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Young shoppers are “no longer turning to retailers to figure out what products to buy, how to wear their hair, or what makeup styles are trending – they are figuring it out for themselves on TikTok,” NBC’s Leticia Miranda and Kalhan Rosenblatt wrote this week, reflecting on rise of the 4-year-old short video-sharing app, which is slated to have almost 80 million U.S. users by the end of the year. Not terribly unlike discovering outfit inspiration in the widely-used app, consumers do not need to look very hard to uncover a vast supply of counterfeit goods that are being shown off – and in some cases, offered up – on the ByteDance-owned social media platform, with Gucci, Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel among some of the brands whose trademarks most commonly appear on counterfeit goods on the app.

According to a newly-released study from UK-based consumer credit products company Money, which reviewed various hashtags associated with 40 of the most popular luxury brands – from #fake[brandname] and #[brandname]fake to #faux[brandname] and #counterfeit[brandname] – to determine the most heavily-targeted brands, Gucci is the most-frequently featured brand when it comes to counterfeit goods on TikTok. Putting Gucci at the top of the list, Money identified 13.6 million posts that mention the Kering-owned brand alongside counterfeit products in a 24-hour period early this month.

Swiss watchmaker Rolex, which is routinely one of the most counterfeited brands in the world, took the number two spot in terms of the most counterfeit-specific TikTok hashtags, with 11.7 million, followed by Louis Vuitton with 2.1 million. The numbers dipped pretty significantly for Dior, which was ranked at number 4, with 282,700 counterfeit hashtags; Chanel with 163,181, Balenciaga (144,500), Prada (121,468), Hermes (86,000), Cartier (51,000), and Burberry (15,000), which round out the top 10 on the list.

Across the board, Money found that for the brands it examined, TikTok was completely devoid of hashtags that contained the word “counterfeit,” likely the result of policing efforts by the platform, which prohibits users from posting “content that violates or infringes someone else’s copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights” as part of its terms of service. With certain hashtags seemingly blocked by the platform, users were commonly found to include searchable hashtags, such as #fake[brandname] and #[brandname]fake, along with videos depicting counterfeit goods.

While Money did not include figures for hashtags that consist of a brand name and the word “dupe,” those are almost certainly prevalent, as “dupe culture” has proven prominent among younger social media users. As TFL previously reported, no shortage of the individuals that populate TikTok have taken to using the platform as a way to proudly showcase items that are conveniently – albeit erroneously – labeled as “dupes.” Realistically, these items are not “dupes,” a term used to refer to legally above-board products that take inspiration from existing (and often much more expensive) products. Since most “dupe” products make unauthorized use of other brands’ names and/or logos, they are more accurately characterized as trademark infringing goods and/or counterfeits.

Avoiding a Counterfeit Crackdown

The widespread availability of counterfeit goods on TikTok was spotlighted in the lawsuit that Amazon filed against influencers Kelly Fitzpatrick and Sabrina Kelly-Krejci, along with 11 Amazon marketplace sellers, in connection with their “unlawful and expressly prohibited advertisement, promotion, and/or sale of counterfeit luxury products on Amazon.com” in violation of Amazon’s policies, and federal and state law. In that case, which Amazon filed in November 2020, the e-commerce behemoth claims that Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci “engaged in a sophisticated campaign of false advertising” in connection with which they “conspired” with sellers on Amazon’s marketplace to evade Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting protections by promoting counterfeit luxury goods – from Gucci belts to Dior handbags – on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and their own websites.

In connection with their advertising of counterfeit luxury goods on sites, such as TikTok, the influencers would provide interested buyers with “hidden links” to Amazon listings – which, as Fitzpatrick has explained, means “you order a certain product that looks nothing like the designer dupe in order to hide the item from getting taken down [by Amazon] and orders being cancelled” – in order to purchase the counterfeit goods from sellers on Amazon. That case is still underway in a federal court in Washington state.

As for why counterfeits are proving particularly ubiquitous on platforms like TikTok, in particular, part of the push comes from counterfeit sellers (and influencers like Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci) actively looking to evade crackdowns by platforms, such as Amazon. In light of increasing efforts by platform operators, many of which are looking to win the trust of brands and consumers, counterfeiters sellers have been forced to “reshape their businesses,” per SCMP, and “retreat to more private spaces online,” which has given rise to an influx of counterfeit-advertising on TikTok and transactions being facilitated on messaging networks like WeChat.

