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Between 2003 and 2011, authorities in the United Arab Emirates have seized over 200,000 counterfeit Casio watches within the country.
A report found that almost half of foreign travelers from the United Kingdom purchased counterfeit goods while traveling abroad. The most popular countries where counterfeit purchases took place were Greece, Turkey, Spain, Thailand and China.
A civil court case in New York demonstrated the supply chain and profits involved in the counterfeit watch industry.
A group imported fake watch parts from China for the price of 27 cents per watch. After assembling the counterfeit, the group then sold the watches to wholesalers at the price of $12 to $20 per watch. The wholesalers then sold the fake watches to street vendors for $20 to $35 per watch. The vendors then sold the watches to customers for various prices based on street bargaining, with some watches being sold for as much as $250.
Counterfeit watches made up 4 percent of all counterfeit goods seizures made by the United States Customs and Border Patrol in Fiscal Year 2010. The domestic value (actual cost of the fake goods and NOT the retail price of the legitimate product) of the fake watches seized by authorities was $7,847,865.
According to KPMG’s Counterfeit Christmas Index Basket, a basket filled with counterfeit goods purchased in 11 major cities around the world was only 24 percent cheaper then a basket filled with the legitimate product.
The net profit of the estimated 40 million counterfeit watches sold each year is valued at roughly $1 billion. The trade is equal to 6 percent of the Swiss Watch Industry’s exports.