There are two ways to get burnt buying luxury online: receiving a counterfeit, or receiving nothing at all. The signs that warn you about both are the same, and they have almost nothing to do with how good the site looks.
1. The payment method, before anything else
This is the most reliable signal by a distance. A site that only takes bank transfers has made a choice: to leave you with no recourse. A transfer, once gone, cannot be called back. No bank can reverse it.
A card, on the other hand, opens the right to a chargeback: if you receive nothing, or something other than what was advertised, your bank can reverse the transaction. That is why counterfeit sellers will not take cards: half their orders would be reversed.
If the only way to pay is a bank transfer, the question is no longer whether the product is genuine. It is whether you will see your money again.
2. The legal notice
In France, an online shop must publish its company name, legal form, the address of its registered office, its company registration number, its intra-EU VAT number, a phone number, the publication director and the host. That is a legal obligation, not a formality.
Check the registration number against the company register: it must correspond to a company that exists, with a consistent line of business. A site with no legal notice, or with an empty one, is not merely careless: it is in breach, and it knows it.
3. The word « replica », however small the print
Some sites own up to it. You read « identical replica », « mirror quality », « 1:1 » in the descriptions. These phrases are not sales arguments: they are admissions. They exist to limit the seller’s legal exposure, not to inform you.
Worth remembering: in France, buying a counterfeit is an offence for the buyer too. Article L716-10 of the French Intellectual Property Code provides for fines of up to €300,000 and three years’ imprisonment for possession. Customs seize and destroy, and the penalty applies even to a purchase made in good faith.
4. Customer reviews, or their absence
A site that has been selling for two years and shows no reviews has a problem. A site showing 400 five-star reviews, all written in the same voice, has a different one. Look for reviews away from the site: Trustpilot, Google, forums, TikTok.
One point that is often missed: since the Omnibus Directive, a trader displaying reviews must state how it checks that they come from real buyers. The absence of that statement is a signal in itself.
5. Struck-through prices
Under French and European law, the reference price shown next to a promotional price must be the lowest price the seller applied over the previous thirty days. It is not the boutique retail price, nor a recommended price, nor an invented one.
A site where every product permanently shows « -30% » is breaking that rule. When a comparison with the boutique retail price is made, it has to be presented as such, sourced and dated, not dressed up as a former selling price.
6. The returns policy
The right of withdrawal is fourteen days in France for any distance purchase. It is not negotiable and it does not depend on the seller’s goodwill. A site that writes « no returns accepted » is putting itself outside the law, which tells you about the rest.
Look at who pays for the return, too. The law allows the seller to leave the postage to you. A seller who covers the return is taking on the financial risk of its own product: that is a strong signal, because it is expensive to sustain if the goods are poor.
7. What arrives in the box
A genuine second-hand piece arrives with an invoice in the buyer’s name. A certificate, where the seller issues one, must carry a serial number and the name of the person who did the checking. A « certificate » with no name and no number is worth nothing.
The invoice is not just a piece of paper: it is what lets you rely on the legal guarantee of conformity, valid for two years, and prove provenance if you resell.
Your recourse, in practice
- Paid by card and received nothing: ask your bank for a chargeback, generally within 120 days. Reason: goods not received.
- Received a counterfeit: chargeback as well, reason « goods not as described ». Keep the parcel and the photographs.
- The seller does not answer: report it on SignalConso, the platform run by the French consumer protection authority. Reports do trigger real inspections.
- Dispute with a French seller: the consumer ombudsman is free, and every trader is obliged to offer one.
- Paid by bank transfer: recourse is very limited. File a complaint, and expect a slim chance of recovery.
The questions we get asked
Yes, when the reason is documented. Keep screenshots of the product page, your exchanges with the seller and photographs of the parcel you received. The window runs from 30 to 120 days depending on the bank.
In law, possession is punishable regardless of good faith. In practice, prosecutions target resellers above all, but customs seizures reach everyone, private buyers included.
Yes, considerably. A seller outside the European Union is in practice beyond the reach of the right of withdrawal and the legal guarantee. The parcel can also be held at customs, at your expense.
