• Rule #1) If the seller is in China, Hong Kong or Thailand, it is a fake. Period.

  Canada Goose has no dealers in China, Hong Kong or Thailand. Each of these places do, however, have a huge clothing industry that can make you a Canada Goose parka, an Armani suit or a Louis Vuitton handbag during your lunch hour. If you buy a Canada Goose parka from a seller in Asia, you will get a fake parka.

  
  

  Buying a Canada Goose parka from seller in another country -- even Canada -- is no guarantee that you'll get a genuine Canada Goose. The people selling these fakes aren't stupid so many have figured out that people are suspicious of parkas being sold from Asian countries. To put you off your guard, many counterfeiters will use an account that makes it appear that the seller is in some other country, often the U.S., Canada or the United Kingdom. The parka is then shipped to you directly from Asia. Some of the more enterprising actually ship their fake parkas to third countries and sell them from there.

  
  

• Rule #2) If the seller says something like "other sizes and colors available," it is probably a fake.

  Anyone who can lay their hands on a big selection of sizes, styles or colors is either a legitimate Canada Goose dealer or someone with a lot of fake parkas to get rid of. If the seller is a legitimate dealer, you ought to be able to find them listed on the Canada-Goose website. If they're trying to sell a lot of parkas online, however, the odds are they're not.

  
  

  Genuine Canada Goose products are also often in short supply, especially for popular styles and colors. Many people pre-order their new parkas in July or August. By January, it may be impossible to find what you're looking for.




• Rule #3) What you see may not be what you get.

  The pictures in a listing may give you clues that the parka is counterfeit but they can't prove that the parka is genuine. First of all, the pictures may not show all the details you'd like to see. Many counterfeiters -- though by no means all -- make obvious errors in their fake parkas. If the website listing doesn't show those details, you don't know whether the seller is just sloppy or whether they're hiding something.

  
  

  You also may not be seeing a picture of the actual item you're buying. Some counterfeiters just pull pictures of genuine Canada Goose parkas off the internet and stick them in their listing. Others take their own pictures of a genuine parka and use those pictures in their listing. This can be really hard to catch. But if you see a picture in a listing that looks familiar, watch out! This may be a sign that you're not seeing pictures of the parka that's being sold.




• Rule #4) Ignore the tags.

  All these fake parkas proudly proclaim that the parka is "with tags" and include pictures, sometimes very detailed pictures of a full set of the tags that come with a genuine Canada Goose parka. Don't fall for it. A fake set of tags is the easiest thing in the world for a counterfeiter to make and make perfectly. They mean nothing.




• Rule #5) Know what you're looking for.

  A surprising number of counterfeiters don't correctly identify what model of Canada Goose parka they are trying to sell. For example, the title might mention an "Expedition Parka" while displaying a picture of a Chilliwack. Sometimes, the counterfeiter doesn't identify the model at all and just calls it a "Canada Goose jacket" or a "Canada Goose parka." Always make sure the picture of any new Canada Goose product being offered on any website matches the written description. If it doesn't it's almost certainly a counterfeit.

  
  

  What follows is a short listing of a few of the signs of a fake parka. Genuine Canada Goose parkas are made in Canada with extraordinary attention to detail so there are literally hundreds of things that a counterfeiter can and will do wrong. These, however, are some of the more obvious problems you can spot from a photo.

  
  

  Bad Haul Loop

  Currently, new Snow Mantras, Resolutes, Expeditions, and Heli Arctics all have a haul loop in the middle of the back, just above the shoulder blades. Haul loops for these parkas will have the name of the parka embroidered on a tag which is stitched to the haul loop. Haul loops for the adult models of these parkas will never say "Canada Goose."

  This is an example of a genuine Canada Goose haul loop.

  

  This is an example of a fake Canada Goose haul loop from a counterfeit Expedition.

  

  
  

  Bad Fur Ruff

  Most Canada Goose parkas have a fur ruff around the hood. This fur is coyote and coyote fur has a distinctive pattern. It's a bit hard to describe, but once you've seen it, it's easy to recognize if you look for it. Many of the fakes definitely do not use coyote fur. Some use synthetic fur (which is useless in very cold conditions as it freezes up.) Others use dog fur or heaven knows what.

  Here's an example of something that is definitely not coyote fur.

  

  
  

  Bad Material

  In most Canada Goose parkas, the outer shell is made from a material called Artic-Tech that has been treated with Teflon. This material is quite heavy and does not wrinkle. It is also not shiny.

  Here's a particularly bad Canada Goose fake, apparently made out of nylon.

  This shell is shiny, thin and extremely wrinkled.

  

  
  

  Bad ID Pocket

  This problem appears on the Snow Mantra and the Resolute. Copies of these parkas are, however, starting to show up, especially large numbers of fake Snow Mantras.

  Here's a picture of a fake Snow Mantra. They've put a lot of effort into the details but it still has has a couple of minor flaws and a ridiculously huge one.

  

  Here, the counterfeiters have bothered to put the name of the parka on the haul loop. Look, however, at the plastic ID pocket. Real Canada Goose ID pockets are made of a special material designed to remain flexible at very low temperatures. The real thing has a dull finish and is not completely transparent. It is also relatively thick and does not crease or wrinkle. The pocket on this parka, however, is both very transparent, and very shiny. The pocket itself is also too small. On a genuine Snow Mantra, the ID pocket covers almost the entire left breast pocket.

  
  

  But the biggest problem with this parka is that it is too short. A genuine Snow Mantra is almost knee-length. This parka, as you can see from the sleeves, is only about waist-length. Oops.

  
  

  Labels Only

  Some counterfeiters don't even try to copy Canada Goose jackets. Instead, they just stick Canada Goose labels on any old jacket or vest and claim it's a "genuine" Canada Goose. Here's a couple of particularly pathetic examples.

  This looks nothing like any model of Canada Goose vest. For example, the pockets are completely wrong and the Canada Goose label is in the wrong place.

  

  These are supposed to be Canada Goose Expedition parkas. But they're not even close. Once again, the pockets are wrong -- in this case, they're actually missing! The round "Antarctica" label is also in the wrong place. In a real Expedition, the round "Antarctica" label is in the middle of the upper pocket, about halfway down the chest, not up by the collar.

  

  Also note the large number of parkas in this picture. This is a clear indication of counterfeiting as discussed in Rule #2.

  
  

Let the Buyer Beware.

The problem with fake Canada Goose parkas is that none of them, not even the ones that appear to be decent copies, are anything like the real thing. Most of them have obvious flaws. None of them work anywhere near as well as the genuine article. If you want a Canada Goose parka because they're cool, you look pretty silly in a fake. If you want a Canada Goose parka because they're warm, the fakes don't perform anything like the real thing and you'll get cold. At least a fake Rolex can still tell time.

If you want a deal on a genuine Canada Goose parka, your best bet is to look in the late spring when the counterfeiters are a little less active and some genuine dealers are attempting to move out a few left-overs from the previous winter's stock.