Quest for *THE* Bag: Lost in Ebay World!

At the advise of my handbag guru, Elaine... I stalked Ebay for the past 7 days, looking for *THE* Bag, only to find some information and an ethical dilema.

According to several online reports, most of the "Authentic" designer handbags sold on Ebay are very convincing fakes.



I wish I could say that this surprises me, but it doesn't. How else would you buy a $25,000 handbag online for crackhead prices unless it's bogus?

Message to Ebay Sellers: You know the bag is fake, I know the bag is fake... Don't insult my intelligence by asking for over $250. For real.

Do I have a problem with fakes? No. Do I drink the "Oh these poor, poor designers are getting ripped off.. boo hoo!" Kool-Aid? No. Do I have a problem supporting counterfeiting? Kinda, actually. Primarily because I don't know exactly who is making a profit from my support (The conspiracy theorist in me SWEARS it's the "Poor Designers" themselves. Because the same people that complain about losing money are the same people that clamor to give celebrities these bags FOR FREE so that they could be seen and photographed wearing them... which makes us want to buy them. And of course we can't afford them, so we buy knock offs. But I digress..lol).

Right now I have to weigh the pros and cons... One the one hand, I can get a very reasonable impostor of  *THE* Bag for a song (So what if it's a GOUCHI instead of a Gucci? lol). On the other hand, I am concerned about who benefits from the sale of this merchandise (drug dealers, mafia, etc.)?

What's your philosophy on designer knockoffs? Do you buy them?Would you?