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Browsing in a clothing store, you notice a well-known clothing brand for sale at a fraction of the price. Do you scoop it up before anyone else can, or do you question its authenticity?In the wake of a counterfeit clothing bust at a store in Grand Marais that netted an estimated $18,000 worth of knockoffs, the Winnipeg Sun wanted to see what the average consumer thought of fake goods.

“I think any good Manitoban is always looking for a great deal on clothing, so when you find a good price on a name brand shirt or hoodie ... you pick it up," said Perry Neufeld. “If you find out after, it's not actually from the source, would I keep wearing it? If it fits me well and I like it, I think I'd keep wearing it.“

Skateboarder Darrick Fast said if he found out something he owned was a fake he wouldn't be too bothered.

“I probably wouldn't care all that much, as long as I could wear it and it was cheap," Fast said.

RCMP seized more than 350 items from Tropical Trends last Friday — knockoffs of popular brand names like Abercrombie & Fitch, Billabong, DC Shoes, Quiksilver and Ed Hardy.

Many customers thought they were just getting a great deal.

“I would never have guessed that it was knockoffs," said Mike Davidson, a Tropical Trends shopper. “But at the same time, when you see a price of $30 or $40 on a hoodie that should be $110, you start to think that might be too good of a deal."

No charges have yet been laid in the Grand Marais case.

Tropical Trends manager Phillip Breault said as far as he knew, the items were from a reliable supplier.

“Everything was legitimate," he said. “So we're going to stay open and hopefully nothing like that will never happen again."

RCMP Cpl. John Montgomery of the Federal Enforcement Section said consumers should keep in mind that buying knockoffs has a big impact on local retailers.

“None of that money goes to where you think it's going," he said. “There's people that are dependent upon their jobs by selling these materials."

Gerald Haasbeek, owner of Royal Sports in Winnipeg ,said he wasn't surprised to hear of the bust, but is pleased the knockoffs are now off the market.

“I don't think any brand name is immune to counterfeit goods," said Haasbeek, whose stores sell legitimate products from Billabong and Quiksilver. “I think it affects every market, whether it be cellphones to T-shirts to hockey jerseys."

MAKE SURE TAGS INTACT

If a consumer wants to make sure they're buying an authentic clothing item, a local business expert says there are a few ways to check the product.

“One is make sure all the tags are intact," said Robert Warren, executive director of the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Manitoba. “Usually brand name companies, the hang tags ... are very specific. And most knockoff merchandise doesn't come with those tags on it."

It might not be a big difference, but the colour shade, font or spelling might be slightly off.

“The other thing to take a look at is the quality of the merchandise. That means you have to know what the real item looks like," Warren said. “The stitching might be wrong ... If the real one has an embroidered piece on it, this may have an appliqué ... if it's counterfeit."

Manitoba RCMP Cpl. John Montgomery said the biggest sign is the cost.

“If you know that a particular hoodie or a particular shirt that you can buy at a regular retailer is $50 or $60 dollars, and you can buy it online for $15 or $20 brand new, then ... that's the obvious clue. Because there's no way that the manufacturer can discount it that much to get to that price point."

What about those major brand names that pop up in discount stores? Large companies often have deals to sell last season's stock or “imperfect" items.

“The discount stores will get reject clothing ... but that's all through a legitimate supply chain," Montgomery said. “Now those stores in the past have been duped by ... suppliers who are just trying to make a buck."