eBay Promotes Streetwear Authentication on Canal Street of All Places

Shoppers flock to New York City’s Canal Street for counterfeit designer goods – and eBay used that as part of its marketing strategy when it opened a three-day pop-up store there on November 2nd.

As TripAdvisor describes, Canal Street features street vendors, open storefronts and jewelry shops peddling an assortment of “luxury” watches, “designer” bags, perfumes, and souvenir t-shirts – and advises visitors, “buyer beware, authenticity not guaranteed.”

eBay announced on Thursday, “With the expansion of its Authenticity Guarantee to streetwear, eBay’s Canal Street Wear shop opens today in NYC with an unrivaled selection of authentic streetwear and sneakers.” The gimmick worked – when one media outlet picked up the story, it titled the article, “EBay Popup Puts Real-Deal Streetwear Next to Canal Street Counterfeits.”

eBay’s Canal Street Wear’s merchandise was curated from top rated sellers NYMilan, RIF and Soled Out Jersey City. Shoppers could also bring in streetwear items from their own closets to have them authenticated on-site by eBay’s “team of streetwear experts.”

In the spring, eBay added streetwear to the limited number of “focus categories” and made it the 6th category to offer its eBay Authenticity Guarantee.

eBay said it has seen a 150% increase in global searches for streetwear on its marketplace since the beginning of the year. “As the industry has grown, counterfeiting of goods has also grown – creating a seed of doubt amongst enthusiasts. Canal Street Wear brings eBay’s incredible selection of authentic streetwear into the hands of shoppers on Manhattan’s infamous Canal Street – a longtime hub for bootleg, counterfeit and gray-market goods.”

The new eBay Canal Street Wear shop is not a permanent retail store – it’s a pop-up store that will close on Saturday after 3 days of operation. But eBay no doubt hopes shoppers from all over the country and world who can’t make it to New York City will think of its marketplace as a destination for urban fashion thanks to the marketing promotion.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.