parties often consists of counterfeit knock-offs of popular, name-brand purses. Merchandise at American purse parties is usually bought in bulk from smugglers in New York's Chinatown or in Los Angeles' garment district and sold to unsuspecting customers at a significantly higher price, although still lower than the retail price of the legitimate product. These inferior smuggled goods have been linked to organized crime and the funding of terrorism, so purse parties have become of interest to law enforcement. Selling such purses, with an imitation designer label, is a US federal crime, even if the seller tells the buyer that the purse is a fake. References Direct selling Parties Retail processes and techniques