In Fake goods: Low prices, big problems, Elizabeth Strott has written a terrific overview of this global epidemic on the MSN Money webpage and it begins with a seemingly innocent trip to Canal Street, a trip many consumers of fake goods have made before. This is where it often begins, the front line of counterfeit sales - the back alleys and vans with tinted windows - where the haggling over knockoffs takes place. It is the perfect point of departure and Strott broadens the scope of her article to illustrate the global reach of fake trade as well as its implications for both sides of the purchase agreement.
Strott quotes Valerie Salembier, publisher of Harper's Bazaar and founder of the Harper's Bazaar Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance, on the size of the epidemic as well as easy ways to determine whether goods are authentic or not.
When you buy fake goods, it is never as simple as the handbag or the luggage you walk away with. Strott makes this clear. There are economic repercussions and human rights violations that go unnoticed when you make a small purchase. All those little transactions add up - $650 billion lost each year in legitimate business.
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