Aside from the practical aspects of the evolving counterfeit trade, TikTok user Alexa Rose Healy – who has highlighted “Gucci dupes” from Chinese platform DHgate on her account – told World Trademark Review that age and social media culture have a lot to do with it. “I think it is due, in part, to an overall younger audience, ranging from high school aged Gen-Z to younger millennials, who may not have the income to buy high-end items,” but nonetheless, want access to such goods, as “we are a part of the ‘social media generation’ – a generation focused on presenting a certain image to others.” With that in mind, she says that there is a sizable audience that is eager for “dupe”-centric content on TikTok, and that posts featuring these types of products “seem to perform fairly well.”

In terms of what brands can do to win over Gen-Z consumers that might be tempted to buy counterfeit goods, Healey says that while “cost is definitely a factor for many, creating timeless, unique and high-quality pieces,” as opposed to purely “trendy pieces that will only depreciate in value” in a matter of a season or two, is “ultimately the way to win back the younger generations from dupe culture.”

TikTok teens are obsessed with fake luxury products

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In January, Holly Yazdi posted a video on TikTok of how to buy an Amazon dupe of Cartier’s $1,650 yellow-gold “Love Ring” for less than $20. At more than 230,000 likes, it’s her most popular post. “Safe cartier ring replica from amazon!!” the caption reads. “Doesn’t oxidize and true to size.” The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” plays over the 11-second video, which shows the product page on Cartier’s website, the dupe’s listing on Amazon and then Yazdi showing what the ring looks like. The listing on Amazon was taken down shortly after, Yazdi said. Yazdi, an 18-year-old high school senior from south Alabama, said she knew many celebrities had the ring and that people might be interested, but didn’t know quite how popular these posts would be. She said she received a million views overnight for the ring video. Her other videos have included lookalike Gucci boots from DH Gate ($89 for the dupe; $1,190 for the real thing). “I have an expensive taste for an empty wallet, and after posting these videos I realize others do too,” she said in an email to CNBC. “Now with the attention my videos have gained, I receive messages and comments with suggestions of what people want to see. Obviously I’m not going to get something I wouldn’t use myself, but my viewers have exposed me to a lot of things I really do want to get.”

A TikTok post on how to find a Cartier ring dupe. TikTok

A major video genre on TikTok is videos on how to find “dupes,” or items on sites like DHGate, AliExpress or Amazon for items that look like Chanel, Gucci, Lululemon, Louis Vuitton and Cartier or other pricey designers. Other videos show how TikTok users actually make do-it-yourself designer dupes; whether that’s sewing and styling shirts to look like they come from Brandy Melville, or actually painting or ironing on Lululemon or Chanel logos to make them look like the real thing. It’s a trend that comes as many younger consumers are cost-conscious but also photographed at a dizzying rate. And brands have to decide whether to encourage the creativity of its fans or come off as buzzkills if they try to clamp down on the activity. Jason Dorsey, a Gen Z speaker and president of the Center for Generational Kinetics in Austin, Texas, said Generation Z, which comprises a huge part of the TikTok audience, sits at a point where they grew up around the great recession and saw their parents and the generation before them struggle financially. That makes them tend to be careful with money. “They want to get things at a really good deal, or they want to buy things that are going to last a long time,” Dorsey said. That might be why clothing reseller ThredUP said in a January report it saw a 46% increase from 2017 to 2019 in Generation Z shoppers buying secondhand retail items. Services like Depop and Poshmark are also popular among the age group. But younger consumers have also grown up with social media. “Gen Z is also the most photographed generation of young adults ever,” Dorsey said. “That’s important because if you’re spending a lot of money to buy your wardrobe, you run out of outfits quickly. You need to buy them inexpensively to have a lot of outfits to wear.” A willingness to be crafty is also a factor.

“In many places where there might have been peer pressure before to have all the fancy brands, now it’s cool to recreate the brands, and you’re smart because you did it at a fraction of the cost,” Dorsey said. Take Samantha Pama for example. The 19-year-old from Visalia, California posted a video to her @samanthapama page captioned “Making my own Brandy Melville Tops because I’m too thick to buy them from the actual store lol,” which as of this week had nearly 90,000 views on TikTok. The post instructs viewers to buy a small boy’s T-shirt at Walmart, buy embroidered patches and iron them on. Pama told CNBC that she always saw crafty do-it-yourself content on the platform and wanted to make something about a Brandy Melville shirt, because she said the brand only carries small sizes and that it was cheaper to make it herself.

