Chinese luxury flash sales e-commerce website VIPShop is involved in a counterfeit case in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Tech channel of Tencent news portal reports today.
Liming International Clock, a clock distributor, is being held up by the Shenzhen Market Inspection Bureau because of counterfeit sales and production. According to an insider at the Market Inspection Bureau, Liming International Clock’s sales channels include VIPShop and the television shopping channel of CNRMall.
Authorities have confiscated about 6,000 allegedly Swiss-made watches while the company has only been able to offer customs documents for fewer than 100 watches. Officers from the Market Inspection Bureau have also found evidence of watch orders issued from a domestic watch manufacturer and forged certificates for watches and jewelry.
It’s reported that consumers were requesting letters of authorization from VIPShop but were being rejected for reasons of “business confidentiality”. A QQ user Group named “Defending Consumer Rights against VIPShop Counterfeits”, confirms out of about 200 members most complainants have confirmed VIPShop has refused to show letters of authorization for brand name goods. The VIPShop website advertises most of their products as having guaranteed genuineness with insurance provided.
Chinese e-commerce websites have long been haunted by the issue of counterfeits. Jumei.com and JD.com were reported for similar cases early last year. Distributors had forged customs documents with computer software, Adobe Photoshop, to pass the examination procedures of e-commerce platforms. According to an earlier report, brands faked included Burberry and Armani.
Kering SA, the parent company of luxury brands Gucci and Saint Laurent, sued Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in May for allegedly neglecting to bar counterfeits from being sold on its e-commerce marketplace Taobao. Kering SA has turned to mediation after Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma announced that he’d rather lose than settle.
Terrible news for VIPShop, it will take them a long time to recover from this scandal. What they should be doing is looking for ways to gain back consumers trust & turn this negative misfortune into positive brand building.
Totally agree. But the rumor that VIPShop has counterfeits problem has been around for a while only this time people find true evidence.