Rosie Murphy

New research finds that the majority of US designer sunglasses owners have bought sunglasses they suspect or are certain are counterfeit. Amazon and eBay are the most common places respondents have bought fakes. Consumers should be most wary of Ray-Ban, Gucci, and Cartier sunglasses as they are the most commonly-bought fakes. 

Can you trust your sunglasses are the real deal? High-status brand names attract premium price tags of hundreds or even thousands of dollars. With 40% of consumers in the USA owning at least one pair of designer sunglasses, there’s a big market for counterfeits bubbling under the surface.

Fake designer sunglasses are finding their way into shopping carts on Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces, whether consumers mean to buy them or not. Our research found that 55% of owners of designer sunglasses in the US have bought a pair of sunglasses that they suspect or know are counterfeit. 

We set out to find just how widespread counterfeit sunglasses are. We surveyed a panel of 1,000 US-based designer sunglass owners to find out: 

• The places consumers are buying fakes, with Amazon leading the pack.
• Which brands are most commonly copied (watch out for Ray-Bans!)
• If shoppers can tell the difference between fakes and the real thing. 

Sunglasses season doesn’t stop with summer. From hitting the ski slopes to driving in the glare of the low winter sun, it’s time to ask if you can trust your sunglasses to protect your eyes all year round.