The Chanel jacket on Yahoo Auctions was a fake, but it looked so real that someone bought it for 190,000 yen and didn't even realize it.

 

 

The other day, one of our repeat customers
told me a story about a time
they were in a lot of trouble.

They had found a Chanel jacket they had wanted for many years
on Yahoo Auctions and decided
to bid on it.

They are quite an experienced bidder, so they said
they had checked the seller's rating carefully
beforehand.

After waiting excitedly for a few days,

they opened it upon arrival and found...

"S-something feels suspicious...😱"

They said it wasn't so much what looked suspicious
as the way it felt when they touched it.

After much deliberation about what to do,
they brought it to a directly managed store
and asked them to "repair it."

Chanel boutiques do not authenticate items,
so they asked them
"for a repair..."

(↑ Actually, using Chanel boutiques
in this way is not allowed~)

Apparently, the staff member who took the jacket
went to the backroom for a moment.

Then they returned and said:

"We apologize! Unfortunately,
we cannot accept this item for repair..."

😱😱😱
Oh no...

Chanel does not determine whether an item is counterfeit or not,
so they politely decline in this manner.

 

"Is it... a fake?

I bid 190,000 yen for it..."

 

😱😱😱

Why did a seller with good reviews sell a fake?

 

The remaining question is
"Why did the auction seller
sell a fake, even though they had
nearly 500 good reviews?"

This happens rarely
and is a story I often hear from repeat customers.

Actually, in these cases,
the sellers themselves don't realize it.
It's a case where there is absolutely no ill intent.
This is truly a problem 😓

In fact, today's fakes are incredibly cleverly
and amazingly well-made to resemble the real thing.

 So the sellers themselves
don't realize that it's a fake.

At shops specializing in Chanel clothing,
like ours,
this risk is almost non-existent.

When you touch real items every day,
there are many things you can sense
intuitively when you touch a fake.

This feeling is close to intuition,
and to be honest,
it's difficult to explain in words.😏

 

And over many years, by specializing only in clothing
rather than bags, for example,
a lot of data accumulates.

 

In reality, if I intuitively feel something is off,
I delve into the data.

I check the product number and color number,
button shape, stitching, and
other fine details.

Then,

Just as I thought...
It's a recent fake.
It's truly... amazing...😱

It's made so incredibly cleverly
that I can't help but say those words.

 

If it's a Chanel fake, will I get a refund?

If it's sold without malicious intent like this,
and you complain,
they will usually refund you immediately 👍
(However, some sellers with low ratings
may not accept returns.)

 

The problem is whether the buyer
can detect "something suspicious!"

When I looked at Yahoo Auctions in Japan,
I was surprised.

 

Looking at the listing page,
it's so cleverly made that
it looks authentic at first glance from the photos.

However, the product number and color number are suspicious.

And the item had buttons
that would absolutely never be used on it.

Definitely a fake.😏

It's very unfortunate, but
the successful bidder commented:

"It's lovely. I'll wear it a lot from now on."

The winning bid was 170,000 yen.
I felt so unsettled that I wanted
to tell the bidder...
(Though there's no way to contact them.)

 

I don't want to get a fake Chanel! How can I avoid it?

To avoid getting caught with a fake like this,

the most reliable way is actually to "buy it at a Chanel boutique."

 

Hey! 😡 Well, of course...

I'm having trouble because I want to buy it
for a little less, right?

To that sentiment, I recommend
trying the following:

 

Each shop has its own characteristics.

"Strong in Hermes Birkin"

"Strong in Chanel Vintage"

"Strong in Chanel Clothing"

and so on.

 

Instead of a store that's "moderately" good at everything,
choose a store that specializes in something.

Always keep this in mind.

The intuition gained from specialization
and the accumulated data (numbers and shapes)
should not be underestimated.

Year by year, the techniques for fakes
are becoming incredibly sophisticated.

A world where such things
are not tolerated is
difficult to achieve, so
consumers must be smart and proactive.

Please be very careful!