I go to the Mile High Flea Market all the time during the summer months and anyone who’s familiar with it knows that it’s a one-stop shop for counterfeit products. I grew up in the Denver area and have been going to the flea market since I was a kid, so by now I’m very familiar with identifying fake products.
Remember when FUBU was a popular brand? A friend of mine accidentally bought a “PUBU” shirt at the flea market once. He was also duped into buying an “Adiaas” jacket. We all got a good laugh out of that, lol.
These counterfeiters are good at what they do. These fake logos aren’t noticeable at first because they print them in fonts that make it hard to tell what it really says.
The popular counterfeits I’ve noticed people selling at the flea market this summer are Apple product cables, phone cases and Beats By Dre headphones. There are lots of colognes and perfumes too.
Business Insider just published an interesting article on how to spot fake tech products. I really like the tip about looking for fake “UL” symbols on electronics.
From my own experience I’d say there are a a few very simple tips you can use to recognize phony products right away. First, who are you getting it from? If it seems shady, it probably is. You know those home speaker “installers” that drive around parking lots trying to offload systems that were “left over” from their last job? Yeah, don’t buy crappy speakers from those guys.
Second, look for misspellings or other odd language on the product or packaging.
And lastly, is the price so low that it’s too good to be true? That’s because it’s made so cheaply that it’s going to crumble in your hands as soon as you get it home.
You can probably avoid the majority of scams by just remembering those few things.
And now I can’t wait to walk around the flea market to try to spot counterfeit electronics with the fake “UL” symbol!