This woman got duped into buying a fake bag at Marshalls. It has been happening a lot lately with designer goods sold at affordable retailers.
Affordable retailers caught (accidentally) selling fakes
Over the last year, there’s been a spree of fake items showing up in places like Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and Saks OFF 5TH. Some scammers buy legit designer pieces—like handbags, wallets, and perfumes—swap them for fakes, and then return them to the store.
These “shoppers” often get away with it because many stores either don’t have or don’t enforce an authentication protocol, and even if they did, it’s likely that they’re not equipping staff with the expertise or tools to properly authenticate a returned item.
So, the scammers get to keep the high-end piece (either for themselves or to sell), while some other shopper is unknowingly stuck with a Temu knockoff that they think is the real deal.
And it seems one of these culprits claimed another victim.
The case of the faux Rachel Zoe bag
In a trending video with more than 70,000 views, Malay (@itsjustmalay) shared her recent “Marshalls Debacle” as she so aptly called it.
Malay recalls that a few months back, she was shopping with her mom and spotted a black faux leather shoulder bag that she was unsure about getting. While the asymmetrical design seemed to catch her eye, Malay didn’t love the thick strap on it.
“Just buy it, sit on it, see if you like it,” her mom advised. “If not, return it.”
Malay got the bag, but it sat in her guest room for months since she quickly realized it wasn’t her vibe.
When Malay went to return it she was surprised by how much the Marshalls employee was inspecting the bag and looking at it every which way with a stank face. She even called over the manager, who went through the same motions.
“The manager just looks at me, real stank, real dirty, which I don’t appreciate,” Malay says, adding that she realized they thought she was the one who swapped the bag out for a fake.
The manager radioed another employee who brought out the same bag, but that one had “Rachel Zoe” in gold metal letters splayed across the purse.
“I could have swore I’ve seen this before without the little name on it,” Malay adds.
The shopper reiterated to the Marshalls workers that she did purchase the bag like that from one of their stores, but they insist it’s not a real “Zoe.”
“It wasn’t me,” Malay says.
But with the employees not budging on letting her make the return, Malay says she was just gonna have to donate the bag.
“Whoever did it, shame on you,” Malay says sternly as she throws the bag at the camera. “Don’t do that sh*t again, b*tch.”
Was the bag really a fake?
Some commenters said that the bag could still be an original.
“I have this exact bag from Marshall’s and it doesn’t say anything. That’s the legit bag lol,” a person wrote.
“Omg i actually bought the same exact bag at the time it didn’t have anything on the outside and later on in a few weeks i seen it again w rachel zoe on it but i returned mine as well,” another added.
We scoured the internet for an original link to the bag, but it seems the fashion designer only has two bag styles out on her official retailer’s site and neither of them are the shoulder bag in question. Given this, the Daily Dot could not verify if there were legit versions of the bag with and without the Rachel Zoe logo.
But a Google Image Search and some keywords uncovered that this is called the “Fearless Re-Edition” bag, at least according to online resellers. In their images, the bag has the words “RACHEL ZOE” in small gold letters on the bottom front part of the bag and is label free on the back. (The bag also comes in green.)
The general going rate for the bag online is $40 (not including shipping and other fees), which is just $15 cheaper than the potential knockoff from Marshall’s.
@itsjustmalay They got me #marshalls #marshallshaul #marshallsfinds #tjmaxxfinds #tjmaxx #tjmaxxshopping ♬ original sound – M 🦇
The Daily Dot reached out to Malay for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Marshalls and Rachel Zoe via email.
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