(Image Source: BirdAbroad)

 

 

 

 

BY MEGAN FAROKHMANESH

 

 

 

 

You're watching multisource video tech news analysis from Newsy.

 

 

Piracy has long been an issue in China -- but one American woman’s find takes knock-offs to an whole new level. Imagine the 27-year-old blogger’s surprise when she found not one -- but three “fake” Apple stores. 

 

 

The Kunming blogger wrote,

 

 

“This was a total Apple store ripoff. A beautiful ripoff--a brilliant one--the best ripoff store we had ever seen.”

 

 

Aside from some shoddy housing -- a few walls not painted properly, poorly made stairs -- the store walked, talked and acted like its authentic brothers. Employees even wore the trademark blue T-shirts and familiar chunky name tags. 

 

 

“BirdAbroad” noted these people...

 

 

“...hand to God, all genuinely think they work for Apple.”

 

 

But The Wall Street Journal spoke with one employee who had no such delusions. The employee also confirmed that the store is not an authorized Apple reseller. The staffer added,

 

 

“It doesn’t make much of a difference for us whether we’re authorized or not. I just care that what I sell every day are authentic Apple products and that our customers don’t come back to me to complain about the quality of the products.”

 

 

The question remains as to where the fake Apple stores are getting their products from.

 

 

The Journal also reports,

 

 

“Many of the Apple products carried by resellers are purchased from the company’s retail outlets in China, while others are brought overseas and smuggled in. In some cases, the products on offer are second-hand or even knock-offs.”

 

 

So, what now for the Apple store that never was? It might soon be on the chopping block. ZDNet adds,

 

 

 

“Apple’s job will be to shut down the stores. But the rip-off stores are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Apple is likely to have a lot more counterfeit fires to put out...these profits are only going to attract more con artists.”

 

 

Apple has still declined to comment on China’s dazzling impostors.