Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What fake stuff to buy in Turkey?

107 replies

Muchtoomuchtodo · 04/10/2022 20:10

We booked to go to Turkey over half term ages ago and now it’s getting closer!

we’ve never been before but I quite like the look of going to some of the markets and haggling (not sure I’ll be very good at that though!)

is the fake stuff all really bad quality or is there anything worth keeping my eye out for? I’d quite like a handbag and a watch.

OP posts:
Original poster
Muchtoomuchtodo · 04/10/2022 22:21

AnuSTart · 04/10/2022 21:07

An old work colleague got new boobs in Turkey once. They were incredible.

My teeth are fine so I might be better off with this option !!

I need to check the rules about bringing spices hime. Towels are a good shout. Dc will love the knock off Nike stuff. I think a nice leather handbag would be good for me, ‘branded’ or not, I’ll go for what I like rather than any designer tags.

OP posts:
mrsharrisgoestoparis · 04/10/2022 22:27

Buy towels the towel factory's are in turkey that make all the designer ones and they last

TheTeddyBears · 04/10/2022 22:36

I wouldn't buy any of the fake stuff I've not had the best experience over the years with them. Even then they are often expensive if they look decent. I once paid £130 for fake mulberry bag, it is beautiful but the leather it's been made with is so heavy so even when it's empty it weighs a tonne. I've hardly used it 🙈

Years ago I got a Michael Kors bag it was a decent quality....until the M fell off. So I was left with a ichael Kors bag 😂 Bought myself the real deal after that! Now I just buy designer ones if I really want them (well maybe not a mulberry my budget doesn't stretch that far).

AlwaysGinPlease · 04/10/2022 22:40

I cannot see what the attraction is with fakes. I'd rather not have something if it's a knock off. Also as previously mentioned who is making them and in what conditions.

FindingMyself1999 · 04/10/2022 22:43

Teeth, hair , new boobs?

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 04/10/2022 22:44

I'd seriously watch out with fakes, some airlines check your bags for this stuff and confiscate it. Shopping in Istanbul was pretty tacky TBH, all I saw was bad fakes of styles from the 90s in market stalls in 2018.

megletthesecond · 04/10/2022 22:45

Nothing. Made in sweatshops and funds criminals.

Save up for something genuine and more ethical.

P0MP0M · 04/10/2022 22:54

Ummmm... none?! Why would you want fake stuff?

Marcipex · 04/10/2022 23:10

Buy Turkish towels, sarongs, Turkish Delight.
I am always dubious about the spices though.
The fakes are tacky sweatshop goods anyway.

Twentypast · 04/10/2022 23:36

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 04/10/2022 22:44

I'd seriously watch out with fakes, some airlines check your bags for this stuff and confiscate it. Shopping in Istanbul was pretty tacky TBH, all I saw was bad fakes of styles from the 90s in market stalls in 2018.

No airlines check your bag for fakes. Customs might but not airlines.

katscamel · 05/10/2022 06:53

So many better things to buy than fakes. For great bags and shoes that are a bit...'different' buy from a company called Dogo. Otherwise there are plenty of shops that sell great handbags. I also stock up on spices (but go with a Turkish friend so get the better quality stuff) and Mehmet Effendi coffee. Also fall in love with the rugs and lamps every time I go but unfortunately have run out of space.

gogohmm · 05/10/2022 06:55

I have a lovely leather bag, no logo - don't bother with fakes just buy a good artisan made bag

Damnloginpopup · 05/10/2022 07:07

Don't bother with the spices. You will pay over the odds and they won't be all that great.

MrsJBaptiste · 05/10/2022 07:11

OP doesn't want lamps and spices - she wants fake handbags, Nike and sunglasses! And why not?

My sister and I got 3 handbags for €50 last October, it was end of season so they were keen to offload the stock. I hate haggling and would have just paid whatever price they said but we did and got quite a bargain. Yes, they're fakes but I'm never going to buy a handbag for £500 so why not get three for €50?

BigSandyBalls2015 · 05/10/2022 07:14

ugg slippers. Cost about £10 and they’ve lasted 4 years …. My DD spent a fortune on the real ones and they seem flimsier.

GingerPigz · 05/10/2022 07:21

Whatever price they say, don't pay more than half! And be prepared to walk away. I found the markets really stressful (the vendors are very full on) but DD got some bargains that she's happy with. I loved the colourful dishes and would have practically bought a new dinner set of it wasn't for the practicality of transporting it back home.

VenusClapTrap · 05/10/2022 07:30

Buying fakes on holiday - that’s a bit nineties isn’t it?

Sestriere · 05/10/2022 07:52

I never saw anything fake in Turkey that didn’t look anything but a bad fake.

Absolutely nothing In comparison to the trip to some dusty industrial estate in the middle of nowhere in Dubai, to a unit in an empty building with several locked doors.

Inside was Aladdins cave. Never have I seen fake goods of such quality indistinguishable from the real thing, laid out like a high end concession in Selfridges. They even took credit cards.

I didn’t buy anything, I went out of curiosity with a friend whose son worked there and whose friend, a British model, had connections with the sellers.

Totally irrelevant to the thread but the topic brought it back to me. There’s fake and there’s fake.

outtheshowernow · 05/10/2022 07:59

The Louis vitton bags Can look very real. Not my thing but if you do there is loads of fake designer stuff

Peridot1 · 05/10/2022 07:59

I bought some nice ceramics in Turkey. Lovely colourful bowls and some nice big plates. And we bought some rugs once but we were driving so easier to transport. Lived in Bulgaria at the time - we didn’t drive from UK!

FamilyTreeBuilder · 05/10/2022 08:03

HermioneWeasley · 04/10/2022 20:28

I wouldn’t bother with fakes, you can buy beautiful non branded leather goods at great prices.

Agree with this. Why on earth would you want a knock off of the real thing, when you can't afford the real thing, and will always know it's fake? Just buy a nicely make non-faked item which is probably nicer anyway. Everyone knows fake bags are such a "thing" that when you see someone with a bag with a very obvious logo or design like louis vuitton your immediate reaction is that it is a fake. You are fooling nobody.

Plus the inconvenient fact that fakes are illegal and made by organised criminals, if you're stopped at customs they will all be seized and you won't have any bags at all.

PutinSmellsPassItOn · 05/10/2022 08:04

Ooooohhhh, I love a good genuine fake. My other half's nan brings him back a knock off football tshirt every year, it's usually one he already has but side by side I can rarely tell the difference.

Don't pay over the odds for them and look for the shops rather than the market stalls is my advice.

SavingsThreads · 05/10/2022 08:08

You might want to stop and think about the conditions those fakes are made in

FamilyTreeBuilder · 05/10/2022 08:11

a good genuine fake

Well there's a contradiction in terms.

It's all just so tacky. There will be amazing leatherworkers or textiles workers in Turkey, making goods which will last a lifetime and which you can't get in the UK. But no, people want the faked brand, even though all of their acquaintances will know it's fake, they will know it's fake, just to follow the crowd.

Such a depressing take on life.

ferneytorro · 05/10/2022 08:18

Parking the question of conditions of factories and whether genuine goods are made in less than savoury conditions why is everyone ok with funding organised crime, sexual exploitation/slavery.

Swipe left for the next trending thread