Finer Bags Business Analysis

Counterfeit goods pose a significant challenge to the global economy and international trade; in 2013 alone, sales of counterfeit and pirated goods comprise 2.5% of the total international trade, exceeding $461 billion (Medium, 2017). In such an economic environment where intellectual property rights are being challenged and governments are figuring out ways to control counterfeit goods, Finer Bags came out with a surprising business model – sell fake goods and advertise them as such (Brusseau, 2012). It was a courageous step relying on honesty on part of the company. Operating with an open policy also means that the conflict between the company’s ethical code and employee behavior on the ground has been reduced (Brusseau, 2012). Finally, whether

Everyone at Finer Bags knows they are selling fake bags. This is publicly advertised to the public, and the company’s business operates on the assumption that people will still (or should) buy the fake bags. The prices are not set equal to the original branded bags and are considerably lower. For this model to continue to work, employees need to make sure they are as honest as possible. If they are selling fake bags as real when the opportunity arises (to ignorant customers) while normally advertise their bags as fake, Finer Bags would quickly go out of business. Therefore, Finer Bags cannot work without honesty. It could be argued that Finer Bags is urging customers to lie to their friends and families about the originality of the bags, so Finer Bags profits from dishonesty. However, a closer look at the advertisement of Finer Bags would reveal that Finer Bags is claiming that many branded bags in the market are fake and that consumers should buy their products since every product could be fake as well (Brusseau, 2012). Finer Bags is making an argument that consumers are more likely to buy fake products so they should just pay low prices for an honest replica. This is different from urging customers to use their fake products and claim them as real

According to act utilitarianism, Finer Bag’s business might be justified. Assuming that Finer Bags make good quality replicas, people who couldn’t afford the original branded bags will be happy since they can buy something cheaper and pass it off as an original. The probability that others will find out that the bags are fake, and the embarrassment and anxiety resulting from the process is considerably small compared to the amount of pleasure that people will obtain from using the fake bags. Finer Bags also makes a substantial profit and is able to provide jobs and wages to more people. On the other hand, branded companies like Louis Vuitton would not be negatively affected (economically) since Finer Bags is targeting a different consumer base. While it is true that people who might otherwise buy a handbag from Louis Vuitton might be convinced into buying a handbag from Finer Bags, most of the customers from Finer Bags are probably people who couldn’t afford original branded handbags. Rule utilitarianism, however, would not consider the business of fake replicas unethical. If everyone follows the rule that replicas can be made and sold for every branded quality product, no company will bother to put time and effort on improving the quality of their products since they won’t be making profits anyway. In fact, it would even be absurd for managers to build a brand name or