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Posted (edited)
On 12/15/2018 at 6:32 AM, eezyrider said:

I'm sure you are right that in certain lines of business, counterfeiting robs legitimate companies of revenue. Surely though, nobody is going to deprive Rolex of a sale by buying a 50 quid fake?

 

imo the negative effect of counterfeiting is subtler and broader than that.  (it is counterfeiting which is criminal, vs "piracy" which is not; counterfeiting afaik is defined as the commercial infringement of a copyright, i.e copying and selling what you copy) . 

For example, a fake Rolex sale negatively hurts everyone who owns a Rolex.  Why?  Because the current value each of those Rolex's is determined by the resale market and counterfeit product affects secondary sales directly by adding to supply and indirectly by creating risk for buyers (am I getting a real one?).  I would not buy by a late model luxury watch privately because of the counterfeiting - and that fact, a demand reduction from counterfeiting  hurts the value of anyone's real Rolex.  Doubt is created keeping some out of the market or they use the most common way to manage risk;  hedge on price.  With the value of all used Rolex's being negatively affected, this lessens demand for new to some degree - i.e. a perception of less resale value will make some people less keen to purchase.

At the manufacturers level, the 50 quid watch may not be competing for the sale of the 5000 real one, however it can take the wind out of its sales.  There are significant effects on marketing from counterfeiting.  If I'm buying a $5000 Rolex,  to cut through to the heart of it, its value proposition isn't telling time.  It's vanity; status, fashion, how good and impressive it looks on me.   That buyer may not entertain the 50 quick knock off, but knowing the same look is achieved for 50 is a big bucket of cold water on the cachet needed to sell a 5000 watch, and that cachet is the buyers reason for buying.

The point is in most things there are lots of stakeholders and if the law is broken, in case of counterfeiting possibly a crime committed, the assessment of affects should consider all of them

Edited by measuretwice
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