Another one:
"Why do people buy fakes and what does it say about them?
Through years of studing fakes and talking with people about them, we have never heard any good justification for buying or wearing them... only excuses why some people believe they deserve the perception of owning 'luxury' products without having to go to the effort and expense to buy the real things.
Curiously, people who buy fakes seem to have a contradicting thought process. They act like it is 'only a name' when they choose a counterfeit product with a premium brand name on it. Counterfeit buyers seem to be ignorant of or ignore the real merits that make the genuine item far more valuable than the fakes--they just consider one watch to be about the same as any other.
But they obviously consider the luxury name brand important enough that they are willing to accept items of highly dubious quality and origin just to get that brand name on them. So we have yet to find how to interpret people's willingness to pay for counterfeit versions of 'the name'--especially when they have contempt for or ignorance of why the name is valuable--as anything other than wanting to cheaply impress themself and others.
Here's what buying and wearing fake/counterfeit watches really says about the wearer:
1. Poor Grasp of Value - Replicas are made to sell by looking like something far more valuable than they are. They are seldom made for quality, carry no warranty, are made from cheap parts and are usually not worth repairing. They are basically overpriced disposable products, so are a poor value for your money.
2. Lack of Integrity - Those that choose cheap replicas to try to impress others that they have a real luxury watch are using falsehoods to represent themselves. So that makes people wonder what else about how you represent yourself is false.
3. Weak Ethics - Choosing replica watches shows the world that you are willing to support unethical and illegal businesses--not giving a care about the ethics and legalities involved if they get in the way of getting something that you want cheaply.
4. Gullible - Especially where someone unknowingly buys a fake, they show themselves to be easily deceived and someone that throws caution to the winds trying to get a super deal on an expensive item.
5. Isolated - Certainly there are no clubs for owners of fakes. No comraderie among fellow owners. No sharing of tips, tricks and performance issues. No assistance with operation, warranty or repair issues. Fake buyers are on their own with nobody to care, nobody to help and nobody to compliment or encourage them--except for the occasional person you might encounter that doesn't know enough about watches to realize you are trying to 'impress' them with a cheap counterfeit."