(转) Why settle for the real thing when you can queue for a genuine fake?

矮子

It is the latest must-have fashion accessory in Beijing, where every girl wants an Anya Hindmarch “I’m not a Plastic Bag” bag. The trouble is that the authorities have banned it from sale after chaotic scenes in Hong Kong, where several women were trampled in the rush to lay their hands on one of only 1,300 that went on sale.

Yet fashion-conscious Chinese are confident that they can obtain a bag and have no qualms that it will almost certainly be fake. Yesterday taobao.com, the internet auction site, was plastered with advertisements for the bleached cotton, ecologically friendly shopper.

The sellers openly describe the bags as “A products” — a codeword for counterfeit goods. But this appears to prove no deterrent to trendsetters.

Zheng Lu, 24, lives in Beijing and is eager to buy a bag as soon as it becomes available. She will not have to wait long, for China’s massive counterfeit industry is already busy copying the genuine article, which went on sale in Hong Kong last week. She said: “Although this bag is an advocate for the environment, I think what comes first is fashion. A lot of Hollywood stars are using it and the price is cheap.” She regretted that the chaos in Hong Kong had resulted in a decision not to sell the bag in China, where two billion plastics bags are used every day: “Now I’ll buy the fake online, even though this ‘A product’ is more expensive than the original.”

Qin Xiao, a dealer based in Beijing, expects to have counterfeit bags in his store by the weekend. He will have 996 to sell at 139 yuan (£9) each — compared with the £5 price tag in London. He has already handled a large number of calls and has appointments with girls from Beijing and other cities that want to be in the frontline of fashion by Saturday.


He told The Times: “These bags are exactly the same as the real one: the weight, size and fabric. Everything is the same. Anyway, the real ones are made in China too.”

This will be Mr Qin’s second batch, but his first for the domestic retail market. He exported his first order — also all counterfeits — including sales to Britain. The quality of the counterfeits is driving up the price of the genuine article. The real thing is on sale on online auctions for at least 400 yuan in China, to differentiate it from its fake counterpart. Some Chinese sellers are offering a real “I’m not a Plastic Bag” online for as much as 3,250 yuan.

By Jane Macartney in Beijing   From The Times   July 19, 2007


　  蝴蝶夫人（Anya Hindmarch）印着“我不是塑料袋”（I'm not a Plastic Bag）字样的环保袋成为北京最新的必备时尚配饰，每一个女孩都想拥有。问题是经过香港的混乱场面后有关方面已经禁止它在大陆出售了，香港有几名妇女在抢购仅限量出售1300只袋子的时候被踩踏在地。
　　不过时尚的中国人有信心她们会得到一个这样的袋子，而且，毋庸质疑，当然是假货。7月18日的淘宝拍卖网上就醒目地张贴了它的广告。卖家公开地描述为“A货”——假货的代名词。但这阻止不了潮流人士。
　　郑露（音译，Zheng Lu），24岁，生活在北京，只要一有机会她就会去买一个这个袋子。她不用等很久，因为中国巨大的制假业已经忙于抄袭真品。她说：“尽管这个袋子是提倡环保的，但我认为首先它是时尚的。许多好莱坞明星都用它，而且价格便宜。”她对于香港的混乱使得这款产品无法在大陆销售感到很遗憾。“现在我打算在网上买仿制品，即使A货比真货还贵很多。”
　　秦晓（音译，Qin Xiao）是北京的一个生意人，这个周末假货就可以在他的店里上架。他进了996个袋子，每个售价139元（9英镑），而伦敦真品的标价是每个5英镑。他已经接到了许多的电话，并和北京及其它城市的女孩子们约好了将会在周六把她们送上时尚前沿。
　　他告诉《泰晤士报》的记者：“这些袋子实际上和真的一样，重量、尺寸和材质，全都一样。毕竟，真货还不一样是中国制造的嘛。”
　　这是秦晓的第二批货，但却是他第一次做国内零售。他的第一批货（当然全是假的）全都出口了，包括销往英国。假货的质量驱动了真品的价格。真品在中国网上拍卖至少400元，这样就和假货区别开来。有些中国卖家在网上出售真正的“我不是塑料袋”价格高达3250元。