TikTok post on how to make a Brandy Melville dupe. TikTok

“I believe DIY posts have been really big on TikTok for a while,” she said in an Instagram direct message. “It really brings out your creativity and it really does influence a lot of people.” Max Reiter, a 26-year-old fashion management student from Berlin who posts under the handle @maxplore on TikTok and Instagram, regularly riffs on designer goods in his posts. One, which shows Balenciaga’s lettering over an image of the cast of Friends that he ironed onto a hoodie, has received 2.7 million “likes” on TikTok. Other posts show him tie-dying his Nike socks or ironing on Lacoste “logos” to beanies and socks. Reiter notes that the DIY category is popular because TikTok’s younger audience likely isn’t going to have the cash for a $300 T-shirt. And ironically, he says users are always asking to buy his own creations, which he says he won’t do. He also says TikTok offers a different kind of community. “What I like about TikTok — it’s not just about looks. The most regular person can get famous and grow a fanbase and a community,” he said. “You don’t have to have a perfect six pack or muscles or perfect hair.”

Is it legal?

Susan Scafidi, a professor at Fordham University and founder of the Fashion Law Institute, said with each new online forum comes a fresh wave of promoting counterfeit items. Of course, the terminology changes — whether that’s “fakes,” “knockoffs,” “reps” or “replicas,” or, in much of TikTok parlance, “dupes.” “That’s in part because of the evolution of language, and in part an evolution of a design to escape from bots that take down references to counterfeits and increasingly to replicas,” she said. It’s not clear what TikTok’s official policy is on posts like this. The company clarified its policy for ads (Which don’t allow for content promoting products or services that violate “copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights”), but not for regular posts. Its community guidelines say it removes content that promotes criminal activities. Scafidi points out that “counterfeits” are a technical term for unauthorized trademarks that are substantially identical to the originals. Copies or knockoffs can be legal or illegal, but she said it could be considered trademark infringement if users are copying logos or labels in a way that could confuse consumers (even if the copies aren’t exact). TikTok could potentially be liable if lots of users are directing other users to the sales of dupes, she said, and she said if users have an affiliate relationship with the sellers of counterfeit goods, they could also potentially be liable. Even if a major influencer didn’t have an affiliate relationship with a seller, “they are building their own personal brand by being the best conduit to the best dupes, therefore they are indirectly profiting.” But at the end of the day, “when it comes to suing hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of individuals on TikTok, it’s unlikely,” she said. “At that point, you’re really trying to chase down an enormous number of small actors, and it’s just not efficient or cost-effective,” Scafidi said, unless brands sued an individual or two to make an example of a prominent influencer or two. But “It’s definitely a bad look to go after fans,” she added. But legal questions aside, Scafidi notes buying fakes online can be inherently risky, both in the sense that products may not appear as advertised, and that they also might not be the kinds of business people users would want to provide their personal information to.

What does this mean for brands?

Goedkoop shoppen op DHgate: alles wat je moet weten voor je iets koopt

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Goedkoop shoppen op DHgate: alles wat je moet weten voor je iets koopt

Op DHgate kun je van alles vinden, van bizarre gadgets tot namaak van dure kledingmerken. Toch moet je goed opletten voor je als consument iets koopt, want je kunt zo beetgenomen worden. In dit artikel leggen we je precies uit waar je op moet letten.

Shoppen op DHghate: waar je op moet letten

We schrijven op WANT vaak over AliExpress. We maken je niet alleen wegwijs in het Chinese walhalla met wekelijkse aanbevelingen, maar leren je met onze WANT Guides ook hoe je alle gevaren ontwijkt. Want tja, het blijft toch wat enger dan je lokale supermarkt binnen wandelen. Gelukkig is AliExpress zeer veilig, dankzij een streng reputatiesysteem, waarover je hier alles kunt lezen.

