Is barcode a legit way to check product authenticity?

These days, there are too many fake products and it's hard to tell the difference just by looking at them and most of them would look legit but the difference shows after using them, in the long run.
23 Replies
kyn
kyn4d ago
What exactly do you mean by barcode? I think the short answer is no, though slash it varies by product
Sal
Sal4d ago
Not really, barcodes are just a quick way for a scanner to pull an SKU. Looking at a barcode with your eyes doesn't tell you much.
kyn
kyn4d ago
For example, there is a Yohji Yamamoto Pour Homme shirt I was looking for. I found one on eBay for a good price. There were some signs it was not legit, but among them was that the garment product code (a combination of numbers and letters) was incorrect vs what should have been expected. There may be fakes for certain items where that is not the case.
ragnar_lothbrok3239
These 13 digit numbers
No description
ragnar_lothbrok3239
So the best way to purchase anything is to buy from their official website? Especially if it's a well known brand.
Sal
Sal4d ago
Yes that's probably the best
kyn
kyn4d ago
the type of transaction with the lowest risk of receiving a fake would be through the brand or an authorized retailer (e.g. ssense, farfetch, mr porter, netaporter, cettire, yoox) probably yes
ragnar_lothbrok3239
No wonder that buying things from an official brand has excellent quality, especially buying from their outlets.( Tier 1 city)
Sal
Sal4d ago
So true, I would never shop in much less live in a tier 2 city
kyn
kyn4d ago
embarrassing tbh
ragnar_lothbrok3239
They also tend to sell their rejected or leftover stock on sale. But some brands get disposed of their leftover stock and only sell high quality pieces and that's why they have a good reputation but it comes at a cost.
Sal
Sal4d ago
Kyn is this guy a robot Are we being scraped for legit checking ai
ragnar_lothbrok3239
:harold:
Sal
Sal4d ago
Ah apologies, I can see from your post history that you are not a robot
ragnar_lothbrok3239
Nah it's fine I just came to know that factory outlet are selling their products at 65-80% discount and i kinda felt cheated because of buying most of the products on mrp or at little to no discount, i tried to search their barcode but they seemed legit. Luckily i do remember that buying things from official store tends to last longer and it feels different even those discounted ones but the discount isn't that huge.
kyn
kyn4d ago
ah sure. A lot of factory outlets will not necessarily get every SKU of a given season, and it's possible that what is being sold at an outlet may not have passed QC.
ragnar_lothbrok3239
I know that they are charging for brand name, not saying that quality isn't good but that's why i believed that those products going on 80% discount might be original.
kyn
kyn4d ago
There are also factory store specific SKUs depending on the brand.
ragnar_lothbrok3239
Yeah and for example, outlets of the tier 1 will always have the best quality even old stock.
Spuck
Spuck4d ago
what is this tier 1 you speak of, and how would it relate to outlet stores selling fake clothes?
ragnar_lothbrok3239
Tier refers to the development of the city, the higher tier, the better. The area also does, for example, the outlets in the biggest mall vs normal area, the quality difference will be there, I'm not saying that official store outlet sells fake products, it's just i wasn't sure about their 'factory outlets' or you can say that i was just curious know whether barcode is a legit way to check authentication or not. After the quality check, the best of the best products goes to the tier 1 areas and i think most of the rejected pieces go to third party online sellers. But it depends on country to country.
Spuck
Spuck4d ago
Do you have like, anything to back up this idea regarding distribution? Because it reads like you're just guessing.
ragnar_lothbrok3239
As i said before, it depends on country to country. I'm telling you from my experience. I don't think that these things exist in the UK or the USA.