The issue of counterfeit brand-name cosmetics on mainland online shopping platforms at low prices has once again attracted attention. Some consumers who purchased “half-priced” brand lipsticks suspected they had bought fake goods. Subsequently, the media conducted a sampling test on several major brand lipsticks sold online, with the results showing that of 7 products, 6 were identified by third-party platforms as imitation goods.
According to a recent report by “Cover News,” a resident of Wuhan, Hubei Province, named Zhang Li (pseudonym), received a Yves Saint Laurent “Little Gold Bar” lipstick from her boyfriend in March this year purchased through a flash sale on Meituan. The price of the product was about half of the counter price. After using it, Zhang Li found that the texture and smell of the lipstick were significantly different from the same product she had used in the past. She then had the product authenticated by the “De Wolo” app, which identified it as a counterfeit.
Zhang Li subsequently contacted the merchant, who denied selling fakes, claiming that the product came from a duty-free store and requested consumers to find an institution for testing by themselves. Zhang Li also took the lipstick to the brand’s counter for inquiry, but the staff there said they couldn’t confirm its authenticity. Worried about the unknown ingredients of the product, she eventually disposed of the lipstick.
In light of this situation, “Cover News” conducted a sampling purchase as a consumer. The report stated that reporters placed orders from several high-selling online stores in various urban areas of Wuhan, purchasing a total of 7 brand lipsticks from Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, MAC, Lancôme, etc. These products were generally priced significantly lower than in the counter or brand flagship stores, with some prices as low as half of the original price.
The report mentioned that the qualifications of the shops selling these lipsticks varied. The store where Zhang Li’s boyfriend placed the order was registered as an individual department store, operating not only lipsticks and perfumes but also food, toys, electronics, etc. Upon checking the registration information of other shops, it was found that apart from one being a trading company, the rest were mostly department stores, convenience stores, with registered addresses showing village room numbers or office room numbers.
During the purchase process, the trading methods of some merchants also raised concerns. Some shops claimed that the Gucci lipstick purchased by consumers was out of stock and later replaced with a Dior product of the same shade; while some merchants added consumers on WeChat, asking to cancel platform orders and transfer money privately, with a condition of receiving 20 yuan less. When asked whether they guaranteed genuine products, the response was, “It is definitely genuine, and if fake, we will compensate double.”
After receiving the products, reporters found that all 7 lipsticks had barcodes or QR codes on the packaging, but for some products, scanning through Alipay or WeChat did not display the corresponding product information. Specifically, the Saint Laurent, Chanel, and MAC products did not show any related information when scanned. Reporters then took these products to the respective brand counters for verification, but the staff there said they could not confirm authenticity.
Subsequently, the reporters sent the 7 online-purchased lipsticks to the “De Wolo” app for authentication. The results indicated that the Lancôme lipstick was identified as genuine; whereas Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, MAC, and other brand products were identified as imitation goods, with reasons mainly being “visual details not matching genuine features.”
The reporters also sent the Yves Saint Laurent and MAC lipsticks purchased from the brand’s counters to the “De Wolo” app for comparison authentication, and different appraisers all concluded they were genuine.
“Cover News” also mentioned that on the Black Cat Complaint Platform, there were over a thousand complaints regarding the sale of “fake lipsticks” on platforms such as Meituan, Pinduoduo, De Wolo, Vipshop, etc. From the handling results, many complaints were not ultimately resolved, or were still in the process of being handled.