3 Shocking Things We Learned While Authenticating Designer Fashion
Authenticity is very important at Lollipuff. Designer items even at discounted resale prices can be an investment. That's why Lollipuff offers an authentication service for items. While performing authentications, we learned 3 extremely SHOCKING things.
Some boyfriends are not to be trusted
Of all people, who most commonly gifts faked goods? The boyfriend. Not the husband, not the bff, and most definitely not your mama, but we've found that many boyfriends commonly give counterfeit bags and clothing disguised as the real deal.
Perhaps, they don't know any better when shopping online, or perhaps they don't appreciate the beauty or workmanship of authentic designer fashion, but it's no excuse to outright lie where the bag or shoes were purchased from!
Now, there are some guys who seriously go the extra mile. Equipped with an economical mind and loving diligence, some men get an item authenticated prior to making a designer purchase. If you've got a man that saves hundreds of dollars while putting some time and effort into making a designer purchase, the guy is a serious keeper and extremely rare.
The worst kind of friend... if you can even call them that...
So... unless all of your friends are the elite type, if one of your friends offers to sell you her pre-owned luxury handbag or dress, get it checked beforehand.
When people state that they purchased their secondhand designer item from a friend, more often than not, it turns out to be fake. This is completely shocking but true. In fact, we know of one particular girl who bought over 5 bags at top dollar from a "friend" that all turned out to be replica Louis Vuitton.
This is probably the worst kind of counterfeit sale out there, and yet all too common.
Fake Authenticators
We saved the worst offense for last. Oftentimes, people will use our authentication service as a second and final opinion. Oftentimes, these customers have the most appalling, INCORRECT information about authenticity. And, you know where they got this information? From another "authenticator."
Yea... there are a lot of people out there who really don't know anything about authentication, and THEY are CHARGING people for services!
Just yesterday, we heard this in reference to a Louis Vuitton bag: "I took this bag to someone here locally & they said when they looked up the datecode that it pulled up a Speedy bag." O.M.G. If you are at all knowledgeable about Louis Vuitton, you'd know that multiple Louis Vuitton bags and multiple LV styles can share the same datecode. A datecode is not unique to a Louis Vuitton like a serial number is to a Chanel. W.T.F. SUCH misinformation.
It's frightening how many HORRIBLE "authenticators" there are out there. They typically ere on the side of saying an item is fake when it is not. I really hope no valuable designer items have been destroyed due to these irresponsible, unethical, unqualified "authenticators." These people have to understand that authenticity is a very very serious service. When done incorrectly, it impacts BOTH the buyer and seller immensely. Authentications should never be flippantly provided.
If a site or authenticator is not well-known, has little to no reputation, has poor reputation and/or has not demonstrated observable expertise, be skeptical.