"Circle powder" young people's cosmetic samples are true and false geometry.
There are limited gifts from counter agents, but there are a large number of samples circulating on the market.
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Yang Yinan, an intern of our newspaper
"The 1.8g sample of XX brand lipstick is only 13.8 yuan, while the full size 3g needs 185 yuan. It must be more cost-effective to buy a sample." Wu Tong (pseudonym), a graduate student in Beijing University, who was shopping on the online shopping platform, chanted while choosing products.
After several comparisons, she finally bought samples of several well-known brands, including fairy water, liquid foundation and lipstick.
Cosmetics samples are often referred to as "trial packs". They are products that brand merchants present to consumers for new product promotion and preferential promotion. They are generally not sold exclusively.
But in real life, cosmetic samples have not only become "net celebrities" in the beauty industry, but also gradually formed a new retail format, which is loved by young people.
At the same time, problems such as many fake samples and difficulty in safeguarding rights have also been criticized.
The "2019 Online Beauty and Personal Care Crowd Insights" released by the First Financial Business Data Center shows that the online mini-makeup consumption trend has increased year by year from 2017 to 2019, and the sales of lipsticks, lip balms, eye shadows and other beauty mini-products Has surpassed overall makeup.
Where do so many samples come from, is the sale reasonable, and how many of them are genuine?
How can consumers protect their rights when problems arise?
With these questions in mind, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily conducted an in-depth investigation.
Low price and great variety
The packaging is exquisite and difficult to distinguish between true and false
According to Wu Tong, she only started to pay attention to and buy cosmetic samples in the last year, and she has been out of control since then, "cheap and easy to use, you can buy big brands at a lower price; for the same fee, if you buy samples, Lipsticks can be purchased in several shades at the same time, and perfumes can be purchased in several flavors at the same time.”
In the past year, the popularity of new consumption has directly accelerated the emergence of the "sample economy".
The reporter searched and found that on an online platform for recording life, there were more than 400,000 notes marked with "sample" as a keyword; on the online platform, many companies or personal accounts provided free sample application services, which quickly increased their followers.
In the live broadcast room of Double Eleven in 2021, the major anchors told consumers impassively, "Buy one set get one free, and you will get more than formal clothes."
For example, a big brand of water and lotion promoted by a head anchor, buy 250mL of genuine product, give a 280mL sample, and a 200 yuan coupon.
This undoubtedly stimulated the nerves of many consumers, and more than 270,000 copies were sold in a short period of time.
The reporter learned from interviews that before the demos entered the live broadcast room, the most active places were in the second-hand market and purchasing groups.
On the Double Eleventh Day in 2021, on a well-known second-hand trading platform, the release of beauty samples has increased significantly, and many people have been waiting on the platform to "picked up leaks".
Before the pre-sale products were shipped, there was a lot of information on the second-hand platform about resale and double-11 pre-sale products.
Of these, most involve mockups.
For example, some sellers sold the original price of 1,360 yuan in three-piece suits and the free samples, marked with different prices for each authentic + sample (the total price exceeds 1,360 yuan).
This kind of operation has turned many girls into "fathers". On the one hand, they can share the cost, and on the other hand, they can earn the difference. The demo economy relies on second-hand platforms and is booming among young people.
The reporter opened the e-commerce platform for comparison. Taking a brand of small white bottle essence as an example, 14mL only costs 19.8 yuan, while the full size 50mL costs 359 yuan; a 15mL small brown bottle essence of a certain brand only costs 39.8 yuan, while the full size 30mL costs 660 yuan Yuan.
The samples of big brands with such low prices, some of which are still hand-made samples, can they be guaranteed to be genuine?
"If the brand does not launch a sample, it must be a fake. This is the only direct evidence." Senior makeup blogger Bel said in an interview with reporters that in fact, the price per milliliter of the authentic sample is not cheaper than the formal dress. The gap is very large, and if the store has a lot of inventory and sales, it can basically be concluded as a fake.
