The combination of replica raw materials and authentic empty bottles makes it difficult to distinguish the authenticity of the imitations of big-name skin care products on the market. The replica raw materials that claim to be 99% restored are priced at 100 yuan per kilogram on the wholesale platform, and the average selling price is only 1% of the original product. The investigation by the newspaper reporter found that the technology of counterfeit cosmetics has been further “upgraded”. Unscrupulous merchants usually use the method of “false filling of real bottles”, that is, filling highly restored “raw materials” in genuine empty bottles, and the difficulty of identification increases accordingly.
99.99% similarity? Profit can exceed 95%
The gray business of replicating cosmetic raw materials is on the rise. On June 28, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily browsed the 1688 wholesale platform and found that many merchants were selling “replicas” of big-name cosmetics at prices far below the price of genuine products. Some merchants said that the skin feel, texture, and fragrance of the products They are all consistent with the genuine products, and the rescale reaches 99.9%.
Take La Mer’s face cream, which is priced at 4,520 yuan per 100ml on La Mer’s official website, as an example. In a store on the 1688 platform, a replica product of “La Mer’s” face cream was displayed, and the promotional interface also used a product that was highly similar to the original product. display diagram. Compared with the original product, the price of 100 grams of this replica face cream is 47 yuan after the coupon, which is only 1% of the original product.
In another shop that sells “the same formulation of black bandage face cream”, the store claimed that its product is 99.99% similar to the original product, with a highly similar color and taste, and basically the same efficacy. Currently, more than 1,500 bottles of the product have been sold. In addition to black bandage cream, the store also sells pure essence cream, fairy water, Qinshui liquid foundation and other products. According to the store owner, the average monthly order volume of the store is about 400 to 500 kilograms, and the daily output of the factory can reach 300 kilograms.
According to the calculation of the daily output of 300 kilograms mentioned by the above shop, 3,000 imitations can be produced with 100 grams as the specification. If sold at the original price, the total price will reach 13.56 million yuan; with raw materials 47 yuan/100 grams and genuine empty bottles Compared with the cost of about 100 yuan, the profit margin is above 95%.
On social platforms, there are a large number of complaints from consumers who have bought fake products, and the phenomenon of “real bottles and fake fillings” is very common. A blogger said that after purchasing a face cream, he conducted an appraisal. After comparing various details, he found that the bottle was genuine, but the production batch printed on the bottle had passed for a long time, so it was undoubtedly a fake.
“Real bottles and fake irrigation” attract attention, merchants deliberately blur the brand LOGO
On the wholesale platform, merchants usually use the expression “rubbing the edge” and pictures that are highly similar to the genuine product as publicity, implying the similarity between the product and the genuine product. A reporter from Beijing Business Daily browsed many stores and found that the merchants usually only list the ingredients for the composition of raw materials, and seldom mark the proportions of different ingredients; in publicity, they will choose to blur the imitation brand LOGO and use similar words in the product introduction , such as “sea blue fan”, “pure eye cream” and so on. Without careful screening, consumers will inevitably subconsciously think that it corresponds to a genuine brand.
Previously, the topic of “3,000 yuan cosmetics sold for 300 yuan after the empty bottle was used up” was on the hot search, and the recycling of empty cosmetic bottles attracted public attention. Among them, whether it is equipped with product outer packaging boxes, manuals, and whether there are traces of use will greatly affect the recycling price. For example, if there is an empty bottle of a certain famous face cream, if the outer packaging box, manual, massage stick, etc. are complete, the recycling price is about 400 yuan; if there is only a single empty bottle of facial cream, the recycling price is nearly halved.
There are indications that the recycling of empty cosmetic bottles is not that simple. And when the so-called 99% replica products and genuine empty bottles enter the market, it becomes more difficult for consumers to identify the authenticity.
The counterfeiting method of “real bottle and fake filling” has actually appeared long ago. In April 2022, the Guangling Court of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province announced a counterfeit registered trademark case. According to the investigation, the suspect Han bought empty bottles of branded cosmetics and a small amount of genuine cosmetics and raw materials from a second-hand trading website, diluted them and refilled them, and sold them at low prices on online shopping platforms. Consumer trust, the amount of illegal gains reached 31 million yuan.
Consumers “help” counterfeiting is also illegal. Negative sentiment will affect the brand side
In the cosmetics industry, because some merchants do not have formula development and production equipment, the service of entrusting factories to produce for them is called the “ODM” model, but these factories are mostly authorized by the brand owner or the entrusting party, which is a compliance behavior. Compared with the “ODM” model, the behavior of brand owners who break away from official authorization but “scratch the edge” will undoubtedly disrupt the market.
At present, the raw material manufacturers appearing on the wholesale platform use pictures, texts, etc. to imply that the product is highly similar to the original product of the brand. If it is enough to confuse ordinary consumers, this may infringe the trademark right or product design of the genuine product merchant. copyright.
Wang Jiankun, senior partner of Shanghai Hushi Law Firm, said that the use of reprinted raw materials and authentic empty bottles to counterfeit cosmetics disrupted the normal market order to a certain extent, violated the property rights of obligees, and grabbed illegal profits. Fake goods circulate into the hands of consumers, and quality problems may cause damage to consumers’ right to health.
According to Chao Chenglin, director of the Industrial Space Research Institute, a business expert, from the perspective of the brand side, because illegal merchants use the original packaging to fill fake materials, consumers buy fake products with original packaging, and it is easy to experience bad products. Associated with the brand, this will lead to damage to the brand value in the long run.
For consumers, the act of purchasing counterfeit goods alone does not violate the law, but if the counterfeit goods are purchased for resale or used in the process of selling services, it is illegal. Wang Jiankun pointed out that it is not illegal for consumers to split and sell authentic packaging after purchasing authentic products for consumption purposes, but those who know that they are used for counterfeiting and collect and sell a large number of them may be evaluated as counterfeiting or helping The act of counterfeiting is illegal, and there is a risk of administrative punishment or criminal responsibility.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Zhao Shu commented on Hu Jingrong
Original title: Fake ingredients in real bottles, 100g “reissue” La Mer is only 47 yuan
Editor in charge: Zeng Shaolin