was convinced things were cheaper over there, but when we went around I showed them. You could buy a pair of Diesel jeans for about $210 US, which is not a good deal as well with the Prada, Gucci, Feragamo, etc.... If you are looking for real stuff, know your prices before you go. If you are ok with a good look alike I would just get it in a major city area like NY or something rather than dealing with customs somewhere, but that's just me....

 

The warning we got wasn't that you would be arrested or anythign for buying fake, but rather that when you came back thorugh customs they would require to pay the duty as if it was real and if you couln't produce a receipt for it you would be in big trouble.... not sure if anyone else has heard this... maybe they were just telling us that to make sure none of the kids bought anything off the streets....

[cruiser_carol]

:confused:

I read from the weekend's Globe and Mail newspaper that Italy punishes heavily on countfeit goods purchasers as well now.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050820/RTICKERSEC20/TPBusiness/?query=Italy

 

It can be very serious for those innocent visitors.

In my humble opinion, it should be the designers who are prosecuted for charging such ridiculously expensive prices for their goods. What justifies these costs? Many still employ 3rd world parties to produce the item and pay them pennies in return There are no massive amounts of materials ,or need to search the world for something especially rare in nature, in order to produce a handbag or a pair of jeans. Yet educated people hand over bundles of money to own something to wear that everyone else on the high street also is wearing, whether it be an original or a copy. There is no originality..for which I could understand someone paying for...just an advertisement for somebody and a lot more money in HIS Bank account and a Lot Less in YOURS!! I'd personally like to see a lot more individual style..we've had years of all the labels..time for a change.

[mommabean]

The same fake stuff is all over in Nassau and the streets of NYC. And even the fakes cost more than I'd be willing to pay. I'd rather get something nice and made of real leather at Target or JCPenny that doesn't have silly little patterns or LVs all over it.

 

Am I the only one who thinks these designer items tend to clash with whatever women are wearing most of the time? They just aren't very pretty to me. My teenage daughters are into those fakes though....at their own expense, not mine. :)

[Scott Cyn]

:confused:

In my humble opinion, it should be the designers who are prosecuted for charging such ridiculously expensive prices for their goods. What justifies these costs?

 

Carol, it's called the free market! If you think their prices are ridiculous, you have the power to send the designers a very, very strong signal by NOT BUYING! Prosecuted? Prosecuted? :eek:

 

Scott

[XEON]

Ha, that's great. I was just going to use a Prada reference. But someone beat me to it. Good show!

[maxxboy]

A Prada handbag sells for 400.00 to 1,200.00 Euro. If you see one for 33.00 Euro as in the article referenced above, it's fake or stolen!

 

 

So if I see a Rolex for $50.00 then it might be fake!

 

K&RCurt is right. If the price is way less than normal prices you're probably looking at a fake/stolen item.

[dogsrule]

This is a rumor that has been perpetuated this summer-I do not believe it to be true as there are vendors on every street corner in Rome, and lots of folks must be buying. I brought back about 5 in June no problem. I don't know why folks buy into this.:confused:

[Member]

I think at stake here is not if I, a cruise passenger, like or dislike a certain item.... but whether I have the right to appeal and get back to the ship if not paying up the huge fine imposed.