"For example, XX brand liquid foundation, the official only has a tablet and a 5mL sample, but there are some online stores that sell a 10mL sample. These are definitely fakes, but the sales volume is not low." Bel said for example.
Subsequently, the reporter found a store on the online platform that sold 10mL of the brand's liquid foundation, and the price per bottle was only 13.3 yuan.
When the reporter suggested to the merchant that the official 10mL sample was not released, the merchant only replied: "Authentic, support the inspection of the counter."
Regarding the merchant's statement, Bel said: "This is all the merchant's routine. It is difficult to inspect the sample. Let's not say that the cabinet brother and the cabinet sister do not have relevant professional skills, even if someone else will ignore you. If some consumers are more serious , the merchants will also use the sample not to launch in China, but only in Japan, Europe and the United States and other regions, so the domestic official website does not have the same sample to perfunctory consumers."
He Li (pseudonym), a senior beauty blogger, also published an article exposing the problem of fake cosmetic samples. He told reporters: "There are many fake samples, and the more expensive they are, the more fake they are. The fake samples of big brands are very delicate. ', for the average consumer, it's hard to tell the difference between the real and the fake."
Tian Xinyu (pseudonym), a graduate student from a university in Dalian, Liaoning, also often buys samples. She said that some samples have marks such as QR codes and barcodes, which can be checked for authenticity.
At the same time, she felt that the samples sold by stores with more favorable reviews should be genuine.
In He Li's view, even if the QR code on the bottle of skin care products can be found, it can only prove that the bottle is genuine, but the products in the bottle may not be genuine, because some people will recycle the empty bottles of big-name skin care products for profit.
"Samples are not for sale, and the common acquisition channels are gifts from counters or from agents and duty-free shops, and the number of samples that can flow out of these channels is very limited. It is unreasonable that such a large number of samples are circulating on the market." He Li said .
Diverse sources of samples
Genuine products are available in limited quantities
In order to understand the source of the samples, the reporter interviewed Tan Jun (pseudonym), a staff member of a cosmetics supply chain company.
According to her, her company will invite some top anchors to carry out live broadcasts and bring goods. In order to attract fans to buy, the company will specially produce a batch of small samples and give them to consumers with genuine products.
If there are remaining samples, they will be sold as commodities.
"Actually, some shops sell a mix of real and fake samples, which is difficult for most consumers to distinguish." Tan Jun revealed.
Bel agrees with Tan Jun's statement of "mixing the real and the fake".
"The number of genuine samples is very limited, especially for big brands' sample control is very strict, it is impossible to sell tens of thousands of pieces per month." Bel said.
Bel told reporters that a friend of hers, who is also a beauty blogger, once posted a video revealing that a store's samples were fake, but then she received a lawyer's letter from the store.
Bel said that since these stores also sell genuine products and give away a batch of genuine samples, when suing, the store will take out an invoice to prove that the samples are counter gifts, and the possibility of winning the case will be greater.
He Li said that in the past, some cabinet sisters or cabinet brothers would detain some samples for resale, but with the increasingly strict quality control of brands, this situation is becoming rarer and rarer, "If the behavior of detaining samples privately is discovered, they will be fired. , very few people make fun of their profession."
Earlier, some media reporters made an unannounced visit to a factory specializing in the production of big-name cosmetic samples.
The person in charge of the factory said: "The high-end imitation products are no different from the genuine products in terms of appearance, color and smell. Even consumers who are used to counters cannot easily distinguish them when they use them."
The incident of "Givenchy loose powder 6g sample" also brought the issue of counterfeiting to the forefront. The reason was that a college student beauty blogger and his roommate were accused of fraudulent sales of Givenchy loose powder 6g sample, and they were caught in a storm of public opinion.
Subsequently, Givenchy officially stated that it had never produced a 6g sample, giving a definite conclusion.
