The counterfeit handbag industry is become larger and larger in the United States. With many people unable to afford the high prices of designer bags, people are turning to purchasing cheap knock-offs. The demand of high end fashion for less is big and counterfeiters are taking advantage. One council member in New York is pushing for her legislation that would make it illegal to buy the fake handbags to be put into effect.
If you have ever been to Times Square in New York you will have seen the guys on the side of the street selling designer handbags. They have their products in a bag or on a blanket and are nervously looking around while trying to sell you a bag for cheap. They are all knock-offs of popular designers like Louis Vuitton, Coach, and Marc Jacobs. The “salesman” looks nervous because it is illegal for anyone to sell counterfeit items. However, it is not illegal for someone to purchase one of the fake designer handbags.
Margaret Chin is the council member trying to her legislation passed that would make the purchase of these counterfeit handbags also illegal. Purchasing a counterfeit handbag would be a misdemeanor and would be punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Chin hopes that this law would be a big deterrent to people hoping to score a designer bag for less and that it would decrease the demand. By decreasing the demand for counterfeit handbags there will be less money to be made and there will be less counterfeit products being made.
Customs seized $348 million in forgeries last year in New York alone. Even though the authorities are cracking down on counterfeiters, demand for the product is still high. Most low-level sellers who are charged with distributing counterfeit goods are only charged with a misdemeanor and set free. Advocators of Chin’s legislation compare the counterfeit handbag industry as similar to the drug trade business. “It is illegal, smuggled into the country and sold at an enormous profit.”
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