Share your story: fake designer goods

Speaking of fake designer goods, do you have a story about a fake designer item you’d like to share?

Have you been ripped off on eBay, when your new handbag turned out to be a cheap pleather knock-off?

Or maybe you’ve had the reverse experience, where you found a perfect copy of an item you almost bought at full price?

I’d be really interested to hear everyone’s experiences — good, bad or indifferent.

To get started, here’s how I ended up with a fake Tiffany necklace that I love to bits:

Back in 2003-4, I was an eBay addict. I spent an hour or so a day trawling for interesting items, and bought most of my clothes there, as well as assorted household items, plants, things for my cat…

Slowly, I started stumbling across designer items at great prices. Most of them didn’t interest me much, but when I saw the Tiffany necklace I’d been saving up to buy, I thought, “score!”

Back then, I didn’t know that almost everything on eBay with a designer label is fake — but I was about to find out.

I paid my $150-odd dollars for the necklace and postage. I waited about a week, and my package arrived.

When I got the package, I was really excited. I tore open the parcel and looked inside…

…but one look at the contents told me that something was wrong.

Inside was a box, warranty papers, a little jewellery pouch and somewhere inside all that, the necklace.

As a designer, I know a lot about paper and printing. I could tell at a glance that the box and warranty cards were fakes. The paper was cheap and the printing was poorly done. It absolutely didn’t come from a luxury goods house, or at least not one that guards its reputation as fiercely as Tiffany does.

Likewise, the little fabric pouch that came with it was made of cheap, nasty fabric and was poorly constructed.

At this point, I knew I’d been conned. The packaging all screamed “FAKE!!”, so I was dreading what I might find inside.

I took a deep breath, and looked inside the box.

To my great relief, the necklace inside was actually pretty. It wasn’t an exact replica of the real thing, but it still looked nice.

It’s definitely silver, although possibly a lower grade than it claims to be. And really, even though Elsa Perretti’s design has been changed a little, it’s still a lovely piece.

It took me weeks to get over my crankiness about being conned, but eventually I decided that the money was gone so I should just try to enjoy the necklace.

It was love at first wear — fake or not, it’s a gorgeous necklace.

I’ve now been wearing it for years and still love it. In the end, I’ve got great value money for my fake Tiffany necklace, so maybe the con artist did me a favour after all.

Have you had a similar experience with a fake designer item? Or a completely different experience? Let me know!