Top List Of Most Counterfeited Items In The United States: Footwear, Apparel, & Electronics; Which Item Is Number 1?
Let's say you're walking around New York City and all of the sudden a store front display catches your eye. It was that designer purse you always wanted.
You head into the store and ask the storekeeper what the price is.
"For you, I'll give you a great price, one hundred fifty dollars." He replies.
You are amazed at the price, this is a designer purse that can sell for over $500 at the mall.
"This is a genuine Coach purse, right?"
He assures you that it is and you complete the purchase. Little do you know, you've just purchased a counterfeit purse.
According to USA TODAY, handbags and wallets are the most counterfeited items in the USA and counterfeit products are costing the global economy upwards of $250 billion in losses.
Various global government agencies try their best to prevent counterfeiting, seizing items, but they can only do so much.
The quality of the fake products are fooling customers who think they are getting a good buy. In the past, potential buyers knew by look or touch that a product wasn't genuine because it had poor stitching or a faulty zipper. That's just not the case anymore.
Even though most genuine products are made in China, that's also where the fakes are coming from. In 2013, of the $1.7 billion fake items seized by U.S. officials $1.2 billion of it came from China.
Here is the list of the nine most counterfeited products in the USA.
9. Optical Media
MSRP of seized goods: $26.8 million
Items such as DVD movies, video games and CDs are becoming less popular items to counterfeit as more and more people are turning to the Internet for illegal sharing of movies, music and games.
8. Labels and Tags
MSRP of seized goods: $41.8 million
Tags and labels that are attached to items to fool consumers into believing they are real are often fake as well. Counterfeiters will sometimes smuggle these labels and tags into the USA separately from the fake items.
7. Computers/Accessories
MSRP of seized goods: $47.7 million
Over 1,000 attempted shipments of computers and accessories were seized in 2013. These computers use poor quality parts, processors and accessories, and can even be dangerous due to malfunctions.
6. Footwear
MSRP of seized goods: $54.9 million
Once the most counterfeited items, shoes have seen a decline in seizures in recent years. Nike must be happy about this because they are considered by most to be the most counterfeited shoe.
5. Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care
MSRP of seized goods: $79.6 million
Although nearly $80 million in fake drugs and personal care products were seized in 2013, seizures have gone down since $142 million was seized in 2011. Websites and unauthorized operators selling fake drugs and personal care products have been shutdown by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol as well as other groups.
4. Apparel/Accessories
MSRP of seized goods: $116.2 million
From ball caps and jerseys to expensive jeans and scarves, the United States gets tons of counterfeit apparel shipped in every year. Last year, they seized almost 10,000 different shipments of the fake clothes and accessories.
3. Consumer Electronics/Parts
MSRP of seized goods: $145.9 million
Combining their efforts with China, the U.S. prevented over 243,000 items in 2013 from making their way to the markets.
2. Watches/Jewelry
MSRP of seized goods: $502.8 million
Fake watches that normally sell for thousands, can be faked and sold for much cheaper. Over a half a billion dollars in these items were seized in 2013. According to The Federation of Swiss Watch Industry, 120,000 imitation watches were seized in 2013.
1. Handbags/Wallets
MSRP of seized goods: $700.2 million
Even though the amount of seizures of fake handbags and wallets went down in 2013, the value of these items did not. Highly desired items like Coach and Hermes bags are counterfeited, mostly from China.
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