Are these Baby Gap boots counterfeit?
June 6, 2017 2:34 AM Subscribe
I ordered a pair of Baby Gap sherpa-lined boots from eBay. I would have bought them straight from Gap, but of course, they don't sell them in the summertime. There is no Gap logo on the exterior or sole so I'm wondering if these are counterfeit.
I just received a pair of Toddler size 8 Baby Gap sherpa-lined boots that I ordered off of eBay for $19.99 and there is no Gap logo anywhere other than the word "GAP" on the inside of the sole where the heel would go. I thought there should have been a "Baby Gap" logo on the outside back of the heel. As shown in the photo, it's just blank. There is no tag inside the boots, just an area near the zipper with some codes printed directly on the material. The tag also threw me. It's strange and doesn't look like a legit Gap tag. It proclaims "First Quality" and "Originally $7.99."
A quick background: my daughter goes to a swanky daycare, at least swanky by local standards. We live in a crummy area with mediocre schools and generally poor quality childcare options. Because I have to work, I send my daughter to the best childcare facility in the area, which is way out of our price range, but we're making sacrifices to make it work because it's important to me to know that she's in a safe, fun, engaging, educational environment. Since it is literally the only really good childcare facility this side of town, all the well-to-do families around here send their kids there, too.
That said, I try to dress my daughter comparable to the well-to-do kids so she won't stick out at school and be "the poor kid." I remember growing up lower middle class and getting picked on and excluded by the other lower middle class kids because my clothes came from Walmart and weren't fashionable or brand name. While the teachers and staff at the childcare center are kind and wonderful, I can't help but notice they all dress in name brands, too.
My daughter really wants these Ugg lookalike sherpa-lined boots because her friend at daycare wears them, so I thought Gap would be a good quality, affordable alternative. Since it's summertime, there is nowhere to buy these Gap boots other than eBay. Does anyone have experience with these Gap toddler boots, and should there be a Gap logo on the exterior or the sole, or did I get fakes?
I just received a pair of Toddler size 8 Baby Gap sherpa-lined boots that I ordered off of eBay for $19.99 and there is no Gap logo anywhere other than the word "GAP" on the inside of the sole where the heel would go. I thought there should have been a "Baby Gap" logo on the outside back of the heel. As shown in the photo, it's just blank. There is no tag inside the boots, just an area near the zipper with some codes printed directly on the material. The tag also threw me. It's strange and doesn't look like a legit Gap tag. It proclaims "First Quality" and "Originally $7.99."
A quick background: my daughter goes to a swanky daycare, at least swanky by local standards. We live in a crummy area with mediocre schools and generally poor quality childcare options. Because I have to work, I send my daughter to the best childcare facility in the area, which is way out of our price range, but we're making sacrifices to make it work because it's important to me to know that she's in a safe, fun, engaging, educational environment. Since it is literally the only really good childcare facility this side of town, all the well-to-do families around here send their kids there, too.
That said, I try to dress my daughter comparable to the well-to-do kids so she won't stick out at school and be "the poor kid." I remember growing up lower middle class and getting picked on and excluded by the other lower middle class kids because my clothes came from Walmart and weren't fashionable or brand name. While the teachers and staff at the childcare center are kind and wonderful, I can't help but notice they all dress in name brands, too.
My daughter really wants these Ugg lookalike sherpa-lined boots because her friend at daycare wears them, so I thought Gap would be a good quality, affordable alternative. Since it's summertime, there is nowhere to buy these Gap boots other than eBay. Does anyone have experience with these Gap toddler boots, and should there be a Gap logo on the exterior or the sole, or did I get fakes?
I don't know about those boots specifically, but in my experience Gap kids/baby stuff doesn't always have an external logo. In fact, I wouldn't have expected one.
The tag looks like it might be from one of the Gap outlet/factory stores; I can't find an image of a comparable hang tag to confirm, but in my experience outlet tags are a little less fancy-looking and often have text like "first quality" and "compare at $x." If the internal tag has three little squares on it, that's a sign it was a product made for Gap outlets. I've always found the Gap outlet products similar if not identical in quality to the regular stuff, but I'd probably be peeved if the eBay seller hadn't mentioned it was an outlet item and artificially inflated the original price.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:45 AM on June 6, 2017
The tag looks like it might be from one of the Gap outlet/factory stores; I can't find an image of a comparable hang tag to confirm, but in my experience outlet tags are a little less fancy-looking and often have text like "first quality" and "compare at $x." If the internal tag has three little squares on it, that's a sign it was a product made for Gap outlets. I've always found the Gap outlet products similar if not identical in quality to the regular stuff, but I'd probably be peeved if the eBay seller hadn't mentioned it was an outlet item and artificially inflated the original price.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:45 AM on June 6, 2017
In re ebay and counterfeit - I have been eBaying as both buyer and seller for about fifteen years now. (!!!!) The only counterfeit items I have seen, either in the flesh or on screen, are high value counterfeit items or else they are "counterfeit" in a "this says it's cashmere when it's obviously rayon-acrylic" way. Even now, with the ease of producing imitations in China, counterfeiting is a lot of work, carries some legal penalties and has a start-up cost, so you are more likely to see counterfeits of higher-ticket, high-demand things than small, steady or low-demand things.
