In this day and age designer handbags are as important to a lady's outward appearance as is any other aspect of what she is wearing. Designer handbags and other items that women use to carry essentials are a great way to enhance their look and enable them to create fantastic wardrobe combinations.
However, designer handbags, purses and wallets can be extremely expensive, and so there is an entire industry devoted to faux designer handbags and purses. The manufacturers of faux designer handbags and purses have gotten so good at their work that it can be very hard to tell the real ones from the fake ones.
If you are willing to pay extremely high prices you probably won't be sold a fake. However, in most other instances, you might get a fake and not even know it. I believe that buying fake purses is the same as purchasing clothes that look similar to their designer counterparts. Genuine designer handbags are so extremely expensive, that they just beg to be copied and sold for less. I understand that the fashion industry will be against what I am saying, however they are culpable for this problem, because they continually jack up their prices to far over what the handbags are really worth.
While pricing a product for it's unique qualities is an acceptable business practice, pricing them so far over the market only drives the secondary market that will copy the bags and sell them at a greatly discounted price. I do recognize that there are copyright and patent laws at work, but there is also a certain level of greed that simply cannot be ignored.
Designer handbags and other such accessories are going to have an essential role in ladies' fashion forever. However, halting the black market of replica designer handbags and purses is an undertaking that is all but impossible. The replica market is perpetuated by the genuine articles, and simply fulfills a need for cheaper versions of a hot commodity.
In my experience, I am not looking at the value of a handbag or purse as much as I am looking at the style and color of the purse or handbag. If it complements and completes the outfit, then it's the way to go and I'm not too concerned about whether it's the real thing or knock-off.
When designer handbags are talked about, genuine articles versus fake knock-offs will always cause great debate. However, this is probably what the industry wants.
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