Every year, jewelry and watches top our holiday wish list, and it seems we aren’t the only ones. In the U.S. Last year, Americans bought $78.08 billion in fine jewelry and watches. Nearly 30 percent of those purchases, or $21.75 billion, occurred during the November and December holiday season.

With consumers moving to online shopping outlets for their holiday purchases, buyers should be wary of certain websites when purchasing luxury goods. Counterfeiting is an estimated $650 billion industry. In the United States, the Dept. of Homeland Security seized $1.7 billion worth of counterfeit goods, and that’s only a small percentage of all counterfeits. It’s difficult to catch counterfeit goods at U.S. ports because many of the items come in small, personal packages.

The counterfeiting industry includes movies, games, logos and tags, computers and other electronics, footwear and handbags. Fine jewelry and watches are the second most-produced counterfeit category, just behind handbags. With $502.8 million seized in 2013, jewelry and watches accounted for 29 percent of all counterfeit goods stopped at the border. Again, this doesn’t include products made in the U.S. and products that made it through homeland security.

It’s important to buy authentic items even though they may be priced higher. The counterfeit industry is estimated to cost the global economy over $1.7 trillion dollars. This amount includes not only the value of the counterfeit goods($650 billion), but jobs and taxes lost because of the illegal industry. Counterfeiting also exploits children for labor in sweatshops overseas, and supports human-trafficking, organized crime and other illegal industries.

Shopping Tips For Buying Online

When shopping online, first think about how you found the website you are looking at. If you found the site from a search engine, think about what search terms you used. It’s a common practice for counterfeit sites to pay for certain terms to show up in the advertisement results. If you search your item plus ‘discount’ or ‘cheap’ then it’s common for the results to contain counterfeit websites.

If you typed the website URL yourself, then double check that everything is spelled correctly. Some counterfeit sites will have a URL very similar to a legitimate site, praying on those who make a typo. Some retailers have a list of websites that are known counterfeiters, so search for that list and avoid those sites if you are looking to buy pre-owned and vintage.

Some counterfeiters invest a lot of time in making their website look professional and legitimate. Check through the website and look for things that may have been overlooked, such as an FAQ page or privacy policy. Make sure there is a clear return policy and contact information, including the HQ location.

Finally, be sure to research everything involving the purchase. Reasearch the website for reviews and ratings, and be sure to check as many different review websites as possible. Also look into the typical price of the item you are planning to purchase. If the price of the item you want is significantly lower than the all of the competition, then the item is likely counterfeit.

Authenticity Promised

At TrueFacet, we appraise every item that comes through our door for guaranteed authenticity. Our team of experts then refurbishes the piece to like-new condition if necessary. Each item comes with a TrueFacet Valuation Report and 7-day return policy.