It's true that Gap baby clothes are popular, but they are also not super expensive on eBay and there's a lot of used ones out there - it's not like this year's handbag where it's super costly and there is a shortage. Also, there's a lot of substitutes - if you can't get Gap, you can get Hanna Anderson or some other well-known baby brand.
Gap (and J Crew, and Banana, etc) have factory store lines that are more cheaply produced than the main line. These are often found NWT on eBay. (Nothing wrong with that - just look at what you're buying and don't pay a huge price.) The factory lines sometimes just copy last year's main line big seller with lower production values, or even not-really-lower production values but in a different color or fabric. Your booties may be a factory store version that were produced more cheaply through cutting out the logo-adding process.
Also, all those mass producers shop their work out to different factories (which is one reason it's so difficult to enforce labor standards). Each factory may be set up slightly differently, and it is conceivable to me that some factories were set up to produce the heel pieces with the logo and some were not.
Basically, I would not expect to see a relatively inexpensive, standard item from a mass produced brand like this counterfeited. If you said you got Hermes leather booties, now..!
posted by Frowner at 5:12 AM on June 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
It's true that Gap baby clothes are popular, but they are also not super expensive on eBay and there's a lot of used ones out there - it's not like this year's handbag where it's super costly and there is a shortage. Also, there's a lot of substitutes - if you can't get Gap, you can get Hanna Anderson or some other well-known baby brand.
Gap (and J Crew, and Banana, etc) have factory store lines that are more cheaply produced than the main line. These are often found NWT on eBay. (Nothing wrong with that - just look at what you're buying and don't pay a huge price.) The factory lines sometimes just copy last year's main line big seller with lower production values, or even not-really-lower production values but in a different color or fabric. Your booties may be a factory store version that were produced more cheaply through cutting out the logo-adding process.
Also, all those mass producers shop their work out to different factories (which is one reason it's so difficult to enforce labor standards). Each factory may be set up slightly differently, and it is conceivable to me that some factories were set up to produce the heel pieces with the logo and some were not.
Basically, I would not expect to see a relatively inexpensive, standard item from a mass produced brand like this counterfeited. If you said you got Hermes leather booties, now..!
posted by Frowner at 5:12 AM on June 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
That tag definitely looks like it came from the Gap Outlet. It also looks like the tags we had to print off in the store when merchandise lost its original price tag (former Gap employee here). I think it's legit - why would anyone counterfeit stuff that was cheap to begin with?
posted by heurtebise at 5:47 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by heurtebise at 5:47 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
It also looks like the tags we had to print off in the store when merchandise lost its original price tag (former Gap employee here).
Another former Gap employee seconding this - it's a legit tag, just printed in store. Also, I wouldn't expect most Gap stuff to have a logo. I think you're fine.
posted by sunset in snow country at 7:00 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Another former Gap employee seconding this - it's a legit tag, just printed in store. Also, I wouldn't expect most Gap stuff to have a logo. I think you're fine.
posted by sunset in snow country at 7:00 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think they seem fine. Also, check out ThredUp or Poshmark for designer kids stuff marked way down.
posted by notjustthefish at 7:08 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by notjustthefish at 7:08 AM on June 6, 2017
I agree, I think they're legit. Also seconding ThredUp. Swap.com is less designer oriented, but you can sort by brand and find some good deals there, too.
posted by Kriesa at 7:42 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by Kriesa at 7:42 AM on June 6, 2017
(Also, this is not the question you asked, but if you're looking for affordable kids' clothes from nicer brands, check out local Facebook swap groups - they can be way more convenient and cost-effective than ThredUp/Poshmark/etc. and some of them are specifically for higher-end kids' clothes. Good quality clothes can usually last through three or four kids' worth of hand-me-downs, and parents in local groups are usually more interested in getting stuff out of their house than recouping the original price.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:43 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:43 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
The printed tag plus the "First Quality" bit indicate that these are Gap Outlet.
posted by palomar at 9:25 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by palomar at 9:25 AM on June 6, 2017
Anecdote: an old friend who used to deliberately buy women's fashion knock-offs from eBay started complaining that eBay really cracked down, making it extremely hard to find counterfeits. YMMV.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:52 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by Room 641-A at 10:52 AM on June 6, 2017
Very few apparel brands manufacture their own shoes. Most of them license their brand to shoe manufacturers. So if the items seem a little different than most Gap items, that may be why. The label looks legitimate to me, though.
posted by Cranialtorque at 12:23 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by Cranialtorque at 12:23 PM on June 6, 2017
I just looked at my son's moccasins that we got at Gap at the mall. There's no logo on them anywhere.
posted by Everydayville at 2:22 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by Everydayville at 2:22 PM on June 6, 2017
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posted by wheek wheek wheek at 3:08 AM on June 6, 2017