At the bottom of this guide there is a blue bar where you can vote YES for this guide being helpful.  Please vote YES, it helps others see the guide and avoid getting ripped off.  That's good karma for you! 

UPDATE:  THE QUICKEST WAY TO KNOW WHETHER IT'S A FRAUD OR NOT, THOUSANDS HAVE BEEN HELPED FROM FOLLOWING THESE RULES TO AVOID GETTING CHEAP RALPH LAUREN FAKES.

Thanks for your positive vote. (vote "Yes" below)  No doubt the negative votes are from the crooked sellers selling this fraudulent crap.  My hope is to keep people from getting ripped off, yet people are still getting ripped off everyday.  I see these Purple Label frauds and Ralph Lauren frauds everytime I look.

Does it really matter if you bought a fraud and it seems that no one notices?  The fact is yes. 

Because good manners dictate that the most likely people you're trying to impress will also be the most likely to notice and the least likely to say anything (at least to you!).  These fakes are worth a few dollars at best. 

Last year I noticed white, black and navy 'Ralph Lauren Purple Label' shirts in multiple sizes and quantities from a few sellers.

I ended up buying 2 of each color because I am unable to resist a good deal.  Upon arrival it was almost immediately apparent that these were not genuine.  The stitching on the placket was poor.  The fabric felt cheap and poorly woven and the buttons were the standard fare.

A trip down to the Polo shop to examine the genuine item revealed a few details to look for:

1.  Real Mother of Pearl Buttons that are of a smaller diameter that the standard ones and about twice as thick as the standard ones.

2.  Near perfect stitching and pattern matching throughout the shirt.  These same fraudulent sellers now have pattern shirts that give them selves away in the photographs.  The stripes of the placket, pockets and collars often don't line up.  This is always a sign of a cheap shirt at any price and a certain fraud when it comes to Polo Purple Label.

3.  There are 7 buttons on a Purple Label dress shirt and the bottom button is cut and stitched horizontally in most cases.  I say (most) because I have genuine shirts with and genuine without this feature.

Lastly, an almost certain way to know it's real.  The people that sell genuine products generally have one off items that are odd colors, patterns or sizes and an eclectic mix of products in their inventory, store or history.  These sellers get their inventory the same way you can by shopping the right times of the year at their preferred sellers and outlets. 

A friend at a outlet store near me reports that EBAY buyers flood the store and buy $5k to 10k in reduced items (suits, shirts, pants, etc) on the first day of their major markdown sales.  They also shop the outlets and factory stores and grab a mish-mash of heavily discounted goods. 

But it is certain that they don't find 10 in white, black and navy of the same shirt.  A similar inventory or history is always a red flag to me.  It doesn't matter if it's Purple Label or the Blue Label line.  Any similar inventory in popular colors, all sizes and this season under wholesale prices is suspect as a cheap fake. 

(BTW... cases of name brand items don't fall off trucks as often as most people would like to believe.)

I am not a seller or in any way compete with these sellers I just don't like seeing people get ripped off.

Good luck, educate yourself and use your common sense.  If you have any doubts take the item to a genuine shop and compare it.  Don't give good feedback until you're certain your article is genuine.

Please vote "Yes" below, thank you.