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Heueur, Salvador Dali, Yves Saint Laurent, Hermès, Chanel, Oscar de la Renta,
Zenith and Cartier to name a few. There are no fixed retail prices and auctions
could go on as long as there are bidders until the final auction date. The last
highest bidder gets the item and sometimes they might be lucky to snap up
an item at a low price. In most cases, the prices are lower than the original
value at full price but in some cases the auction prices have exceeded the
original prices. The auction company's model is based on a mix of extended
brand and product selection and expert product information, authenticity of
all goods and dedicated customer experience to ensure a luxury experience.
They are also known to have partnered with selected brands like Lalique and
Robert Lee on different levels. The objective is to bring authentic luxury
items of enduring value to a public that appreciates their worth. This formula
has apparently led to the success of this company. As with rental websites,
auction websites such as Portero could indirectly contribute to combating
counterfeiting and educating the public on its effects.
While websites like Portero who strive to establish credibility by empha-
sizing the authenticity of the products featured on its website, the Internet
abounds with thousands of websites that are defying international intellectual
property laws by blatantly retailing counterfeit luxury products to an interna-
tional market. Websites like Highreplica.com (which claims to be operating
out of China even though they could very well be based in a San Francisco
backyard), Basicreplica.com (which failed to state their location but admit-
ted that all goods were manufactured in China) and Replicashandbag.com
(which has no corporate information) are now commonplace online and pose
a continuous challenge for both luxury brands and luxury clients. The key
issue with cracking down on their operations is in tracking their locations,
gathering enough evidence to prove their operations and working with the
legal authorities concerned to bring them to justice. As you may well imag-
ine, this is almost like a mission impossible as these websites exist in a vir-
tual space and operate from various countries with different outlooks and
jurisdiction towards intellectual property issues. Luxury brands are, however,
Figure 6.14
Access to
luxury products online
was previously through
three principal sources;
1) the luxury brand's own
website; 2) the luxury
e-retailer's website; 3) the
counterfeiter's website.
Today, this formula has
changed drastically and
luxury products may now
be purchased through
various means and forms
online
-Louis
Vuitton
-Gucci
-Dior
-Cartier
-Highreplica
Basicreplica
Replicashan
dbag
Luxury
brand's
website
Counterfeiters
-Netaporter
-eLuxury
-Saks
-Harrods
Luxury
e-retailer
Luxury
clients
