mfad•11mo ago

Spotting Fakes - Topic of the day 2/3/25

Oh no, you think the item you purchased might be fake! How can you tell? What do you do to prevent it from happening?

Spuck•2/3/25, 5:07 PM

I buy like 90% of my stuff second hand online(and everything thats designer), so I can chip in.

Aside from really obvious fake stuff, you have to ask yourself is it even likely a certain thing will be faked? The more complex fakes of stuff like Rick do exist (and can be very close indeed), but most fakes will be of stuff thats popular, hyped, easy to replicate. Tshirts, hoodies etc, esp brands like Balenci that are especially popular in China.

Reddit is actually a good resource in two ways:

Theres a reddit for most brands, full of people whowill probably know far more than you ever will about legit checking.
Check the rep subreddits and see if there have been fakes of what you're after made

You can go a step further and reverse image search through the various chinese sites as well, a lot of rep resellers are real lazy and will just copy and paste the pictures from their suppliers.

myownmoses•2/3/25, 5:17 PM

Not a failsafe method, but if a seller isn’t posting material/production tags for name brand stuff (especially even after I ask to see them) then I assume it’s probably fake.

levi•2/3/25, 5:17 PM

what is the general consensus held here about reps/fakes

artvandelayimporting•2/3/25, 5:17 PM

bad

artvandelayimporting•2/3/25, 5:17 PM

let me rephrase actually

artvandelayimporting•2/3/25, 5:18 PM

buy reps if you want

artvandelayimporting•2/3/25, 5:18 PM

but expect to get clowned on posting about them in the FASHION discord

tman916•2/3/25, 5:18 PM

A lot of times with brands I like, there will be significant differences in performance with counterfeit products. I once traded for a pair of acronym pants and they had no water resistance. There were other small details that were off when comparing to pics / descriptions on their site as well but the lack of weather resistance properties were the tipping point.

Llevi what is the general consensus held here about reps/fakes

tman916•2/3/25, 5:18 PM

They have their place. I don’t see an issue if people don’t pass them off as authentic, especially when selling.

Aartvandelayimporting but expect to get clowned on posting about them in the FASHION discord

levi•2/3/25, 5:18 PM

understandable my only reps are some travis scott nikes

tman916•2/3/25, 5:19 PM

I’ve got a pair of rep acronym pants that resell for like $1k+. Idc how much I ever make, I’ll never feel okay paying almost a mortgage payment for an article of clothing.

Llevi understandable my only reps are some travis scott nikes

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:19 PM

damn

Llevi what is the general consensus held here about reps/fakes

adime•2/3/25, 5:20 PM

i like buying fakes/cheap versions of items to test run them - mostly jewelry though. it helps to understand what size i want

Llevi understandable my only reps are some travis scott nikes

levi•2/3/25, 5:20 PM

the person i bought them from is apparently an actual factory worker in china so idk if they’re actually reps or not

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:20 PM

sounds like a rep bigman

levi•2/3/25, 5:20 PM

i’m quick to tell you i’m wearing reps though i’m not getting clowned

tman916•2/3/25, 5:20 PM

Some fake products can be just as good as the products they’re emulating.

Llevi what is the general consensus held here about reps/fakes

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:20 PM

Reps are dumb as hell

levi•2/3/25, 5:21 PM

i just like the reverse swoosh

Ttman916 Some fake products can be just as good as the products they’re emulating.

adime•2/3/25, 5:21 PM

some of the unbranded but still rep stuff has pretty good quality

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:21 PM

Deliberate satire of stupid brands is good

adime•2/3/25, 5:22 PM

sometimes i'll buy stuff on aliexpress and not know it's a rep because no branding :xd: they've held up well over the years

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:22 PM

i get not wanting to spend a lot of money for thing, but in most cases there's another thing that accomplishes a v similar goal w/o being a rep

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:22 PM

buying heavily repped thing 2nd hand is cooked though, in most cases i'd just say dont do it

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

or tbh dont buy it at all fuck it

seth•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

my hot / pretentious take is that if you're buying like zara / fast fashion it's the equivalent of buying reps / fakes

MMeaty,buying heavily repped thing 2nd hand is cooked though, in most cases i'd just sa...

adime•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

when gucci was popular they came out with a few fake lines and i really enjoyed that

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

Rep production is also largely unregulated and can run into some human rights territory

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

Not that high fashion doesn’t also do this

Wwarpweftwatergate Rep production is also largely unregulated and can run into some human rights te...

tman916•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

Agree

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

But it’s more regulated

MMeaty,buying heavily repped thing 2nd hand is cooked though, in most cases i'd just sa...

seth•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

basically all silver jewelry

Wwarpweftwatergate Not that high fashion doesn’t also do this

tman916•2/3/25, 5:23 PM

Facts lol

adime•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

MMeaty,or tbh dont buy it at all fuck it

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

there's cases of ppl buying the real thing, then shipping the very similar rep back for return and it just being part of the stock

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

so now ppl buying retail are being double owned

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

But I’ll take knowing where my clothes are coming from and knowing the people making them are treated with at least a modicum of respect if it means spending a bit more

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

That’s worth it tbh

seth•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

shut up cowboy

seth•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

sorry i just felt the urge to day that

seth•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

you're 100% right

MMeaty,there's cases of ppl buying the real thing, then shipping the very similar rep b...

adime•2/3/25, 5:24 PM

i saw this when i worked at a dept store! but again mostly with fine jewelry haha

Sseth you're 100% right

warpweftwatergate•2/3/25, 5:25 PM

I was about to be so surprised at your stance on this lmao

Meaty,•2/3/25, 5:25 PM

moral of the story is like, if ur pressed about an item ur buying being fake (ie not insanely rich or w/e) buy something else

sharloy•2/3/25, 5:25 PM

I love buying obvious fakes

seth•2/3/25, 5:26 PM

i think it's just a personal barrier of like... what level of distillation / reproduction you're okay with

sharloy•2/3/25, 5:26 PM

The gucccis and the prabas of the world

seth•2/3/25, 5:26 PM

just talking from a design perspective

beans•2/3/25, 5:26 PM

Genuinely asking. I feel like I've seen at various points that reps will often be used as a spot to raise funds for far more unsavory things like literally funding terrorist groups.

That feels insane to me but also plausible so I'm curious if anyone has clearer info on that topic?

Ssharloy I love buying obvious fakes

adime•2/3/25, 5:26 PM

i wish i had loaded up on obvious fakes last time i went to china :nooooo:

Spotting Fakes - Topic of the day 2/3/25

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