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.
“I’ve been needing a bag and I wanted one that wasn’t so ‘loud,’” Kim told CNN over email. (As) I already had The Row bag in medium, I wanted to buy the bigger size in black.” And while she was initially delighted to receive her order, made online through Saks Fifth Avenue (a receipt of the purchase was viewed by CNN), that joy quickly faded as she noticed discrepancies between her new purchase and the same style she already owned.
Kim said that the dust bag it arrived in was a different color and fabric, its drawstring visibly thicker. The stitched-on rectangular logo, bearing the brand’s name, also looked dissimilar. “I had a feeling it was off,” said Kim, adding that when she opened the dust bag, what she found inside “was even weirder.” Looking at her cream bag, which she had purchased directly from The Row’s Melrose Place store, and the black version that had arrived from Saks, she observed multiple differences — from the material used in the lining to its shape when worn.
