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pWho hasnt looked enviously at a designer handbag and the woman who carried it?nbsp; With some handbags priced in the thousands of dollars, women today often resort to the world of counterfeit merchandise to get their fashion fix.nbsp; These counterfeit handbags, shoes and jewelry give the consumer a cheaper, almost identical version of the higher end model. In fact, the counterfeit designers have become so adept at copying the high-end merchandise that it is often impossible to tell the difference between the real and the fake.nbsp; However, is there a downside to buying knockoffs?br /br /The companies who design the original merchandise certainly think so.nbsp;nbsp; The owners and designers of high-end jewelry, watch and handbag companies argue that buying counterfeit is the equivalent of buying stolen merchandise.nbsp; These designers argue that by copying their original designs, both the counterfeiter and the customer are stealing their intellectual property and in turn hurting their business, thereby driving up the prices of the original handbag or high-end material.nbsp; In addition, companies such as Kate Spade and Coach argue that while the counterfeit merchandise may seem identical on the outside, these fakes are usually lower in quality which leads to frequent ripping, fading, etc.nbsp; In turn the customer is forced to buy another counterfeit eventually spending as much as they might have spent on the original, which would have lasted much longer. nbsp;br /br /Barbara Kolsun, an attorney for designer Kate Spade, points out the slippery slope of buying counterfeit when saying, It goes way beyond knockoff bags and watcheshellip; people buy counterfeit pharmaceutical drugshellip;these products are not regulated.nbsp; People can become sick and have been killed as a result of using these products.nbsp; Some also argue that many involved in counterfeiting are also involved in other illegal activity such as drug trafficking and breaking child labor laws.nbsp; The president of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, Timothy Trainer, says that the design industry is working with federal and state government to stop these counterfeit sales by breaking down the infrastructure of such businesses.nbsp; You have to go after the counterfeit infrastructure.nbsp; You can arrest one dealer off the street, but the key is to shut it down at the manufacturing level, says Trainer. br /br /Cracking the world of counterfeit designer merchandise will not be an easy task. Those who buy counterfeit pieces heatedly disagree with the designers, arguing that if these high-end companies, such as Louis Vuitton, Coach, and Rolex were concerned about their business they would lower their prices.nbsp; With the economy as it is, it is simply not feasible for the average person to spend $2,000 for a Rolex Watch or $1,000 for a Coach a title=Designer Purse href=http://www.bid4designerhandbags.com/ target=_blankdesigner purse/a.nbsp; With prices this high, the average woman is priced out of being able to follow the fashions seen in magazines and movies.nbsp; Also, there are currently 5,000 web sites dedicated specially to ldquo;fake handbagsrdquo; with this counterfeiting making up almost 7% of global trade, which equals half-a-trillion dollars. nbsp;br /br /Walk along any busy street in a major city and you are likely to see numerous examples of knockoff purses, watches, etc.nbsp; New York Cityrsquo;s Canal Street is famous for its overflowing display of counterfeit products representing such high-end companies as Kate Spade, Burberry, Fendi, Rolex, Movado and Tag Heuer.nbsp; These vendors are tech-savvy and aware of the potential legal ramifications of what they are doing.nbsp; As a result they communicate via walkie-talkies to call in orders, warn others of suspicious customers and even tip off each other regarding a police raid, leading to immediate removal of any illegal products before the raid can occur.br /br /On a smaller scale, soccer moms have become another culprit in the counterfeiting problem through purse parties.nbsp; These purse parties run much like the Tupperware parties of the past with women selling to their friends and family.nbsp; Barbara Kolsun remarks that while these women probably do not think they are doing anything wrong, hellip;it should be disturbing to people that when they buy a fake bag they are supporting a foreign underground economy and criminals with an all cash lifestyle./p