Counterfeit items and “knockoff” items, what is the difference? Often times people will use these words interchangeably. What most people don’t know is that these two words mean very different things. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “knockoff: A copy that sells for less than the original.”, “counterfeit: Made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive.” The key difference between the way these are defined is by the words “copy” and “imitation”. Something can be made as a copy, but is it an exact copy? Not always. When something is made in imitation it is made to be a replica. This is when things become a legal matter. 

Many times retail stores will have items sold that resemble a high end designer item but the items will not have the designer logo on it and it will be different in multiple ways. These differences can be in that the handles of a purse are shaped different or the pattern on a shirt is not the same. This would be considered a knockoff item. These items were clearly influenced by the designer items but are not made to look exactly like them and deceive consumers. When knockoff items are being purchased it is often easy to recognize that the quality is cheaper than the designer item it was inspired by. Consumers are not deceived into thinking that they are buying a high end product. Many large known stores similar to Forever21 and H&M produce knockoff items. They will sell a purse that might have the same shape and overall aesthetic of a Prada design but it will have the store logo and it will have many differences. Stores like this produce items like this so that consumers can still achieve an over all style without having to pay a big price that will break their budget.  

If you are walking down the street and see someone selling an item that has the Gucci logo on it and they are saying that it is Gucci but the price it is sold for is dramatically less than it should be, then that is most likely a counterfeit item. Counterfeit items will look almost exactly like the original but use different materials. These materials can be very harmful to the consumer depending on what they are. Items like makeup and beauty products can have chemicals in them to use as an inexpensive filler leading to a negative reaction on the consumer. 

In 2017 counterfeits of well known makeup companies were being produced and even sold on replicated websites. These counterfeit items used harsh chemicals in them leaving consumers with burns and rashes after use. The  production of counterfeit items not only do physical harm to the consumer but to the companies as well. This becomes a liability for the company because they were not taking all possible steps to prevent situations like this from happening. This then damages the reputation of that company and can at times cause these consumers to turn their backs on them and no longer purchase products. That incident happened in 2017 and today in 2019 it is still an issue among brands. It is important to understand the difference between counterfeit and knockoff products with counterfeits having potential to be extremely harmful.