COUNTERFEITERS GETTING SOPHISTICATED WITH PURSES

know the bag is fake and are attempting to rip off the shop.

“I would say that most people don’t know if their bag is real or not,” Mack said.

With luxury bags costing several thousands of dollars, being able to know a shop is buying the real deal is vital.

“Fake bags have gotten so good that sometimes it is hard to tell with the naked eye if it is authentic,” Thompson said. “We’re talking about a $5,000 Chanel bag. You have to know, because if it’s not authentic, it’s worthless. It’s a huge problem.”

Mack said Max Pawn will offer the authentication service to anyone, whether they’re trying to pawn their bag or not for a yet-to-be-determined fee. Having one day a month during which the service is provided for free is also being considered, Mack said.

Entrupy backs up the authentication service with a financial guarantee. If a bag is deemed to be authentic and later is discovered to be fake, Entrupy will cover any financial loss.

Having a piece of technology to better define an item’s value goes a long way to improving a shop’s reputation.

“We’re a pawn shop, so people question what we’re selling as it is, because of the stigma of a pawn shop,” Mack said. “Entrupy has been a tremendous help … Now we have the ability to have a certificate with each bag we sell, which is huge.”

A pawn shop employee using just experience A display quote in Friday’s Sun was incorrectly attributed. Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said, “We are the gold standard for gaming, and I want to be the gold standard in the cannabis industry.”

and instinct who tells a customer that a bag the customer is trying to sell or pawn is fake can quickly escalate into a contentious situation if the customer takes offense. Having the technology to back up a claim eliminates the headaches sometimes associated with such transactions.

“We’re removing that liability for them (the salesperson),” Thompson said. “It’s not them (the salesperson) saying their item is not authentic, we’re (Entrupy) saying it. They’re still the good guy.”

Entrupy, which recently secured $2.6 million in series A funding, plans to enter the shoe authentication sector next. Much sought-after shoes such as Air Jordans, Yeezys and others can fetch hundreds to thousands of dollars on the resale market.

“The really cool thing about our technology is that we can authentic anything that is replicated, except glass,” Thompson said. mick.akers@lasvegassun. com / 702-948-7813 / @mickakers