Most reviews that aren't fake are useless and written within the first few days of ownership anyway .
Like stock mixing.
Yeah, brand reputation doesn't work as a guide to quality any more.
But I don't think we have any other means of reliably identifying quality yet.
Most counterfeits goods skimp on manufacturing quality. Like instead of very detailed stitching with intricate design they might just skip that altogether. For instance one of the easiest ways to identify dupes is if the brand name and design on a bag 'flows' to the other side. Obv counterfeits dont really care because they want to save money
For counterfeit goods that are so high quality 1) they would only show pictures of it, not the real thing and 2) only cost like 1/3 of the brand price.
Aka that $600 bag would still cost $200 if it had identical quality. This is all based on what business owners told me from when I visited counterfeit markets in China
£15K rolex for £2k, yeah no thanks.