Tens of thousands of Chinese knockoffs pour in daily
Their appearance is identical to the real thing, making inspection difficult
Lack of manpower and infrastructure for customs clearance
Recently, counterfeit goods made in China and sold on the Chinese online shopping mall AliExpress have risen.
‘AliExpress’ is an online shopping mall targeting overseas consumers, and it has attracted the attention of domestic consumers due to its low usage difficulty and diverse products.
However, the disparity between the product photos posted by the sellers and the actual products is quite significant, leading to polarized opinions among users.
Despite this, it has consistently formed a fan base because it is possible to purchase products at a much lower price than through direct purchase sites in other countries, excluding Korea or China.
However, recently, the production and delivery of over-the-line counterfeit products have been causing headaches for the customs office and consumers.
Among them, products belonging to Samsung’s ‘Galaxy Buds’ line are regarded as representative counterfeit products.
On AliExpress, Samsung’s ‘Buds 2 Pro’ is being sold for about 15,000 won ($12.60).
Considering that the launch price of this product was 279,000 won ($234.60), it can be seen that it is discounted by more than 90%.
Despite the huge discount rate, there is almost no difference in appearance between counterfeit and genuine products.
The packaging box is the same, and the brand logo and product configuration match.
However, there is a big difference in performance.
In the case of counterfeit products, not only is the sound quality significantly lower, but noise-canceling features are not installed.
As such deceptive practices continue under the pretext of price, discussions related to this were also held in the national audit.
In a national audit of public institutions under the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Energy held in Yeouido National Assembly last October, Kim Sung-hwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asked, “Do you know that you can buy counterfeit Samsung Electronics Galaxy Buds 2 on China’s AliExpress at one-tenth of the price?”
He then pointed out, “If you go to AliExpress, not only Galaxy Buds 2 but also BTS bags, Squid Game-related products, etc., are being sold in violation of design rights.”
Also, he said, “The scale of counterfeit products sold in world trade is about 540 trillion won ($453.6 billion) in our money, and the domestic damage related to this is estimated to be about 22 trillion won ($18.5 billion) annually, with a decrease of about 31,000 jobs and a decrease of about 410 billion won ($344.4 million) in tax revenue.” He argued, “Shouldn’t KOTRA respond more actively?”
In response, Yoo Jung-ryul, CEO of KOTRA, confessed, “It is true that there are some limits to legal advisory services, and it costs a lot to crack down overseas.”
Nevertheless, recognizing the seriousness of the issue, he said, “We are currently conducting counterfeit product response activities through the IP (Intellectual Property) desk, and we will strengthen our manpower, expertise, and proactivity, and strengthen cooperation with related agencies to be more active.” He expressed his will to improve.
Despite such continuous efforts from KOTRA, it is not easy to screen counterfeit products.
A customs official said that about 5 million direct purchase items currently enter Korea every month, and although X-ray inspections are conducted one by one, it is difficult to filter out tiny items.
Another problem is the lack of manpower and infrastructure to inspect the many products coming into the country.
The number of items shipped through Pyeongtaek Port from AliExpress alone reaches 200,000 per day, but the situation is poor, with only six X-ray scanners for product inspection.
An industry official acknowledged the lack of product inspection, saying, “In many cases, there is practically no room to tear open each one at customs when Nike shoes worth 50,000 to 60,000 won ($42 to $50) come in.”
Given this situation, considerable caution is required for consumers using AliExpress.
The distribution industry revealed that the counterfeit rate is the highest for products sold for more than 100,000 won ($84) on Chinese online malls.
They also added, “Especially in the case of electronic products, there are many counterfeits of Apple brand products,” and “If there is a product that bears Apple’s name and the price is unbelievably cheap compared to the list price, it can be considered 100% counterfeit.”
Thus, while there is the advantage of purchasing products at a low price through AliExpress, there is also a high probability of receiving counterfeit products, so consumers should also be cautious when buying products.
By. Choi Eun Young
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