He Li also introduced: "The authentic samples are applied for collection when the brand is doing activities, and consumers only need to pay the postage. If there are purchasing agents, they will ask others to apply for collection in various groups, and then they will pay for recycling, and then For sale. Although these samples are genuine, they are also very limited.”
Wu Tong once bought samples at the purchasing agency. Can the samples sold by the professional purchasing agent be guaranteed to be genuine?
Both Bel and He Li believe that there are genuine products, and some purchasing agents will stock up on them for sale, but the overall quantity is not large, and if they are sold, they will be out of stock soon.
"When some consumers buy formal clothes, the brand will give samples of the same content. In order to reduce costs, consumers will also sell the samples. But in practice, low-priced big-brand authentic samples are often hard to come by." Bel said.
Time-consuming and laborious rights protection is hindered
Consumers consider themselves unlucky
In addition to many fakes, there is also an expiration problem for the samples.
He Li has encountered a situation where the production batch number of the small sample bottle sold by the merchant was cut off. Without the production batch number, the production date and other information of the small sample cannot be found.
"The merchant will say that it was recovered from the counter sister. In order to prevent the brand from tracking it, the batch number can only be cut off. It seems like a legitimate reason, but in fact, it may be fake or even expired samples." He Li said.
If there is a problem with this product, how should consumers protect their rights?
Regarding this issue, He Li said that he can only go to the platform to complain, and it is very difficult to prove that the skin problem is necessarily related to the product. It is actually very time-consuming and energy-consuming to walk down a set of procedures.
Wu Tong and Tian Xinyu both gave negative answers when talking about whether they would defend their rights if they bought fake samples.
"Originally, the sample price is not particularly expensive. If you return or exchange the product, it will waste more time and energy. It is better to admit that you are unlucky." Tian Xinyu said.
In this regard, bel understands.
In her opinion, with the rapid rise of the sample market, some shops that specialize in samples gradually appear to be bullying customers.
Bel has seen in some sample store reviews that some buyers leave a message saying that they suspect that the sample is fake. When applying for a refund, the merchant not only does not refund, but instead frequently calls to harass the buyer.
In addition, she believes that the reason why it is difficult for consumers to defend their rights is that there is no evidence.
"Even if you tell the merchant that the packaging, color and smell of the product are different from the original, the merchant will tell you that it is due to differences in production batches or origins," Bel said.
At the end of the interview, when talking about their views on the demo, He Li and Bel have the same view.
They believe that the sample samples of gifts that are not for sale are only for the convenience of consumers to buy their favorite products, and it is unreasonable to directly sell samples.
In addition, the accompanying problems such as fake products and expired products will not only damage the interests of consumers, but also lead to damage to the brand image.
In the view of Beijing lawyer Chang Sha, for consumers, once they buy counterfeit and shoddy goods in a collection store that has not been authorized by the brand, it is difficult to claim their rights against the brand, and they can only ask the store owner to return or return the goods. Compensation, which poses a relatively high risk to the protection of consumers' rights and interests.
The problem of counterfeiting and selling cosmetic samples is endless, and it is difficult to fundamentally eliminate the occurrence of such problems.
In the opinion of the interviewed industry insiders, the two most important hurdles for the long-term development of the cosmetics sample market are: regular purchase channels and sales channels.
But to this day, the production and sales chain of samples has not yet been formed.
The owner of a beauty store also revealed that if there is no dedicated channel, it is difficult to ensure the continuous and stable supply of samples.
In the e-commerce platform, the formal channels for obtaining samples, in addition to purchasing formal clothes, there are also some activities on the e-commerce platform, but this channel is still not open to most people.
According to feedback from many netizens: "E-commerce has various requirements for trial people, so many people apply, but very few people receive it."
"There is no unified sales channel for cosmetic samples obtained through various channels. There are sample samples on e-commerce platforms, second-hand platforms, purchasing groups, and offline stores. There is no unified purchase channel and sales channel. Making and selling fakes provides an 'opportunity'." He Li said.