Buying From Alibaba? Don’t Be Deceived By a Fake
Buyers easily duped, recourse difficult.
Los Angeles, CA, September 22, 2014 - Investors jumped head first into Alibaba, the largest e-commerce platform in the world. Yet, relatively unknown to US consumers, Alibaba is an ideal host for counterfeiters and dishonest sellers to dispense $1 trillion in counterfeit goods worldwide, 90 percent of which originate in China. Alibaba’s sales account for 50 percent of all parcels shipped in China
All of the counterfeit products shown below were easily purchased by The Counterfeit Report® on an Alibaba website. Alibaba removed a staggering 115 million counterfeit and infringing products in only nine months from just one subsidiary website in 2013. It is unknown how many counterfeits many remain; Alibaba has a "three-strikes" policy before before counterfeit sellers and storefronts are removed from its websites. Manufacturers and consumers lose billions to counterfeit product purchases which often go undetected until they fail, are returned for warranty, or cause an injury. Some are deadly.
Counterfeit and intellectual property rights protection is severely lacking, allowing Alibaba to reap billions in revenue, and profit from unsuspecting consumers, while manufacturers suffer and consumer health and safety is at risk. Industry monitors found that over 80% of some some Alibaba listed products are counterfeit. The counterfeit issue is well known to manufacturers and the US Government; China was added to the governments “Priority Watch List” in 2014.
“I continue to hear complaints that cooperation with legitimate producers to stop the flow of pirated goods is lacking, ultimately I believe it is incumbent on Alibaba and other platforms to do more than the bare minimum to stop piracy.” - Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA)
A recently unsealed 2014 lawsuit graphically alleges Alibaba’s business model;
“Together, the Alibaba Defendants and the Merchant Defendants are an enterprise whose intentional and repeated sales of Counterfeit Products into the United States constitute a pattern of racketeering pursuant to l8 U.S.C. § 1962(c).”– Kering S.A., Plaintiff, et seq. 14 CV 5119
Kering identified hundreds of sellers openly offering up to 200,000 units a month of Plaintiff’s counterfeit products on Alibaba’s websites.
In spite of manufacturer’s clear and vocal objections, not enough is being done to stop counterfeiting and brand damage, and the activity continues.
"As nearly as we can tell, every Browning knife on this (Alibaba) website is counterfeit. Do your due diligence and make sure before you buy. Beware!" – Browning Sporting Goods website.
“Counterfeits on Alibaba's sites are a major problem. In hundreds of Taobao test purchases made last year, 82% of the products sporting the Columbia brand were actually fakes” - John Motley, Columbia Sportswear.
"99.5 percent of purported Monster products sold on Alibaba sites are fakes. We have received no cooperation from Alibaba to resolve this matter," - Dave Tognotti, Monster Products.
"Some of [our clients] would estimate up to 80% of [their] goods found on Taobao ... are counterfeit." - Hayden Simpson – Netnames.com
“Alibaba-owned websites sell nothing but fake Beachbody products, even on AliExpress, the company's English-language site.” – Jonathan Gelfand - Beachbody
Even Alibaba sellers are quite familiar and comfortable with counterfeit sales;
“It's good quality for that price. If you want the original, don't buy here” – AliExpress seller, Counterfeit Soul SL-300 headphones.
“AliExpress website all TRX, are Chinese factory” - AliExpress seller, counterfeit TRX Suspension Trainer
Deceived and defrauded consumers can turn to Alibaba’s confusing and cryptic dispute process. Consumers who respond and "confirm goods received," immediately end any chance of a refund. If they can continue in the dispute process, it may take months, and it is not unusual to be offered pennies on the dollar for refunds. Consumers are also faced with an aggravating and expensive return process which requires a US Customs declaration.
Website: www.TheCounterfeitReport.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Counterfeit-Report/131568053660579
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