Authenticity Solutions for 2024

In my last blog I covered my Authenticity Report of 2023, and while it's wonderful to have the 2023 insights, the report would not be complete without looking to the future and some solutions that can be applied for 2024.

Before we jump in, let's recap some of the truly shocking stats that were discovered:

50.7% of 18-29 year olds were either indifferent or not concerned with the issue of counterfeits.

43.6% of those asked aged 18-29 had bought a fake product and knew they were buying a fake product.

74% of those who had made counterfeit purchases were satisfied with their purchase. They were happy with the fake. 

And not only that, 20% also responded that they would buy a counterfeit product again if it were worth a quarter of the original brand’s product.

Now let's get into some solutions on how we can curb these statistics and change the way we view "dupes."

First thing to note is that there are various types of platforms you can shop pre-loved items. There are reliable and unrealiable platforms so let's go through the categories of platforms you can shop on and which pose the least amount of risk. 

The first two categories are the highest risk platforms and these are C2C marketplaces, and pawn shops. Of course there are platforms with good reputations, yet it remains the highest risk platform. Recently these platforms are implementing more aggressive anti-countefeit enforcement measures that are effectively reducing fakes across their channels. But the sheer mass of people selling on these platforms, and the methods of authentication are not thorough enough. 

Then, the problem with pawn shop style stores is the merchandise comes from individual consumers and being taken in by untrained salespeople significantly increases the risk of counterfeits. The problem is pawn shops are like jacks of all trades, which means that are masters of none, and that just doesn't cut it regarding authenticating luxury handbags. The other issue is these people are  typically looking to "flip" items, and this is what will increase the risk of counterfeit items entering the supply chain.

Now let's get into the safest category, online specialized resale boutique. 

Of course when selecting which resale platform you shop on, you have to look at the global reputation. There are huge platforms that have a bad reputation and should exercise caution purchasing from.

However, the items taken in by a boutique like mine, come from a stable of reliable sources like consignors that I have built a personal relationship and have a history of transacting with. And here is everyone's secret, other resellers or auctions you've aligned and partnered yourself with. Owning a resale boutique is a highly specialized business, and it is my job to have strict rules and contracts in place for intake and sourcing. This is ultimate transparency, which is what you want from a brand in order to trust them and their inventory.

This is why this avenue is lowest risk. High levels of expertise and experience keep the unreliable sources and bad actors are eliminated from the supply chain before they can exert negative impact. 

So how can we combat counterfeiters infiltrating marketplaces and making people distrust the pre-loved market? 

Here's a few solutions:

Brands can implement end to end product traceability technologies on precious handbags. Having this measure in place would enable products to be traced through their entire lifecycle, both physically and digitally. 

This would improve and ease information on the product, visibility and the detection of unauthorized or counterfeit. This would empower customers to verify a product's authenticity and identity at the point of sale in the resale market.

Next, as I mentioned about bad reputations, there are cases of resellers publicly selling counterfeit products and ruining retailer-brand relationships not only for themselves, but tarnishing the confidence of customers shopping with other boutiques and marketplaces which. are infiltrated as well. 

Online monitoring solutions and listings takedowns. This is hard because of the nature of the scale and diversity of listings, and anonymity of buyers and sellers.To supplement online monitoring solutions, many online marketplaces have embedded product authentication as a key part of the transactional workflow.

The other problem I see which is to blame for the awful stats I recapped, is that the industry as a whole is not doing enough to educate particularly young consumers who think fakes are trendy. The fact that fakes are trendy just tells me that the counterfeiters are winning, and we are to blame for not doing a better job at prevention and mitigation. 

This last one ties into the marketplace issues, but on social media, social networks need to figure out how to distinguish between legitimate resellers without preventing authentic resellers from maintaining a presence. This is such a huge issue. Counterfeiters are pushed by the algorithm. WHY??? This really angers me. Dupe culture needs to be discouraged, and when brands use influencer marketing, you should do a little global assessement on the influencer and what they are influencing you to buy. Maybe the key is that influencer marketing should not be used to push a product, but to educate. 

Luckily there are some solutions, platforms can create more specific and strict guidelines. Tiktok Shop for example makes sellers on the platform must pass an audit before having a seller presence. This audit includes submitting your registered corporations information. Unfortunately Tiktok Shop is not available for Canadians yet, but as soon as it is I am interested in pursuing a Shop on there. In case you were not aware, Bags for Breakfast is a registered corporation.

Also, we should learn to change our attitude towards older bags. Luckily the love for vintage is on the rise. But in general, it is common to turn our noses up at older bags, and favor bags that are new with tags, or in mint condition. Now of course no one wants to buy or sell a bag that looks like it was run over by a trucks, but older bags deserve more recognition, and if everyone wasn't so darn picky and didn't ignore older bags, we would not have such a large counterfeit culture. And millions of dollars of older bags would not be cannibalized in the market. 

I hope these solutions make you think, and redirect your energy towards a more positive outlook on a pretty negative predicament we are in. Let's combat counterfeit culture together, and remember that it is NOT cool to carry fakes!