KNOCKOFF CLOTHING IS RIPOFF ON MORAL VALUES TOO

Why is it, when we see a deal too good to be true, that we are so often inclined to seize the moment and examine our scruples later?

American consumers are infatuated with the labels in their clothing. The better the label, the more we are willing to pay. Some clothing manufacturers even put the label on the outside to make sure everyone knows how label-conscious we are. Once upon a time, our mothers or our spouses would have chided us for putting on our clothes wrong-side-out.

So when cost-conscious shoppers come upon a treasure trove of clothing with labels like Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy, Guess, Ralph Lauren and Polo Sport with price tags too good to be true, alarm bells ought to go off.

When you see clothing with those labels at a fraction of the cost you would expect to pay, you can reach one quick conclusion: It's a knockoff.

Ever since marketers discovered the allure of brand names, there have been schemers ready to make a cheap version. In the past, con artists tried to make copies that were almost like the real thing, but the brand name would be altered slightly or something else would be slightly different -- buttonholes with different stitching, for example. These days, the con artists make duplicates that look exactly like the originals using cheaper materials and cheaper labor.

Obviously, there is an organized effort in Missouri to thwart the sale of cheap imitations. In recent days, counterfeit clothing has been confiscated from outlets in Dexter, Sikeston, Cape Girardeau and St. Louis.

Good.

When the makers and sellers of these knockoffs take your money and give you inferior goods with easy-to-recognize labels, there are simply stealing. They are stealing the good name and the expectation of quality that goes with the well-known labels.

Occasionally, frugal shoppers can find the real thing with a big-name label at a secondhand store or a garage sale. But you would rarely find large displays of such goods at dirt-cheap prices that aren't knockoffs.

So when you buy these counterfeit goods, you're helping the con artists in their stealing. You may be focused on a bargain, but you really ought to think about whether it's right to participate in this kind of business.

The moral: There's no such thing as a cheap Rolex.