No wonder there are so many Ralph Lauren Polo fake shirts....

[landshark]

RL's target customer isn't buying their product discounted from eBay, they are paying full retail, new & in store. That's why they don't care.

 

[MikeDT]



Wendy Wu
Sales Manager, Ralph Lauren Taipei Breeze Center
1F, No. 39, Sec 1
Fuxing South Road
Taipei 105 Taiwan Republic of China
Tel: 886-02-82515834
Fax: 886-02-82547788
And the e-mail address ends with 163.com.

There's a clue, 163.com is a Mainland China(PRC) anonymous free email provider and internet portal, same as Hotmail, MSN, Gmail or Yahoo.

As I find it hard to believe for a RL store to sell goods for a very compettetive price on Ebay using a 3rd party e-mail provider I contacted RL by e-mail to ask them if this seller is a RL Taipei employee or a fraud. I also asked them if the shirt I bought is authentic, describing the stitching details.
This is the response I got:
Funny thing is that the Ebay seller is clever and the address she provides in her signature matches the address provided by the RL store locator.... The phone number is different though.
I replied to RL custmer service that they didn't answer my question about the authenticity of the seller and if she really is a Taipei store employee selling goods through Ebay.
I got the following response:
The way I see it they just don't give a damn if someone claims to be a RL store sales manager selling counterfeit RL merchandise on Ebay or wherever on the internet. No wonder there are so many sellers like this around, they have nothing to fear.

TBH I don't think FleaBay really care, they get their vendor's commission whether the lots are knock-off or real. TBH I would never buy any designer luxury stuff on there.

RL counterfeiting is a way of life in Mainland China and much of SE Asia, same for most famous designer luxury brands. They can't really do much about it either.

 

[MikeDT]

Dupe post deleted. SF giving errors.

 

[SpooPoker]

Did they have any shell cordovan Darltons?

 

[ryewo[i dmfsOZI490w]

I don't get it - you thought they were fake, bought them anyway, found them to probably be fake. Now what? Were you trying to get a job with RL to hunt down counterfeits?

 

[zippyh]

Wendy Wu
Sales Manager, Ralph Lauren Taipei Breeze Center
1F, No. 39, Sec 1
Fuxing South Road
Taipei 105 Taiwan Republic of China
Tel: 886-02-82515834
Fax: 886-02-82547788
And the e-mail address ends with 163.com.

There's a clue, 163.com is a Mainland China(PRC) anonymous free email provider and internet portal, same as Hotmail, MSN, Gmail or Yahoo.

I've gotten email from US Ralph Lauren salespeople using hotmail and yahoo addresses.
It does seem unlikely however that a manager at Ralph Lauren selling on ebay would identify herself as such.
Maybe it's just stolen merchandise and not fake.

 

[MikeDT]



I've gotten email from US Ralph Lauren salespeople using hotmail and yahoo addresses.
It does seem unlikely however that a manager at Ralph Lauren selling on ebay would identify herself as such.
Maybe it's just stolen merchandise and not fake.

Possibly, but I'd say it's pretty much a forgone conclusion any RL and similar coming from China on Ebay is going to be knock-off.

The address the OP gave is RL's real address in Taiwan(ROC), but 163.com is usually used by Mainland Chinese(PRC), same with yahoo.cn. BTW the Taiwanese friends I've got absolutely hate anything to do with the Mainland and Beijing. That's what I first thought when I saw the 163.com email address.

Where I am, the stores are absolutely full of RL knock-offs, I'd bet that Mr. Lifshitz has never even heard of Xilinhot.

 

[Yachting Man]



there is not much you can do in this situation. Your are underestimating how hard it is more a company to go other fakes and the expenses required. Best option might be to return or buy elsewhere. Usually if deals sound too good to be true they probable are especially on the bay..

This.

 

[cbfn]



Did they have any shell cordovan Darltons?

I dig your posts, man.

 

[oshinex]

All this work for a RL shirt? Geesh. Pic of the shirt at least?

 

[GasparddeColigny]

Ebay, China, cheap...odds are not in favour.

 

[thebac]



It might not be fake. It is fairly common for a big brand to make different products for different regions.

That was my initial reaction as well. Different suppliers, different markets, it's not uncommon to see products made to different price points and standards.

There's a clue, 163.com is a Mainland China(PRC) anonymous free email provider and internet portal, same as Hotmail, MSN, Gmail or Yahoo. TBH I don't think FleaBay really care, they get their vendor's commission whether the lots are knock-off or real. TBH I would never buy any designer luxury stuff on there. RL counterfeiting is a way of life in Mainland China and much of SE Asia, same for most famous designer luxury brands. They can't really do much about it either.

On the other hand, this is a bit of a concern. A Taiwanese product, I wouldn't worry about too much, Taiwan is not that different from Japan or Korea. However, a Mainland Chinese company pretending to be from Taiwan--that, I'd be much more suspicious of.

 

[Schweino]



I'm assuming you got the shirt for cheap, seeing as how Polo RL oxfords are available very cheaply in almost every department store in the United States. I hope this isn't as big an issue for you as it appears to be.
Is the shirt nice?

I'm not complaining about the shirt, the shirt's quality and fit is fine and I like it.

I don't get it - you thought they were fake, bought them anyway, found them to probably be fake. Now what? Were you trying to get a job with RL to hunt down counterfeits?

Shirt looked fine for a good price so bought it. Accepted the fact it might be fake, but was amazed to find out the seller identified herself as an RL employee and thought that was worth looking in to. I started this topic to share my concern about the reaction of RL being not interested at all in corporate identity fraud.

That was my initial reaction as well. Different suppliers, different markets, it's not uncommon to see products made to different price points and standards.
On the other hand, this is a bit of a concern. A Taiwanese product, I wouldn't worry about too much, Taiwan is not that different from Japan or Korea.
However, a Mainland Chinese company pretending to be from Taiwan--that, I'd be much more suspicious of.

That, and the fact that she ended one of her e-mails with "Thank you & kiss.." convinced me she is a fraud.

 

[tv2177]

I think the fact that she's using a 163.com email indicates very much a possibility that she's a fraud who actually lives in China, but not Taiwan.

As a Taiwanese, I am pretty sure that 163.com emails are not even that popular in Taiwan. if that's a hotmail or gmail or yahoo.com.tw address it might be more likely.

But back to your topic. If you ever go to China, you'll be amazed by just how many fake stuff they have, it's beyond imagination.

 

[DerekS]

pretty sure a knock off RL shirt will be pretty much equal quality of a genuine RL shirt. :foo: