[tony20009]

Originally Posted by bing240sx

in most cases it is quite easy to tell a fake... if you could make an watch of the same quality as a rolex you would be better off having your own brand instead of faking it.

sure there are high end fakes but they dont get sold for $200. i believe part of the reason they exist is simply to prove how good you can make a fake but there is not necessarily a large market for them... people pay $200 for replica watches but the cases and bracelets wear out as quickly as other $200 watches..., the crystals scratch and fade, the pieces age... you can tell they are fake.

incidentally, while i would not buy or wear a fake watch (unless it was particularly interesting) i would also NOT pay full price for alot of 'genuine' car parts... like BMW M3 splitters... i'll go with the rep all day long.

funny, i cant even really justify why but that's how i feel.

Red:
That isn't at all consistent with economic concepts of competition, market equilibrium and barriers to entry. That there is even such a thing as a "fake" XYZ is the result of an artificial barrier to entry.

Producers of fakes ignore the artificial barrier called "branding" (intellectual property rights) and do exactly what is economically natural: they see others making profits selling a good and so they enter the market to sell the same good and thereby claim a share of the potential profits.

• Barriers to Entry: http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Bus..._to_entry.html
• Competition:
  • Perfect competition: http://tutor2u.net/economics/content...ompetition.htm
  • http://tutor2u.net/economics/revisio...mpetition.html
• Market Equilibrium: http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Com...uilibrium.html

Blue:
Inasmuch as you've asserted that a 1B+ potential consumers isn't "a large market," what is?

Green:
Over what time interval? That they have aged is quite often what gives many authentic products part of their appeal. (http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2010/6/...in-the-wo.html)



Indeed the perceived value of aging isn't limited to watches. It's applicable also to furniture, for example.

Purple:
I won't refute your assertion in this regard for I believe you.

I realize that there there are several major schools of thought on the matter of fate and free will, so I'll merely suggest that in the long run, you'll find it a huge boon to know why you will and won't take a given action. Many folks act and don't really know why, but the vast majority of those people are 100% capable of altering that state of being to one where their actions and choices are deliberate and well considered.

All the best.