Blocked account + jail time! Just now, China and the United States took a fatal approach against counterfeit goods...

What products are the most rampant on Amazon? Fakes are definitely the king.

Recently, a Chinese Amazon seller who made a huge fortune by selling counterfeit goods was arrested by the US federal government and accused of selling counterfeit and shoddy laptop batteries.

The seller's sales time was from 2014 to June 2019 , and he earned more than $23.8 million from selling counterfeit goods in five and a half years . It is reported that if convicted, he may be sentenced to 50 years in prison .

In addition to electronic products, high-end products are also counterfeited.

It is reported that a Chinese seller conspired with others to sell branded jewelry, sunglasses and other products to defraud consumers between August 2016 and April 2019. The main brand products sold were Pandora jewelry and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

In just less than three years, the amount earned from the sale of counterfeit goods reached US$2.32 million .

In fact, as early as 2016-2017 , Amazon found a total of 59,749 counterfeit products. In 2019 , The Washington Post revealed that Amazon had 4,000 counterfeit and problematic products.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) once conducted a sample survey of e-commerce websites and found that half of the items purchased on e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, were counterfeit .

Apple has said that 90% of Apple products sold on Amazon are counterfeit .

The Counterfeit Report evaluated 158 fashion brands , covering fashion, beauty, body care, headphones and other products. The results showed that about one-third of third-party merchants had received at least one consumer review of "fake" or "counterfeit".

Recently, IKEA of the Netherlands announced that it would no longer continue the pilot cooperative sales project that started in 2018, becoming the latest well-known brand to sever ties with Amazon. There are multiple reasons for its withdrawal, including fierce price wars, Amazon manufacturing its own products, and selling counterfeit and shoddy products.

Before IKEA, Nike also announced its withdrawal from Amazon in November 2019, and the reason behind it was the rampant counterfeit goods on the Amazon platform . In addition, well-known brands such as Birkenstock and Bubble Sau also left Amazon early.

The fundamental reason why international brands are leaving Amazon is the rampant counterfeit problem on the Amazon platform .

Even Trump has criticized Amazon as a "hotbed of counterfeit products" and even expressed his intention to put Amazon on the list of Notorious Markets.

Amazon blames the proliferation of counterfeits on the increasing number of third-party sellers on its platform, one-third of which are in mainland China .

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in 2019, customs across the country seized 51,000 batches of suspected infringing import and export goods, involving 44.21 million pieces of goods . In addition, customs across China have also seized a number of infringement cases in recent days.

Tianjin Customs seized 26,000 sets of infringing children's clothing

Tianjin Customs seized a batch of children's clothing shipped to Iraq, which was printed with brand logos such as LV, CHANEL, and GUCCI. It was confirmed that this batch of children's clothing was not produced by the company and was suspected of infringement. It is reported that this batch of children's clothing suspected of infringement was declared by a foreign trade company in Suzhou, with a total of more than 26,000 sets .

Shanghai Customs seized 34,600 infringing auto parts

Shanghai Customs seized a batch of auto parts exported through sea freight export channels, which were suspected of infringing the trademark rights of Toyota Motor Corporation and Citroën Automobile Company. The number of items involved was as high as more than 34,600 , and the amount involved was as high as 404,300 yuan.

According to statistics, since July this year, millions of counterfeit exports have been seized, with a total value of tens of billions of yuan.

The heaviest punishment Amazon can impose on counterfeit goods is to close its store , but it still failed to stop the problem. This time, even the government has stepped in .

Recently, China and the United States officially signed the first phase of the economic and trade agreement in Washington, the United States , which includes provisions aimed at helping prevent the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce platforms.

In the past, if a seller sold counterfeit products on Amazon, the worst that could happen was that their store would be closed . Even if the patent owner filed a lawsuit, the infringing seller would have no control over it. At most, the seller would just have to close the store, and there would be no criminal liability or further fines.

Now, Amazon will directly shut down stores that sell counterfeit and pirated products, and will also disclose information about counterfeit stores directly to US law enforcement agencies.

U.S. law enforcement agencies will investigate stores selling counterfeit goods. If Chinese sellers are involved, the illegal information will be transmitted to relevant Chinese agencies to jointly investigate and locate the illegal companies. Those who commit serious violations will have their business licenses revoked by state agencies and may even face imprisonment .

In the future, my country will further introduce a more detailed and specific plan to crack down on sellers who sell copycat and counterfeit products on e-commerce platforms.

Now that China and the United States have signed this agreement, they will certainly strengthen the crackdown on counterfeit products on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms. So, sellers, please take note. Starting this year, don’t sell counterfeit and infringing products . You may be fined or banned , or even go to jail .

(Source: SellerGrowth )