Knock-off purses St. Thomas vs. Nassau?

[chamima]

We just found out that our day at Princess Cays has been swithched to an afternoon (12-5 pm) in Nassau. Since we have 4 daughters the subject of knock-off purses came up. Anyone know which port has better ones/more variety?

Thanks

Karen

[skolega]

Saw a ton of purses in St. Thomas. I don't know about Nassau, but I am looking forward to shopping for them in St. Thomas.

[Cessna140]

On our stop at St Thomas 2 years ago there were lots of knock offs at an outdoor market right on the main street on the harbor's edge in Charlotte Amalie. You can't miss it, it's like a big flea market.

Marcia

[West Coast]

We were in STT in October and I just had to snap this photo:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/213227440/213248016nYcPXw

[Lynda90]

Oohh how cute. I'd love to have that purse and matching shoes. Wish I was going there.:(

[Liner]

I bought a knock-off Louis Vuitton handbag at a store in Nassau last April. The store won't barter but I got a great knock-off! I had lunch on another ship and was complimented on my purse. The woman that complimented me had one just like mine....hers was REAL and thought mine was also. :D We compared bags and couldn't find the differences! Anyway, I bought mine at a shop down one of the 'alleys' off the beaten path in Nassau. There is a restaurant called 'Lum's' and it's down that alley. Great shops on the way!

[chamima]

Westcoast,

Were those really knock-offs? I got all excited and forwarded your picture to my daughters and then started wondering.

[ripleysmom]

The initials on the bag are VR. They are definitely knock-offs.

[texasgirl]

I saw more knock offs in St Thomas. Prada, Coach and LV. I had been expecting to pay about $25 to $35 and got a big purse with another smaller purse inside it for $40 which I thought was fair. All the ones I saw were at the vendor's market

[West Coast]

Westcoast,

Were those really knock-offs? I got all excited and forwarded your picture to my daughters and then started wondering.

That's exactly why I took the picture. It makes me laugh everytime I think about people who buy this stuff thinking it's 'the same' as real LV when in fact those of us in the know, know it's not!

[Baxter]

I find the knock-offs available on these islands to be of very poor quality. If you simply like the style, fine....but if you're looking to pass it off as a quality bag you may want to spend your money elsewhere.

[giustot]

There is another factor here which no one has yet brought up and that is getting your knock-offs through customs. The government is clamping down on this and your purchases my be confiscated.

 

There are really two types of knock-offs were talking about. Look alikes -- where merchandise is made to look like a famous name brand but it isn't really the same. An example would be the Louis Vuitton items with NR rather than LV. It looks like Louis Vuitton but it really isn't. This would not be a problem with customs since it is not counterfeit goods.

 

The seocnd type is copies -- mechandise made to look exactly like the name brand but sold at much cheaper prices. These are illegal and can be confiscated. It almost happed to me.

 

I was selected for purely random customs inspection once and the agent came across a $25 dollar copy of a Cartier watch I had purchased in New York. I didnt even buy it on the cruise. It looked so good he really thought I was trying to smuggle in an expensive watch that I hadn't declared. He tried to trick me into admitting it.

 

I told him it was a $25 knock off and he said in that case he would have to confiscate it as cunterfeit merchandise. When I said OK, you can take it if you want to, he realized it really was a cheap watch and lost interest. He never bothered to confiscate it. Probably wans't worth the trouble.

 

But if you plan to buy copies of expensive merchindise you might want to keep this in mind. Tom.

[Jen&Rich]

I got a great Prada knock off inst thomas for $30!! Wish they were that easy to find everywhere else!!

[Coolcruise02]

In St Thomas go to the tents set up in the park at the edge of town. In Nassau the straw market is right next to the pier. They had lots of Kate Spade and Prada.

[Host CJSKIDS]

There is another factor here which no one has yet brought up and that is getting your knock-offs through customs. The government is clamping down on this and your purchases my be confiscated.

 

There are really two types of knock-offs were talking about. Look alikes -- where merchandise is made to look like a famous name brand but it isn't really the same. An example would be the Louis Vuitton items with NR rather than LV. It looks like Louis Vuitton but it really isn't. This would not be a problem with customs since it is not counterfeit goods.

 

The seocnd type is copies -- mechandise made to look exactly like the name brand but sold at much cheaper prices. These are illegal and can be confiscated. It almost happed to me.

 

I was selected for purely random customs inspection once and the agent came across a $25 dollar copy of a Cartier watch I had purchased in New York. I didnt even buy it on the cruise. It looked so good he really thought I was trying to smuggle in an expensive watch that I hadn't declared. He tried to trick me into admitting it.

 

I told him it was a $25 knock off and he said in that case he would have to confiscate it as cunterfeit merchandise. When I said OK, you can take it if you want to, he realized it really was a cheap watch and lost interest. He never bothered to confiscate it. Probably wans't worth the trouble.

 

But if you plan to buy copies of expensive merchindise you might want to keep this in mind. Tom.

 

I looked at the purses while in St Thomas last time while passing by and some were pretty good imitations and others were not. There are always slight differences between the knock offs and the real ones in LV, whether it's the zipper, the edging, the inside, or the fact that the LV initial will be in a seam which it is not on a real bag. The handles/straps are one of the biggest ways to tell the difference, there are no cuts and no seams on any of the leather on the real bags and it's one of the first things you can notice on a knock off. If you put a real LV bag next to the exact replica you will be able to tell the difference.

[madelinerose]

Took the words right out of my mouth....initials cut off at the seams is a dead giveaway. I refrain from purchasing knockoffs.

 

.... or the fact that the LV initial will be in a seam which it is not on a real bag.

[Host CJSKIDS]

You know, I had cut and pasted Tom because I was going to comment on the government cracking down on knock offs and I forgot all about it! I do know they are aggresively going after the copies of different bags as the real designers are upset and angry about it and rightfully so. Not sure what the official customs stance is but then again, they'd have to be able to tell themselves which I'm not sure if they could or would even take the time.