CNN Style/Fashion | She spent $2,600 on a designer bag from a trusted store. Was it a fake?

(CNN) — Many people will have experienced the excitement of receiving an online order, or that hit of dopamine that follows a new purchase. But what happens when you unbox the goods, only to find that it wasn’t what you were expecting? Worse yet, when it turns out that you spent a significant sum on a product that could potentially be counterfeit?

That was the dilemma Joan Kim had to contend with. In a TikTok video uploaded in December 2024 that has since amassed over 1 million views, the Los Angeles-based content creator shared her frustration at “being scammed” by US luxury department store-chain Saks Fifth Avenue. “It’s the holidays and I wanted to buy a gift,” Kim said, gesturing to an ivory-colored leather bag on her shoulder. Priced at $2,600, it was a tote by The Row, the discreet, logo-free luxury label founded by actresses-turned-designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.  –read more–