Vandaag kijken we naar een andere populaire optie: DHgate. Het is net zoals AliExpress een online webshop, waarop verkopers hun eigen producten aan kunnen bieden. De Chinese website doet qua design zelfs aan AliExpress denken. DHgate zit echter wat minder op de regeltjes.

Daardoor kun je er veel meer goedkope namaakproducten vinden, maar zijn er ook minder vangnetten voor de consument. Jij dus. In deze WANT Guide leggen we je uit waar je op moet letten wanneer je een product op DHgate.com gaat kopen.

  1. Feedback score

DHgate lijkt in meerdere opzichten behoorlijk op AliExpress. Zo heeft ook dit shoppingplatform een feedback-systeem. Daarmee kun je beoordelen of een verkoper betrouwbaar is. Check dus voor je een product aanschaft altijd het feedback-profiel. Je kunt gedetailleerde recensies van andere consumenten checken, dus doe daar je voordeel mee.

Zo weet je precies wat je kunt verwachten. Heeft je verkoper amper feedback? Probeer dan een andere verkoper met hetzelfde product te vinden. Nogmaals: DHgate heeft minder vangnetten dan AliExpress, dus wanneer je product niet naar wens is, heb je meestal gewoon pech.

  1. Productbeschrijvingen

Protip: neem altijd een screenshot van de beschrijving van het product dat je gaat kopen. Zo heb je nadat het product is aangekomen altijd bewijs, voor het geval je een dispuut met de verkoper wil gaan openen omdat er iets mis is. Sowieso is het verstanding om productbeschrijvingen nauwgezet door te lezen. Soms blijkt een product opeens van plastic gemaakt te zijn, terwijl het op de foto net metaal lijkt. Of blijkt dat het versturen ontiegelijk lang duurt, omdat de voorraad op is. Allemaal dingen die je dwars kunnen zitten omdat je de beschrijving niet hebt gelezen.

  1. Stel vragen

Het valt misschien niet meteen op, maar DHgate heeft een excellent chatsysteem. Je kunt direct berichten versturen naar verkopers, en ze de hemd van het lijf vragen. Twijfel je over een product? Stel vooral veel vragen, en sla screenshots van de antwoorden op. Zo heb je altijd bewijs wanneer het product niet naar wens is. Nu hebben we het overigens over de worst case scenarios. Over het algemeen gaat het bijna nooit mis. Het stellen van goede vragen is gratis, dus doe er je voordeel mee!

We gaan van het ergste uit, maar better safe than sorry.

  1. Gratis verzenden

Heb je een mooi product gevonden? Check of het ook gratis verzonden kan worden. In de meeste gevallen kan dat, maar soms kun je ook een andere verkoper met hetzelfde product vinden, die wel alles gratis op kan sturen. Hoe Chinese verkopers zich dat kunnen permitteren, lees je hier. Een nadeeltje: meestal krijg je bij gratis verzonden producten geen tracking-code. Krijg je die wel? Blijf dan vaak de status checken, dan kun je meteen aan de bel trekken als het te lang duurt of ergens blijft haken.

  1. Film of fotografeer het ontvangen pakketje

Je pakketje is eindelijk aangekomen! Opnieuw, we gaan van het ergste uit, maar better safe than sorry. Fotografeer of film altijd het pakketje dat je hebt ontvangen, het liefst zelfs tijdens het uitpakken. Dan kan de verkoper niet beweren dat het mis is gegaan na het openen en heb je altijd bewijs. Ga je het nodig hebben? Zeer kleine kans van, maar we hebben (bijna) allemaal een smartphone, dus het is een kleine moeite.

  1. Laat je niks wijs maken

Je verkoper ontvangt pas jouw geld wanneer jij bevestigt dat je tevreden bent. Volg dan ook altijd de officiële richtlijnen bij het openen van een dispuut, in plaats van naar de verkoper te luisteren. Sommige scammy verkopers zullen je wijs maken dat alles opgelost wordt wanneer je de transactie voltooid. Vervolgens hoor je niks meer van ze. Open dus op tijd een dispuut wanneer er iets mis is gegaan, en luister enkel naar de klantenservice van DHgate.

Het is tijd om te shoppen! Check vooral ons AliExpress-dossier, want veel producten kun je ook gewoon op DHgate vinden. Of ontdek hoe Chinese verkopers zelfs producten van een paar cent gratis naar je op kunnen sturen.