Bargains you can't believe

Back in the 1860s, Bucks County farmer A.L. Rice probably didn't foresee all the entrepreneurial possibilities in the livestock auction he started - how it would morph into a produce center, then an upscale bazaar with handicrafts and flowers, and today a bargain hunter's nirvana.

A 40-acre, open-air emporium, Rice's Sale & Country Market in Solebury Township purports to be the nation's largest flea market, luring shoppers by the thousands on Tuesdays and Saturdays to peruse purses, sunglasses, sweatshirts, socks, and, for the truly discerning patron, tie-dyed bath rugs.

Recently, though, the market also has drawn the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Its agents dropped by twice in the last six months, and not for toe rings.

In a December raid, they seized 1,172 counterfeit items, from faux Ugg footwear and Burberry handbags to MAC cosmetics. Last month, they confiscated 4,333 more knockoff products, including phony Estee Lauder cosmetics; Chanel, Versace and Gucci fragrances; and Phillies, Eagles, and Flyers apparel.

If all those goods had been the real deal, their retail value would have been $441,484.

Rice's is just one of hundreds of flea markets nationwide where counterfeit merchandise finds an avid consumer base. It costs U.S. businesses as much as $250 million a year in lost sales, and most of the goods are coming from China. Last year, according to ICE, $125 million worth of Chinese knockoffs were seized at U.S. ports.

John Kelleghan, head of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia, said the ersatz merchandise not only hurt legitimate manufacturers but also could be dangerous to buyers.

The December raid, he said, was triggered by a woman who complained she had been injured by counterfeit brand-name eye makeup she bought there.

Chuck Kane, Rice's manager for 18 years, said vendors were told they could not sell fakes. But he said the raids, along with monitoring by private investigators for the brand-name merchandizers, were about the only way to strictly enforce the prohibition.

Besides, he said, the raids haven't hurt business. "Sometimes it's carnival-like with all the big crowds," Kane observed last week.

Some vendors said they didn't blame sellers for offering bargain knockoffs, since buyers seem to want inexpensive alternatives to designer handbags, scarves, and footwear.

"There's a lot of people who are doing much worse things," said Peter Graver of Schwenksville, a vendor for the last five years.

But Richard Pappa lamented the incursion of the fakes.

"It's not like it used to be," said Pappa, a retired teacher from New Jersey who has sold handcrafted wreaths and dried-flower arrangements at the market since 1980.

When he started, Rice's was known for its pottery, jewelry, and local farm bounty. Well-dressed women strolled through the market carrying baskets filled with fresh flowers, he recalled.

"This was a very Bucks County, classy market," said Pappa, gesturing to where buffalo once pastured on what is now part of the giant parking area.

The history of Rice's is charted in two buildings that stand where the livestock auction used to take place. A sign from 1890 states that A. Lincoln Rice's sale was postponed because of a big storm.

In 1933, the Lambertville Beacon reported that the sales were attracting "wide attention." A 1945 story in another paper reported a "big supply of ducks" at the auction. And a 1952 National Geographic showed housewives shopping at the farm market.

Sharon Patrick, a shopper from Newtown, said she recently had retired - and couldn't wait to get back to Rice's on a Tuesday, when the market is its liveliest.

"It's just fun walking around and observing the people," she said.

Last week, Debbie Taylor was back at Rice's - even though she now resides in Bakersfield, Calif.

When she lived in Feasterville, Taylor was a regular. Now, she makes a point of heading there whenever she comes back for a visit. "They have great stuff here," she said.

Carleen West of Montgomeryville said she had patronized Rice's for about 20 years, sometimes arriving so early that she needed a flashlight to check out the goods.

Though the variety has changed over time, she still can count on this: "Things I didn't even know I wanted or needed, I find."