WOLFF'S FLEA MARKET COUNTERFEIT MERCHANDISE GUIDE 1: IPHONE ACCESSORIES - Chargers, Earpods, Lightning Cables, Packaging


August 13, 2013
Too much to read? Just scroll down to the pictures below....

Flea market vendors may find this guide helpful when shopping for merchandise from websites, wholesalers, importers and other sources. Countless online sites like ebay, alibaba.com and dhgate.com, as well as your locally owned independent store and "a guy you know" provide an unfortunate mixture of legitimate and counterfeit products at "too good to be true" prices.  When obtaining your merchandise, please avoid the counterfeit and trademark infringing items pictured and described below.

These specific iPhone accessories have been chosen for this guide because of their popularity and prevalence online, in independently owned stores, at wholesalers and because of their eventual appearance at the flea market level. As always, realize that we are not legal or trademark experts, nor are we affiliated with Apple.  We are a small business that conducts ongoing counterfeit research via retail stores, wholesalers, news stories, independently owned stores, online manufacturers' websites, expert advice, etc. Trademarks are used for purposes of education and discussion and belong to the individual companies.

You are not allowed to sell counterfeits at Wolff's Flea Market, and will consequently be out hard-earned money, stuck with unsellable stock and possible permanently ejected from our venues.

 Remember that there can be a fine line between no-name generic compatible products and trademark infringing/counterfeit items. Problems arise in 2 different manners:
  1. DILUTED & CONFUSING: A no-name item is packaged or designed to look exactly or almost exactly like the authentic product (color, shape, similar packaging, etc.)  Consumers are led to believe that they are buying the real thing at a cheap price
  2. OUTRIGHT COUNTERFEIT: A no-name item purports to be the authentic item and labels itself using the name and logo of the authentic item.
The pictures below depict how inferior, illegal counterfeits are designed to look identical to authentic items. Do not purchase the counterfeits to resell!

EXAMPLE #1-CHARGER CUBES



EXAMPLE #2-EARPODS

REAL $29 APPLE EARPODS
                                                   
THE $2 OR LESS FAKES BELOW LOOK ALIKE
AND ARE CONSIDERED COUNTERFEIT BY US!
FAKE FROM DHGATE.COM
FAKE FROM DHGATE.COM
FAKE FROM DHGATE.COM


EXAMPLE #3-LIGHTNING CABLES
FAKE $4.18 AT DHGATE.COM
REAL LIGHTNING TO USB
CABLE $19

EXAMPLE #4-PACKAGING
Compare these 2 boxes and you will see that they look almost identical. The box on the left is missing the Apple logo and contains a counterfeit cable. It infringes upon the real packaging design and leads consumers the think they are purchasing the real deal.

LEFT: Counterfeit box-missing logo, but otherwise looks like the real one
MIDDLE: Counterfeit Lightning Cable in an unlabeled bag.
RIGHT: Authentic box with Apple logo


EXAMPLE #5 BAGS
80% of all counterfeit products are imported. Many of these items are not packaged in branded boxes, but come in clear, unlabeled bags. When we see allegedly branded items in these bags, we suspect the merchandise as being fake, since no licensing or authentic product information is present. 

Box of counterfeit Apple chargers in unbranded bags
Box of counterfeit Lightning Cables in unbranded bags

AS ALWAYS, PLEASE CALL 847-524-9590 WITH QUESTIONS

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 16, 2013 at 5:21 AM

    This is my very first time that I am visiting here and I’m truly pleasurable to see everything at one place. retail merchandising

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 16, 2013 at 5:22 AM

    This is my very first time that I am visiting here and I’m truly pleasurable to see everything at one place. retail merchandising

    ReplyDelete

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