Beware of a New Type of Fraud in the Vintage Community

Imagine this scenario.  You've purchased one or two things that you're happy with from a seller of vintage clothing on a well known internet shopping site. Oh, maybe there were one or two issues with the items the seller didn't mention, but she has 100% positive feedback, so it must have just been an oversight.  One day, you receive an email from the seller offering you a sneak peek of some new items that have just arrived that you can purchase before they are listed for sale on the site.  You would feel flattered and special that the seller remembered your taste and that she is allowing you the first chance to purchase those items, right?

If this has happened to you, read on and beware of the latest type of fraud in the vintage market. 

1970s Hermes skirt at Couture Allure.

I listed this 1970s Hermes wool and leather skirt on my website a couple of weeks ago.  Last week, I received an inquiry about this skirt via email.  The potential buyer wanted to know if I had placed this skirt on consignment with another seller (we'll call her Seller X) and why it was so much more expensive with Seller X than on my website?  After some discussion between the buyer and myself, here is what I found out had happened.

Seller X, who has a very popular vintage clothing shop on a major internet selling site, had stolen the photo of the Hermes skirt from my Couture Allure website.  She then cropped my watermark off the bottom of the photo and emailed it to the buyer.  Seller X stated that the skirt had just come in to her "showroom" on consignment and she was offering it to the buyer as a "private" sale.  Seller X made no mention of the moth damage to the Hermes skirt.  In fact she told the buyer it was in "perfect" condition.  Seller X also told the buyer the skirt could be altered to add an additional 2" to the waist so it would fit her (the skirt cannot be altered).  Seller X told the buyer her special price would be $800 (nearly 3 times the price on my website!)  All this while the skirt was in my possession and listed on my site with an accurate description and at a fair price.

You may be thinking that it was possible that Seller X had an identical Hermes skirt in her possession.  Yes, that is possible, but read on.

Luckily, the buyer had been searching extensively on the internet for a specific vintage item during the previous week and had stumbled upon my site.  She was puzzled to find several of the same photos on my site that had been sent to her by Seller X.  In fact, Seller X had stolen images of 6 vintage items from my site and offered them to the buyer as being in her possession.  The photos of the 6 items were identical to mine, except the tops had been cropped to remove my distinctive mannequin topper and the bottoms had been cropped to remove my watermark and copyright.

The chances of two sellers having 1 of the same item are pretty good, but 6?  Impossible.  Seller X had stolen my images and turned around and offered the garments to the buyer at much higher prices.  Supposedly, if the buyer had said yes, Seller X would have then purchased the items from me and sold them to the buyer.  In fact, Seller X  had emailed me earlier the same day that the buyer contacted me asking for a discount if she purchased 4-5 items from my site!

You know what?  I sell to dealers all the time.  If another dealer has the right clientele and can buy an item from me and then sell it at a profit, that's great.  But selling vintage is a lot of work.  It takes time to have an item cleaned, take pictures, inspect for damage, take measurements and to write an accurate description.  If a dealer buys from me, it is expected that she will take her own pictures and write her own description.  But Seller X was attempting to profit by stealing my work, and that is not right.  In fact, I'd call that fraud.

I wrestled with whether or not I should tell you this story, but it is my belief that an educated customer is a happy customer and I wanted to enlighten you about this type of fraud so you don't fall victim to this practice.  What can you do to protect yourself?

-  Be wary of offers of "private" sales.  If a seller is sending you unsolicited photos or suddenly has photos of several different options of a hard-to-find item you are looking for, compare those photos to the ones on her selling site.  Is the mannequin the same?  Is the background the same?  Is the styling consistent?  Or have you received random photos that are of various sizes, with different mannequins or poses, or that seem cropped in an unusual way.

-   Check the seller's feedback.  Quite frankly, it is nearly impossible for even the most honest seller to maintain a 100% positive feedback over several years time.  We all make mistakes and things happen.  Go through several pages of feedback and check for "false positives."  An example would be a positive feedback with mention of issues not disclosed in the listing.  Is is a common practice for unscrupulous sellers to promise a partial refund only after positive feedback as been left.

-   Be wary of a seller who states that every single item she sells is in "perfect" condition.  In the vintage market, perfect is rare.  Honest sellers will disclose even the tiniest of issues so you are well informed before you purchase.  In fact, such disclosure is required by all internet sellers by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

-   Never send a personal check, cash, or a money order for a "private" sale.  Always use PayPal or a credit card for your protection.  That way you can file a claim if something goes wrong.

-   Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Note:  I will not disclose the names of the seller or buyer so please do not ask.  Any comments including speculation or references to the seller in question will NOT be published. My purpose in telling you this story is for your education and protection.  The incidents described here are true and from my personal experience.

Thank You!

Image from JoFreeman.com

Thank you so much for all the comments, emails, Tweets, Facebook links, and blog referrals about my post yesterday on Fraudulent Label Switching. I am overwhelmed and deeply grateful for your support.

It is interesting to note some of the experiences I have heard about in response to this post.

- There is the story of a buyer of vintage couture who bid on a 1950s Balenciaga gown by phone that was being offered at a very well known auction house. The labels were clearly shown in the photos of the gown on the auctioneer's website. When the gown was received by the buyer, however, only a corner of the label remained. The rest had been removed by someone during the auction preview.

- There is the story of a fellow seller who sent a vintage dress by an important designer off to be dry cleaned by a well known firm in New York that offers special handling and care of couture garments. When the dress was returned to the seller, the label was "missing".

- There is the story from a former store owner who told me of the Dior numbered couture label that was torn out of a vintage jacket that was for sale in her store. She also reported about Chanel buttons being removed from garments.

