I just received a nice big box full of True Religion jeans that I bought off liquidation.com.  Twenty-four pairs to be exact for $905 (plus $95 for buyer’s premium and shipping, bringing my total to $990).

One thousand dollars for 24 pairs of True Religion jeans was too amazing of a deal to pass up.  It was an auction and I was competed with heavily.

http://www.liquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=2862838

Needless to say I was pumped when I won.  Then I told a co-worker about it and she said, “They’re probably fake.”  My brain vomited all over itself right there.  I instantly felt completely naive. 

“Fake?” I asked. I didn’t even know they made fake jeans.  Wasn’t I cute?

“She laughed and said, “Yeah, how much were they?”

“A hair under $40 a pair.  But I bought 24 pairs!  I spent $1000!” 

I was falling deeper into the realization that I just got sold a bill of goods.  But Liquidation.com seemed so legitimate.  The listing doesn’t say “Authentic.” But should it have to?  Un-authentic = illegal.

So I spend days and days researching counterfeit jeans.  Countless hours were spent reading about the differences between fake and real True Religion jeans.  I read an amazing amount of testimonials from eBay customers, and the effects of the counterfeit jeans industry and more.

I went on eBay and saw that at least 80% of the True Religion jeans up for sale were counterfeit jeans.  It is so easy to tell when you know what you are looking for.  I looked at their feedback and many people left positive feedback.

It made me wonder… Are these people happy with fake jeans, or do they not know?  Would I be providing a service if I sold mine on eBay?  If I try to return them will I get screwed out of my money.  WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THESE JEANS WHEN THEY GET HERE?

I suffer from severe OCD so this problem did not go away when I fell asleep. I had dreams about selling fake jeans and feeling like a huge fraud.  I had a dream about returning the jeans and getting in trouble for shipping them back.  This just would not go away.

The jeans arrived very quickly; within a week.  I must say the service so far has been outstanding. 

I opened the box, knowing what I was going to see: Coin pockets without the curve, sloppy threadwork, plastic bag with logo on it, nasty fake looking tag, cheap denim and that is exactly what I saw.

Twenty four pairs of them.

Out of morbid curiosity I tried on a pair.  They weren’t very comfortable.  The denim was a little stiff.  This was not surprising.  I do not want them.

I know I have contrband right now and I don’t like it.  I did not realize that by purchasing from Liquidation.com I was exposing myself to purchasing illegal merchandise.  What if I was shipped a box of heroin?  Of course I would call the police.  With this I am not so sure.

Most importantly to me, I do not want to lose my money.  I have not done anything wrong (other than be a naive, ignorant fool) to deserve losing $1000.  I am going to contact Liquidation.com tomorrow and see if they will take a return. 

The seller, all-liquidator, has sold 50, FIFTY!!!!!! of these lots.  That’s 1200 pairs of fake jeans and at about $1000 per lot, you got it… $50,000 worth of illegal COUNTERFEIT JEANS.  I would like to quit my job and make that amount of money in a few weeks, but I have a soul.  It’s not fair and I really don’t think anything will be done about it.

I will unfortunately consider myself lucky if I get my money back (minus the Buyer’s Premium and shipping costs, of course).

I will keep everyone posted with updates as they evolve.

UPDATE (same day): I filed a dispute on their website today as well as via email. I sent them pictures and a brief description of why this merchandise was fraudulent. Within 6 hours I received an email stating that they would honor my dispute request.  This is very good news.  They are asking that I return the items with the UPS shipping label that they would provide to me. 

I asked about whether or not I am allowed to ship these and I was told that because they are considered the shipper, I was not liable for what was being shipped. Sounds good enough to me.  I really only want my money back. 

After they recieve my returned items I am supposed to receive a full refund including shipping and the buyer’s premium.  I won’t be out anything other than my time.  I will let everyone know how this end up, but it is looking like Liquidation.com is doing what I would hope they would do. 

I was also told that the seller’s account has been shut down. 

UPDATE: I shipped the box back to Liquidation.com via UPS.  It arrived there today and was signed for.  Now I will wait for my refund.  I was told I would receive it within 7 business days.  I really can’t wait to get this behind me.  The suspense is killing me.

FINAL UPDATE: The entire refund was given to me within 1 day of them receiving the return of the jeans. I am very impressed by their customer service. In my situation I do not think that Liquidation.com could have handled this better. They were very polite and helpful. This would have been the most wonderful transaction of all time had these jeans been authentic.

Regardless, I got my money back and that is all I can ask for from Liquidation.com. I don’t believe I am going to buy from them again, because without a feedback system there is no way for me to tell whether or not the seller is trustworthy. In my case, the seller was not trustworthy and it cost me a lot of wasted time.

If they got a feedback system I would definitely buy from them again. Liquidation.com definitely did everything they could to make sure I was taken care of.

Counterfeit True Religion Jeans

Counterfeit True Religion Jeans

Counterfeit True Religion Jeans

Counterfeit True Religion Jeans

Counterfeit True Religion Jeans