Where did all this fake MAC come from?!

[mommys-makeup]

Seriously it's like EVERYWHERE and it's sooo annoying! I dont know what's worse all the people actually buying it or the people who swear it's authentic, like hello, you have tons of MAC makeup artists out there who know there stuff not to mention all us MAC addicts who know MAC back and forth inside out up and down!!! I see it on ebay, i see it on craigslist I go to the SWAPMEET and this woman is literally PUSHING her "real" MAC makeup on me, which I spotted a mile away as fake! That's what totally did it for me, she really thought she could make a fool out of me by claiming this shit was real! At just a couple of dollars less than the real stuff! If there is already a thread on this I apologise but this was more of a rant than anything else. I know people need to make money even a living, but this isnt cool, like seriously I wouldnt even give this stuff away as gifts to my little neices. That's just so cheap! These are pix of all the different places I have seen them, they even have fake NARS out there!! And the brushes...seriously!

 

[Kragey]

I feel terrible for people who pay all kinds of money for relatively believable dupes, only to realize that it's actually low-quality makeup with fancy casings. MAC is so popular that many people will buy it just because of the name, so tons of bootleggers dupe it.

Hence, I will only buy MAC from a MAC counter, the website, or a swap from someone I trust. It's way too easy to create a visually-accurate dupe.

 

[locoboutcoco]

This lady at my mams job (a chidrens creche) had some mac products. she said shed just come back from ny and had bought all of this make up for her sister but whren she returned it turned out her sister already had most of the make up so she was selling it really cheap so she wouldnt make such a loss. my mam knew how much of an avid fan i was and said shed buy it...

so she brought it home and it was a joke. the mineralize shadows were acutally gigantic and the packaging was awfull. there were also pallates, with about 20 shadows and 4 lipsticks... i dont know how anynbody could mistake it for mac (part from my clueless mother, ha !) .. the worst part was the satin finish foundation the bottle was axactly the same as a real one (think they just used empty bottles) but the product was actually just brown water and the SMELL was disgusting.

when my mam brought it back turned out the lady wasnt even picking up a child she just randomly in the creche trying to make a sale. i was so annoyed, she just blatantly lied outright to my mam who trusted and believed her story.. ive sinse educated my mam on what mac looks like and told her not to speak to strangers but eh shouldnt it be the other way round??!!! hahah!

 

[mommys-makeup]

I know but you know what? Now I'm kind of worried even on ebay sellers put pictures of real MAC but they will say items dont have names or that they have numbers but you can clearly see it's real, so now that's kind of fishy too, like they are just USING pictures of the real stuff to lure us in to buying the fake stuff.

 

[locoboutcoco]

its really a disgrace.. its prob best to aviod buyin off ebay just in case..allthough it would stink if you lived too far away from a counter or store and had to take a chance buying online!! i dont really buy much online anyway because it usually comes from america and im in ireland so with p+p i dont save.

im surprised so many people buy it, even when some even know its fake. the chance you take with fakes and online is that if you buy a fake purse or whatever you may know its a fake but it wont have any health or safety implications but if you use fake makeup obviousy its not made to any standard or demologically tested so you could be smearing anything on your face! its so dangerous when you think about it... think ill just be sticking to the store myself

 

[HOTasFCUK]

I hate it when i see on ebay some fake MAC with 20 bids but then you see the real stuff at dirt cheap prices for the real thing and no bids?! And what drives me nuts is when i see those fake palettes.....haven't these buyers ever been on the mac website to see what they have & realize MAC never made a product like that? Do your homework people! That's why i love Specktra!

 

[Junkie]

I felt so bad seeing people bidding on a 120 "MAC" palette - seriously?!

It was up to almost $200....I reported the listing as selling fake MAC products, but with 3 hours left in the auction, I doubt it got taken down.

Pisses me right off - but in a way I think the buyers are a little to blame for not being educated. If someone is willing to shell out $200 on eBay for "MAC", they should alteast do their homework and ask loads of questions.

 

[iaisha26]

It's shameful! If you're getting something for 90% off market price - you got to think about. I think in some cases people know they're getting fake products and just don't care.

If you're biding $200 on a MAC product, I've got to assume you've done the research on the price...seeing that it just doesn't exixt.

This is the reason I stop buying signature bags (Gucci for example), knock off are running rampit!

 

[LMD84]

it sucks that there is so much around. but even when we report dodgy listings and they get taken down, there are hundreds that go up agian.

it's like fighting a loosing battle i'm afraid.

some fakes do look very relaistic as well so i think that makes it hard for people. however the ones bidding silly money on palettes never made... that's just silly. people should at least do a little research first before bidding on anything...

 

[forevernars]

I really feel horrible too for the people that actually buy it thinking its really Mac. For those crazy prices on this fake crap they can actually go into their local mac and get the real deal maybe for even cheaper then what they would have paid through these con-artists.

 

[gottabook]

Not to mention that who knows what seriously harmful ingredients are in the product. Look at the dog food scare, what was that two years back? And the toys intended for under 3 y.o. children were being mfrd in China with lead in them. Before anyone gets upset, please don't. I'm not saying anything mfrd in China is tainted.

What I thought it was interesting that several years ago when I looked into a a dozen or so of the pigment sellers on eBay, that were selling these pallettes for such a "great deal" the sellers were often located in the Far East. Not sure if that is still the case.

Maybe someone who works for MAC can validate this, but I believe at the time, people were returning fake MAC product that was very authentic looking, to stores or selling it and making loads of money off it. So MAC put out a press release indicating how rampant fake MAC is on eBay as well as specifically what to look for in an authentic product container and how to spot fakes. Which makes you wonder if that was in itself a manifesto for forgers to put out more authentic looking product. Locoboutcoco you were lucky that your fake product was easy to spot!

Regardless, unethical people are opportunistic and they'll look for any way to make a buck at someone else's expense. That was before the economy tanked, so I can only imagine how bad it is now. That's why having a place, such as in this forum in which we can ask experts is worth its weight in gold! SO thanks to all of you that are so helpful in that vein and all other MAC matters. =)

 

[LMD84]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gottabook Regardless, unethical people are opportunistic and they'll look for any way to make a buck at someone else's expense. That was before the economy tanked, so I can only imagine how bad it is now. That's why having a place, such as in this forum in which we can ask experts is worth its weight in gold! SO thanks to all of you that are so helpful in that vein and all other MAC matters. =)

yes i love how we all help each other out on here. even some of us addicts need help spotting fakes sometimes because they've got so good now.