Billabong, Abercrombie and Fitch, Ed Hardy and Dolce & Gabbana were on the list of brands available for students to buy at low prices this week in the atrium of the University Community Centre.

According to vendor Yolanda Belfrutto, the clothing comes from several stores including Passa Passa Gear in Simcoe, Ontario.

The Gazette conducted an investigation of the vendor’s clothes and noted certain discrepancies with the product labels and price tags.

Product labels did not contain any French writing on them. According to Mario Iafrate, a private investigator of Hallmark Investigations, labels from Canadian distributors would have French writing on them.

Clothing from Canadian distributors should have a CA number and a RN number, Iafrate said. If not then the item was intended for another market outside Canada.

“This isn’t illegal, but it means they are bypassing the Canadian distributor,” Iafrate said, in regards clothing that does not come from Canadian distributors.

Hallmark Investigations previously worked on a case of counterfeit merchandise at Western. On that case Iafrate worked for the anti-counterfeiting lawfirm — Kestenberg, Siegal, Lipkus LLP.

While Iafrate could not comment on the products seen by the Gazette, since he had not seen them directly, he explained important distinctions for distinguishing between real and counterfeit products.

Iafrate mentioned authentic merchandise usually has control numbers on labels for different styles or colors of garments. The tags on the clothing reviewed by the Gazette sold this week in the UCC had the same control numbers for different shirts.

According to Belfrutto, the merchandise comes straight from the manufacturer. The second vendor at the booth, whose name, according to Belfrutto, is John Doe, confirmed they obtained merchandise from the distributors.

However, according to the Abercrombie and Fitch Brand Protection department, the only way to get A&F clothing is through their U.S., Canadian and U.K. stores, or through catalogues and the company website.

Unlike the black market, which is illegal, the grey market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels, which are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer — but not illegal.

It is not known whether the products sold in the UCC atrium were sourced from the grey market.

Nick Vassiliou, manager of reservations at the University Students’ Council, noted the procedure for selecting vendors in the UCC is standard.

“They came to us as [all proposals do], we took their requests to the advertising overview committee and they were good to go,” he explained.

Susan McKone, reservations co-ordinator, reflected on the process as well.

“I felt safe bringing her in because she has a legitimate store and she had Western students working for her in the summer and they suggested that she bring her stuff in,” she said.

While the reservations department looks at the products vendors will be selling, they maintain they are not experts at distinguishing whether they are authentic.

“We have assurances from our vendors […] they are notified of stipulations of what to sell and what not to sell,” Vassiliou maintained.

“People do prey on university students […] [and] its more obvious when you see it at a hospital or school,” Iafrate said.

Kevin Macwan, a third-year health science student, believed unauthentic merchandise does make a difference from having the real brand.

“I’m not paying for something that’s not real,” he said.