Truth about online buying: If it's too good to be true, it probably is

BEIJING,April 21-- University student
Jessie Liu is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to purchasing low-cost
foreign cosmetics on the Internet.

Well-known brands are much cheaper overseas and many
Chinese women buy them online. Some buy them abroad when they travel, bring them
home to sell and make a killing. Health products, nutritional supplements,
fashion and accessories are popular.

Liu, a 20-year-old student from Shanghai University,
has collected more than 400 Website addresses in her browser's "Favorites"
folder, all for purchasing from overseas for herself.

But Liu has been on high alert since February when
she discovered online that she might have been buying expired or fake products
all along.

"It's just money," she says, "but I'm really worried
about all the cosmetics I have bought and used. What would happen to my face if
they are expired or fakes?"

Liu and her friends got worried after discovering a
hot online post titled "Top Credit Online Stores Are Found Selling Fakes." At
first she ignored it, saying "these kinds of rumors are posted online all the
time, with no evidence to back them up."

But the anonymous post author explains the
differences in details and posted comparative pictures of the genuine and fake
packaged products.

The difference is often in the fine print, maybe just
a letter, in the often-ignored bottom line of the content description.

The post generated a firestorm: More than 300
responses in 10 hours, 6,000 within a week, then up to 10,000 and still going.

The author also cites more than 30 popular online
stores that allegedly sold fake or expired fancy cosmetics, including Taobao, a
Chinese version of eBay.

All the stores are highly rated by buyers and sellers
who post thousands of positive comments. Many have a satisfaction rate of 99
percent.

The author's claims have not been verified, but the
concern appears to be timely.

After the posting appeared, generating an uproar,
many online stores, including Taobao, asked sellers to remove cosmetics and
medicine, two of the most sought-after products, pending investigation and
verification.

Some cosmetics and health products have been restored
to their online stores.

Fashion editor Momo Huang of online women's magazine,
White Collars Fashion, cautions against buying cosmetics online.

"You should be careful about what you put on your
face," she tells Shanghai Daily, "and it's difficult to verify that online
cosmetics are genuine."

Many people who responded to the original posting
reveal they have bought cosmetics from those online stores and never suspected a
problem.

Like Liu, many were torn between denial and concerns
about the products.

Some were furious - there was so much verbal violence
from the ladies that the forum had to remove the comments.

Dai gou, which stands for "buying on someone else's
behalf," is not new in China. In the 1980s, people asked friends or relatives
going to Shanghai on business to bring back some fashionable accessories that
were not available elsewhere.

In the 1990s, the destination became Hong Kong, as it
became easier to go to the "shopping heaven," where prices for cosmetics,
electronics and luxury brands are much cheaper.

As the Internet developed, people didn't need to ask
travelers to shop on their behalf. Online shopping became popular.

Taobao has a special category for purchasing from
overseas.

Website statistics show the revenue in this category
rose to 520 million yuan (76.1 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of
2008 from 9 million in the same period of 2007, an increase of 481 percent.

The global financial crisis has given a big boost to
the online business since last June.

Many luxury brands went on sale and Chinese buyers
snapped up bargains as the yuan appreciated strongly against the euro, British
pound, Australian dollar, U.S. dollar and Japanese yen, among other currencies.

The most popular products from overseas are designer
clothes and accessories, cosmetics and health products (such as vitamins,
supplements and diet pills).

The most popular destinations include Japan, South
Korea, America, Australia and France.

"Most Western brands have always been much more
expensive on the Chinese mainland, because of tariff and additional costs on
regional sales agents," says editor Huang.

"Some brands like Coach or Nine West are not that
costly in the West, but they are sold at much higher prices here," she adds.

She has written a series of articles and posted
guidelines on her magazine's Website about how to choose online stores selling
overseas products.

"The price has dropped more than half for a lot of
well-known brands like LV, Coach and Shiseido, both because of discounts and
depreciation of other currencies in the financial crisis," says Huang.

Shopping can be quite tricky for new buyers since
hundreds of search results pop up for popular brands.

On the other hand, many rookies jump right into sales
"to make some extra money in the bad times," like 28-year-old marketing manager
Linda Xu who works in Seoul.

"Some South Korean cosmetics and fashions are very
popular in China, probably because of the Korean TV dramas and the low prices,"
says Xu via telephone.

Xu charges 10 percent of the product price for
handling and transport, according to an unwritten industry rule.

It can be up to 20 percent, depending on the product.

It is still 20 to 30 percent cheaper than buying on
the Chinese mainland, however.

This often means a saving of a couple hundred yuan or
more than 1,000 yuan on luxury brands or cosmetics.

Xu goes shopping three to four times a week in Seoul
and makes around 4,000 yuan every month - not bad, she says, for a part-time job
that doesn't require a lot of investment or skills.

Her income peaked at 9,000 yuan last November when
Korean won dropped rapidly.

Philippe Guo, studying at the University of Chicago
for a master's degree, is another rookie purchaser.

He works for a small online store selling clothes and
home appliances that compares prices of the same product in different areas.

Guo is paid on commission. He usually goes shopping
twice a week and makes about 2,500 yuan every month.

His workload and monthly income have both tripled
since last September.

Tips from fashion editor Momo Huang

1. It's better not to buy cosmetics online. It's
difficult to verify whether they are genuine, and you should be careful about
what you put on your face.

2. Choose a relatively well-known and large Website
and research well before ordering, particularly for small private stores. Read
users' comments carefully.

3. Confirm your requirement with the seller carefully
to ensure you get the right products.

4. Ask sellers to provide shopping receipts, invoices
and the addresses and contact numbers for stores where they purchased.

5. Save all online communications with the seller.

6. Be cautious if the online store sells everything,
particularly when it's a small private one. The store owner is less likely to
have access to so many categories of products made or sold in many different
areas. The sellers who stick to a few categories in one country is more likely
to be genuine.

7. Don't trust a ridiculously low price (less than
half). If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It's impossible for
sellers to get such a cheap sale.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)