- There is the story of a local vintage clothing auction where an early Oscar de la Renta label was sewn by machine into the side seam of a cheap 1980s nylon nightgown. The garment was being offered as a "vintage evening gown". The auctioneer didn't know better.

Sad, isn't it?

For more information and tips about protecting yourself from fraud in the vintage industry, read Hollis's excellent posts about "Vintage Shopping: Buyer Beware" at her blog, Past Perfect Vintage.

Beware of Fraudulent Label Switching

I am going to make some people angry with this post, but as an honest and knowledgeable dealer of vintage clothing, I need to make my readers aware of an issue that has been bothering me for quite awhile. The fraudulent practice of sewing vintage or designer labels into clothing that has no label or replacing a less desirable label with a better known one is, unfortunately, becoming more prevalent. Now, don't get me wrong. There are lots and lots of honest and trustworthy sellers of vintage clothing out there. But before you buy, it is wise to know who you are buying from, what to expect and what to look for.

It is important to note that a seller who is offering a garment with suspected label switching may not be the culprit. There is a lot of buying and selling amongst vintage and used clothing dealers that goes on behind the scenes in this industry. There are also many, many sellers who have jumped into this industry because it is "fun". Those sellers may not have the education and experience to recognize when a label has been switched, and may be offering a garment for sale thinking it is the real thing.

Where do dishonest dealers come up with the labels they sew into clothing? Easy. It is not uncommon to see lots like the one above offered for sale on eBay, and these lots often sell for good money. This one sold for about $35 several months ago. There is lots of clothing at thrift stores that is ugly or out of style, but many of those garments bear a desirable label. Labels can be removed from a damaged garment and sewn into an undamaged one. Disreputable dealers will remove designer labels from scarves, hats, gloves, lingerie, and men's ties, then sew them into vintage clothing to pass a garment off as a high end or designer one.

This is a label from a Schiaparelli hat. It was sewn into a skirt that was not designed by Schiaparelli. The skirt sold on eBay for over $650 to an unsuspecting buyer.

This Valentino Jeans label was sewn into a brocade evening gown which was being offered on eBay for several hundred dollars.

So how do you protect yourself? The best way is to learn about what to look for. Here are some tips and common blunders to watch out for. NOTE: These are general guidelines, and will not apply to all garments all the time.

1. First and formost, if a seller is listing a garment as a designer piece, they should always show the label. If a picture of the label is not included in the listing, ask (demand) to see it before you buy. And if they do show the label, but the image is cropped so you can't see the edges, ask for another photo.

2. In general, the label on a vintage designer garment that predates the 1980s will be sewn in by hand with thread that matches the label color. There are notable exceptions, (Grenelle Estevez and Ceil Chapman labels were sewn by machine along the edge of the zipper in the 40s and 50s) but hand stitching and matching thread are the first things I look for.

This Christian Dior label looks questionable because it is sewn in by machine with black thread. Research shows that this is a Dior scarf label, but this photo was taken from an auction for a vintage coat.

3. Newer designer labels are often sewn in by machine, but you would be wise to know how each designer attaches their labels to their garments.

This Carmen Marc Valvo label was removed from one garment, and sewn into another. You can see the original needle holes and white thread at the sides of the label. The label was then sewn into a garment with black thread across the top - a garment that was not by Carmen Marc Valvo.

4. While some modern high-end designer labels are still sewn in by hand, many have gone to machine sewn labels as a cost and time saving measure. However, those labels will be sewn neatly and with care.

You can see the original white threads at the corners that were used to hand sew this label into a Chanel garment. The label was removed and sewn into a different garment with black machine stitching.

5. If a label is sewn in by machine, it will be neatly done, and again, the thread color will generally match the label.

Messy and uneven machine stitching is not found in designer garments.

6. In general, the size of the label will be in proportion to the size and weight of the garment. Accessories like scarves and ties will have small labels. Coats bear larger labels.

This tiny Molyneux label (probably from a scarf) was sewn into a coat.

7. Educate yourself about where a particular designer places his labels. Estevez usually put his labels at the back waist of his dresses in the 1960s. Norman Norell labels are usually found hand sewn to the center back seam of the skirt. Know what to expect and question any label that is not in the usual spot.

This Oscar de la Renta label from the 60s or 70s belongs at the back neck of the dress and should be sewn in by hand. Here it is sewn by machine into a side seam. It even looks like the seller has used the label twice!

8. Modern zig-zag stitches do not belong in a vintage garment.

A label sewn in with zig-zag stitching on a 1950s dress? No way.

9. Know the general styles that designers made. For instance, designer Ben Zuckerman only made suits and coats, never party dresses or lingerie.

Sometime in the late 1950s, Lilli Ann started sewing their labels in with zig-zag stitches in white thread along the sides of the label. This label has been sewn in by hand at the 4 corners with matching thread, but you can see the impressions in the label from the original machine sewn zig-zag stitching. This suit label was very cleverly sewn in to a 1950s party dress - a style that was never made by Lilli Ann.

These are general guidelines, but may not be true in all cases. There are times when stitching that doesn't appear original is fine. Most department stores and boutiques offered in-house alterations up until the late 1960s. Often times, when a garment was altered, the original label had to be removed and sewn back in by the store's seamstress. Or, perhaps the owner of the garment removed the label to get through customs without paying duty and then sewed it back in at home. I'm not saying that all labels that don't have original stitching are fraudulent. But it is in your best interest to be aware and take care.

All of the label images shown above are actual photos from clothing items that were offered for sale on eBay and Etsy over the last year. Remember, I am NOT saying that all sellers are dishonest. I am NOT saying fraudulent label switching is limited to eBay and Etsy. I am simply advising you to be careful and to look closely before you buy.