How to spot fake branded clothes when buying preloved

Start with the price

Price is the least technical check and the most reliable. If a current-season piece from an expensive brand is being offered at a small fraction of its retail price in like-new condition, the likeliest explanation is that it is not genuine.

Preloved genuine items do sell well below retail — that is the point — but a seller who knows they have something real prices it accordingly. A price that makes no sense usually is not a bargain.

Read the wash tag, not the brand label

Counterfeiters put their effort into the front label, because that is what people photograph. The interior wash and care tag is where corners get cut: look for misspellings, blurred or crooked printing, missing fibre composition, or a care tag that does not match the brand's usual format and languages.

Genuine garments almost always carry country of manufacture, fibre composition and care symbols, printed cleanly and squarely. A tag that is faded, unevenly cut or stitched in crooked is a warning worth taking seriously.

Look at the stitching and the inside seams

Turn the garment inside out. Genuine branded clothing has even, dense stitching, finished seams and no loose threads hanging where they would be seen. Replicas usually save time here, and it shows in uneven stitch length, puckered seams and sloppy finishing at the hem and armhole.

On patterned fabric, check whether the pattern lines up across the seams. Matching a pattern costs fabric and labour, so it is one of the first things a copy skips.

Check the hardware

Zips, buttons, rivets and clasps are expensive to fake well. On genuine pieces, zips run smoothly and are usually branded on the pull or the underside — YKK, Riri, or the brand's own name — while buttons and rivets are weighty and evenly stamped.

Flimsy, light or unbranded hardware on a garment from a brand that normally uses branded hardware is a strong signal.

• Does the zip pull carry a brand mark, and does it run smoothly?
• Do buttons feel solid, and is the stamping crisp rather than soft?
• Is the lining sewn in neatly, or bunched and puckered?
• Does the pattern match across the seams?
• Do the wash tag and the brand label agree with each other?

Ask the seller before you order

A seller with something genuine will not mind questions. Ask for a photo of the wash tag and the inside seams, and ask where the item came from. Most honest resellers will tell you plainly whether a piece is genuine, a replica or something they are unsure about.

Hesitation, refusal to send an extra photo, or an answer that shifts under questioning tells you what you need to know. On ThriftStore.pk, sellers can be asked before ordering and their reviews stay visible on the shop page.

A note on "master copies"

A large share of replicas in Pakistan are sold openly as "master copy" or "first copy" rather than as genuine, and there is nothing wrong with buying one knowingly if the quality suits you and the price reflects it.

The problem is only ever misrepresentation. If a listing claims a brand outright, it should be that brand.