What fake stuff to buy in Turkey?

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

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.

Pretty brave to start this thread on mumsnet, home of the pious, rider of the high horse.

I'm not really a handbag person but I got a fake adidas bumbag which I love 😃

This is so MN.
OP: what fakes should I buy?
Poster: stock up on spices.

If you know about spices you'll know that the ones in markets are not great quality. You never see any Turks buying from them.

FamilyTreeBuilder

Meh, some people want authentic, traditional goods. Some want genuine fakes. If someone complimented or asked about an item I was wearing and it was a genuine fake I'd never try to pass it off as real. And I've yet to see anyone have an attack of the vapours over it. 🙃

This! 😂

I dont understand buying fakes.
Surely a major reason for buying designer goods is quality and fakes from Turkey are likely to be crap quality.
Plus you know they are fake so are you buying them so people think you have designer goods but don’t? Why do that?
I

What is a "genuine fake"? It's either a fake - however well-made - or it's genuine. It cannot be both.

but I'm never going to buy a handbag for £500 so why not get three for €50?

Because it’s immoral and unethical? It supports criminals, sweatshops, slave Labour, notwithstanding the theft of intellectual property from the real brand, which has designers, marketing, shops, all the back end functions of a real business to pay for, plus the tax paid to the government for public services. Buying fake goods has a real, serious impact on other people’s lives, livelihoods and businesses.

but I'm never going to buy a handbag for £500 so why not get three for €50?

And to add to @Malfi 's points, everyone who knows you, knows that you won't spend £500 on a bag either. So you are fooling no-one. I just don't get the allure of any brand so strong that you'd want to have a fake item of the brand, which everyone knows is fake. It's so weird.

Plus you know they are fake so are you buying them so people think you have designer goods but don’t? Why do that?

this is the bit I don't understand

None of it.

It funds organised crime and is unsafe (particularly toys and electricals). There's a reason it gets seized and destroyed by law enforcement when it's found.

Why would you knowingly buy anything that's fake?

You'll always know it's fake

Genuine branded goods will be manufactured much more ethically than sweatshop fakes used to fund crime.

Plus fakes are naff.

Why would you do that?

Not to mention if you are very unlucky they might search you at the airport and find your fake goods...not a situation you want to be in.

What on Earth is a “genuine fake.” 😂

Not to mention if you are very unlucky they might search you at the airport and find your fake goods...not a situation you want to be in.
they better arrest the whole plane!!
A return flight from Turkey is packed with people decked out in brand new clothes and shoes and bags.
The young ones nickname them
Louis Vuitton Flights🤣🤣

The bags etc on the markets tend to be pretty poor quality. A nice leather bag will probably set you back at least £100. All we saw last month was middle aged men in Camp David tops.

Please be careful buying sunglasses as you don't know if they reach appropriate safety standards x

wouldnt bother, just got back from Turkey And bought nothing. Seen totally as a walking cash point and compared to
previous years prices are extortionate. They try it on, I was after a particular bag, 3 shops
saif £80 I said absolutely not a chance, they made out it’s their lowest blah blah blah I walked out, they then chased me offering it at £30. I didn’t buy it on principle and how rude they were in the first place. All the shops I went into over a 2 week period did this and the bazaar was just poor quality. Compared to previous trips to Turkey was very disappointing. Came home with Turkish delight and Turkish tea and that was about it. Rather spend my £30 on a bag back home

I'd be very careful of buying anything in the touristy parts. I have memories of being forced into a baklava shop by DD and being charged the equivalent of £30 for two, teeny tint squares. Luckily, I was not up for being scammed (even though I was apparently being unreasonable because they had already put it into a bag!). I have a lot of love for Turkey but seriously, watch out for casual scamming.

I feel like cheap fakes = definitely a catch somewhere.

Why would you want to finance such a shady industry?

There was another incident where we were interacting with a random stray cat by the docks (one of hundreds).
A random guy walked up to us and said 'That's my cat, I'll sell her to you for 2000TRY. We explained that we had no use for a cat since we were only visiting briefly. He then claimed that she was his cat an d that he could not afford to feed her and desperately needed 1000TRY to cover food costs. 🤔

If you can’t or didn’t want to spend £500 on a handbag then don’t, just spend £20 or £50 or whatever.
You can get perfectly nice ones without buying crap that pretends to be a different brand

Clothes are excellent quality - we've got T-shirts that we bought years ago that are still wearing really well. I also bought a Bench hoodie that I wear to death, and a pair of "Prada" sandals that are only just falling apart but I've had so much wear from.

There's nothing worse than someone slopping around Aldi in a Primark outfit and flurry slippers with a "Michael Kors" handbag which is clearly not genuine.

Just buy something unbranded and tasteful.