28 Feb Is that handbag designer or fake? Now there’s an app for that
Detroit Free Press staff
Published 4:54 p.m. ET June 7, 2018
Is that Fendi bag real or fake?
A metro Detroit pawn shop is offering to find the answer for free.
Motor City Pawn Brokers is hosting a one-day event where the public can have their designer handbags and accessories tested for authenticity using a high-tech Entrupy device.
Entrupy is an app that uses a handheld microscope camera that can detect whether a designer item is fake or not. The company boatsts 98 percent accuracy for 11 brands it tested, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci, according to Bloomberg.
It’s one thing to look at lopsided stitching or shoddy material to spot a fake. But counterfeiters have perfected their techniques, making it much harder to figure out whether an item is genuine.
Motor City Pawn Brokers is hosting the event as part of its push into the sale of luxury resale space.
The event is scheduled for June 30 at all of the pawn shop’s locations – Detroit, Ferndale, Roseville and Warren.
Items that are deemed authentic will receive an Entrupy Certificate of Authenticity, which the pawn shop says is recognized by secondary resellers and online marketplaces. Authentication takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, according to a news release.