The pigs are officially flying -- high-end designers are cutting prices on their clothes, shoes and handbags. It's not just department stores cutting the costs during their now-weekly sales, it's the manufacturers reducing their wholesale prices before they even ship goods to the stores.

And these are big names -- Chanel, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana -- cutting costs by 8 to 10%. That means that classic Chanel tweed suit you've always wanted, originally retailing for $3,000, is now hitting the stores at $2,700. Not a screaming deal, but now that Saks and Neiman-Marcus are slashing prices by 40 to 60%, hey, it could soon be within your price range!

It definitely is a sign of the times when luxury goods go down in price instead of up (Louis Vuitton and Hermes announced they're holding prices steady for now). But don't shed tears for Donatella, Dolce, Gabbana or any other European designer. A 10% markdown won't dent their profits much because the value of the dollar is increasing against the euro, which means they're not losing as much in markdowns.

Also, luxury designers have high profit margins to begin with (the Wall Street Journal estimates Louis Vuitton's profit margin is 45 cents on every dollar). So even if that Chanel suit is marked down to $1,000, the actual production of that wool boucle suit with gold buttons still doesn't reach that amount. So Karl still makes a profit while you get your (somewhat) steal of a deal.

I'm not a big fan of luxury couture for the average Joe or Jane. I would say that unless you own your home outright, have no credit card debt, and a 7-figure retirement portfolio, you probably have no business setting foot in Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, etc.

Of course, that might make it difficult to keep up for the Joneses. After all, it's certainly worth going in to debt so that people who pass you on the street will be impressed by your handbag. At least, that's what a lot of people apparently think.

Luckily, I have a solution for you would-be posers who are looking to avoid ruining your financial lives in the pursuit of conspicuous consumption: designer shopping bags on eBay.

For $25 (including shipping), you can get 8 bags from one seller: Chanel, Jcrew, 2 from Barneys ( a really cute little mini one), Bath and Body works, Banana Republic, Saks, Michal Negrin, and a MOSCHINO SCARF BOX in gold.

Granted only one of those really qualifies as booshie. For a a little more than $11, you might be able to scoop up a Gucci shopping bag.

Do I actually think people should buy these? No, of course not. Buying shopping bags for stores you don't shop at to impress people you don't even know is about as lame as it gets. But it's less lame -- and less expensive -- than putting designer goods on your credit card and paying 18% interest for a decade.

Earlier this week, police raided warehouses in New York City and Long Island, seizing over $25 million of counterfeit merchandise. The goods taken by the police included knock-off Nike shoes, Duracell batteries, Louis Vuitton handbags, and more. Two men running these warehouses were arrested, and the machines used to put fake logos on the merchandise were seized too.

These knock-offs are typically sold by street vendors and at flea markets. Are you one of the many Americans who regularly buy fake designer bags, shoes, and more? Does a crackdown like this upset you?

The way I see it, these operations deserve to be shut down. I know that a lot of consumers justify operations like this because they want the designer name without paying the designer price. But the fact remains that the logos and the names are the property of the companies that own the original designs. Others should not be able to profit off their names without paying some fee or royalty to them.

This type of illegal profit might be fun and rewarding to the consumers, but it's not fair to the companies that have invested money in the brands and the advertising. This is not a victimless crime, no matter how you slice it. And I'm glad that the authorities take it seriously and do something to help protect the good names and reputations of the true owners of these brands.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.