Actually no, I do feel that the word fake in the replica game is mainly used to loosely mean junk.
Even in your description of the fake fur, the manufacturer will state faux, those that label it fake are in fact doing so to point out how cheap the item is.
Where-as I do agree with you that the word itself does not have to be derogatory, I have only ever seen it used on these boards coupled with other words like 'knock off' and 'crap'
There are even many watches that we have seen that simply do not have a genuine counterpart, they could easily be referred to as fake but we call them fantasies, the best reason I can see for this is that even with all the inaccuracies as long as it works it is still a real watch, maybe a shocking replica but a watch none the less.
Again this is just my viewpoint and it is one that has grown mainly out of being a dealer. The number one indicator of buyers remorse is when the customer stops calling an item replica and starts saying fake.
Ken