In the first of a special three-part series in this week’s Courier, we discover just how easy it is to buy fake goods in Scotland. Stefan Morkis and Jack McKeown investigate.
For an industry that is entirely illegal, selling counterfeit goods is not just big business, it is an incredibly open one.
And although many people see the trade in counterfeit goods as relatively harmless, the truth is its vast profits are ploughed back into organised crime gangs involved in a range of serious crimes from human trafficking to drug smuggling.
And counterfeiters and traders have little interest in ensuring their products meet safety standards whether that involves using toxic paints on children’s toys or even selling items outlawed because they are so dangerous.
But just how easy is it to buy knock-off merchandise? As easy as buying the real thing.
Errol Car Boot sale is one of the biggest open-air markets in Scotland and hundreds of people pitch their stalls there each weekend hoping to make a bit of extra money selling off their unwanted possessions.
But amidst all the bric-a-brac there are a few more ”professional” traders offering merchandise of a less than reputable origin.
There are plenty of fake designer brands on offer, from tracksuits to boxer shorts, while other stalls sell cheap, fake perfume.
One toy stall is also selling giant lighters for just £1. Far bigger than normal lighters, most were taken off the market last year because of safety fears.
Nevertheless, they are still among items that can be found alongside toy guns at the market.
However, most of the merchandise on sale is legitimate and people flock from across the country to spend hours wandering around the myriad stalls.
There can be little doubt about the authenticity of one second-hand bedpan for sale at one stall anyway.
The undisputed counterfeit goods capital of Scotland lies further west.
The Barras market in the east end of Glasgow has become synonymous with all manner of fakery. And even though the market has shrunk in size in recent years, its reputation for selling goods of a dubious origin remains undimmed.
In fact, it appears the most popular items for sale in The Barras now are bootleg DVDs or current cinema releases or tobacco.
Despite several high-profile police raids at the market in recent years, there remains a roaring trade in both products.For more of our ‘Counterfeit Christmas’ series, see The Courier this weekThose selling pirated DVDs and CDs are happy to set up stalls in the main thoroughfares to display their latest releases, while tobacco sellers prefer to remain mobile in case they need to make a quick getaway.
There are at least half a dozen stalls all selling DVDs of the latest cinema releases. Within 30 seconds of entering the Barras, The Courier had picked up copies of Skyfall, the smash hit 50th anniversary James Bond movie, Taken 2 and recent sci-fi hit Looper – all for just £10. That’s three films for little more than the price of an adult cinema ticket.
However, although the quality of the DVDs is high enough that they are watchable, they certainly don’t qualify as enjoyable. The colours have been badly reproduced, while the sound is usually out of synch with the action on screen.
Looper also comes with Korean subtitles, which cannot be turned off hardly the ”retail quality” products the stall-holder promised.
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want such low quality goods particularly as official DVDs fall in price quickly once released but the stalls do a brisk trade.
And while the DVD sellers attract a crowd, those hawking tobacco have to work a little harder and shout out what they are selling.
Bootleg tobacco is a huge business more than £3 billion is lost to the Treasury in duty each year because of the trade in black market cigarettes and there was plenty of appetite for their wares when The Courier visited The Barras.
It’s unlikely many people knew what they were buying. Everything from asbestos to crushed insects and even human excrement has been found in black-market tobacco.
As well as rolling tobacco, some sellers are also offering packs of 200 named cigarettes for just £25. That’s far less than official cigarettes would cost but still a price most would consider is too high.
Christmas is just around the corner and there are also plenty of other clearly fake goods available in the market.
For £20 it’s possible to buy a bottle of ”Chanel” perfume. At less than a third of what an official bottle would cost, that appears another bargain, but one squirt of whatever is in the bottle is enough to dispel any notion that it is the real thing.
The stall holder, who works in Dundee as a construction worker during the week, is selling a range of counterfeit perfumes and aftershaves, all for £20.
In fact, any make-up or perfume sold at markets is a fairly disgusting proposition. Urine is a common base ingredient for perfumes, with that procured from horses preferred.
Other types of make-up are equally unattractive. Not only does much of the make-up on offer contain high quantities of lead, lice have been found in the brushes sold with it.
Even the fake Spider-Man toy we purchased for a measly £3.99 comes with hidden dangers. Most counterfeit goods like these are manufactured in China and are not subjected to any safety standards. That means the paint used on the toys can contain high levels of dangerous chemicals.
Cheap, fake toys remains big business, particularly on the internet. However, most market traders prefer to stick to popular sellers like tobacco and DVDs as competition from supermarkets has made their sideline in toys less profitable.
”There’s no money in it now,” one Barras trader explains. ”People just go to Asda and get them pretty cheap there.”
Finally, the old standby of fake watches are being sold at one stall. Everything from counterfeit Rolexes to Breitlings are being sold for £20. Needless to say, if time is money then these are not worth the price.