Beware of tiny hidden away shops that claim to sell international branded clothes, shoes and accessories at dirt cheap prices, what is being offered could be a well imitated, fake product.
“Most of the goods in the so-called export surplus shops are fake. They are very well imitated and only an adept eye can tell the difference,” said Sanjiv Jain, CEO of G Plus-Franchise.
The market for fake products is growing because of customers who are either fooled into buying the fake product or buy the fake product to show off the label.
“The fake industry is a billion-dollar market. People who buy these (fake) products want the branded tag but are not ready to pay the actual price. Hence the market thrives,” said Aarti Mittal, owner of Bloom a store.
According to a study, around 31 per cent customers of the fake branded market are students. Living on a shoe-string budget and desperate to keep in tune with the latest trends, they are the most vulnerable of the lot.
“I recently bought a pair of shoes of a well-known brand for just Rs.500. The shopkeeper told me that it was an export-surplus product and the price was a quarter of the original,” said gushed Arunima Sharma, a student.
Another student bought a branded hand bag for a few hundreds, when the actual price could easily be around Rs.3,000. “The shopkeeper said it was genuine.I really don’t know the difference. In any case, it was a good deal, I can’t afford the original price” she said.
Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and other metros are among the hot spots where such shops thrive. Owners of such fake product shops claim their products are factory rejects. “The goods that we get are factory rejects,” said Akash Gill owner of such a shop in Lajpat Nagar. “The defects are mostly minor and my customers don't mind. Hence the prices are low, and the demand high," he added.
Brand managers, however, disagree, and maintain that they conduct raids on such "counterfeit" stores. But in India unless strict action is taken against such stores the problem of duping the customer will persist.