Fake perfumes and restricted items are being touted on social media platform despite bans
TikTok is profiting from the sale of illegal and potentially dangerous beauty products, including counterfeit cosmetics and prescription-only skin creams, despite claiming to take a “zero tolerance” approach to rogue sellers.
The products are being sold via TikTok Shop, an in-app shopping feature which allows users to buy products they seeand brands. There is also a “shop” tab where users can browse products, from cosmetics and clothing to toilet rolls and sports drinks. Last week, nine out of the first 12 results shown to people searching “perfume” in the TikTok Shop section of the app appeared to be counterfeit. The products included variations of Dior’s Sauvage perfume, with names such as “Suave” and “Savage”, and a copy of Viktor and Rolf’s Flowerbomb perfume, which looks the same at first glance but was actually called “Mark and Victor”.
Another TikTok Shop customer said she was sent a poor-quality perfume that “literally smells like nail varnish” after ordering from what she thought was a reputable seller on TikTok. She messaged the seller to ask for a refund but was told that because the item had been opened it couldn’t be returned. In a video for followers she added: “If you are going to buy this perfume please check out the shops you’re buying it from and avoid these guys. I lost out on my money.
If something goes wrong, customers are left exposed, Gavin Terry, lead officer for intellectual property at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said. “If somebody has a counterfeit product and they put it on their skin and have an allergic reaction, they’ll go to the brand. And that’s one way these horror stories develop. The brand will say, ‘That’s not my product’. There’s no quality control and no guarantee they’re safe.
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