As early as last May, Costco, the second largest retail supermarket giant in the world, announced the opening of the first store in Chinese mainland in Minhang District. Just yesterday, after more than a year, the store finally opened, and sharp-eyed customers found that there were still luxury goods on the shelves of the store. These include MCM, Prada, Chanel and Hermes, which are below the market price. As for all kinds of big-name perfumes, the unified price is 399.9 yuan. These handbags were quickly robbed, including 11, Hermes. On the other side of the ocean in the United States, Costco new york Manhattan Store also had many low-priced luxury handbags when it opened in the early years. Among them, the classic Chanel chain bag that was never discounted dropped from $2,495 to $1,999, Burberry dropped from nearly $2, to $1,99 and Salvatore Ferragamo dropped from nearly $2, to $629.99.

Then the question comes. Why do luxury bags, which are rarely discounted at ordinary times, appear in supermarket chains like Costco at a price lower than the retail price? More importantly, are these luxury goods genuine? The ABA Journal, the flagship publication of the American Bar Association, published an article in official website about the sale of luxury goods by supermarket chains, which mentioned two channels, one from luxury goods dealers and the other from the gray import market.

In the early years, LVMH, a French luxury goods group, took Wal-Mart to court because it found that Sam's Club, a warehouse supermarket owned by Wal-Mart, sold counterfeit Fendi handbags for $58.25, while the retail price of genuine products was $93. In response to this lawsuit, a Wal-Mart spokesman said that they only sell authentic goods. But the truth is just the opposite. Steven R. Gursky, a lawyer in new york who handles intellectual property rights, has handled seven Wal-Mart fraud cases before. He said that most supermarket chains have policies prohibiting the purchase of counterfeit goods, but the stores represented by Wal-Mart do not enforce them, and once the brand files a lawsuit against them, they will exploit the loopholes in the law by strictly observing them. ?

as to why there are fakes in supermarket chains, generally speaking, counterfeit luxury goods enter the supermarket warehouse through the local purchasing system, which hides the tricks of buyers and luxury goods dealers, and some of them seek higher profits through adulteration. But on the whole, the main reason for counterfeit goods is that some buyers do not have the ability to distinguish the authenticity of luxury goods. Although supermarket chains don't want to risk losing people's hearts, losing luxury brand partners and touching the law, they adopt a silent way of "don't ask, don't tell" about the authenticity of luxury goods put in storage and put on shelves. ? It is understood that Hermes only has formal official sales channels and there is no dealer. For Hermè s handbags sold by Costco yesterday, the brand China PR said it was not clear where the goods came from.

Another channel for low-priced luxury goods in supermarket chains comes from the gray import market. They are legal products exported to the United States by overseas manufacturers without the consent of trademark holders, and they are in a gray area. Although gray luxury goods imported from overseas are legal, there are also many risks, especially when the source of goods comes from processing plants, the probability of counterfeiting is greater. Lawrence M. Friedman, a lawyer from Chicago, said: "Although luxury brands try their best to protect their reputations, the gray import market is a legal trade mechanism." A lawsuit many years ago also confirmed his point of view. ? As early as 1988, Cartier filed a lawsuit against Kmart, but the US Supreme Court upheld the customs service regulations that allowed the import of such goods. However, even with the support of the Supreme Court's ruling, many luxury brands try their best to protect the high-level image of painstaking efforts by trying to prevent the import of such goods. ? As for the image of luxury brands, supermarket chains have "made some concessions". Costco will ask suppliers to change the packaging of luxury handbags to make them look cheaper. However, regarding the luxury goods sold by Costco, the case between Costco and Tiffany in 213 cannot be ignored. ?

in February p>213, Costco in Huntington, California, USA, was sued by the brand for illegally using the Tiffany trademark to describe a certain pair of wedding rings that were not produced by Tiffany. Costco said that the word "Tiffany" can be regarded as a common term for a single gem bifurcated ring. After the judgment of the Southern District Court of new york, it was found that it used the Tiffany trademark as a fake, and the latter had the right to seek compensation from it. In the later judgment, Costco will compensate Tiffany at least $19.4 million, including $11.1 million in compensation plus interest, and $8.25 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury. In addition, Costco will never sell any product with Tiffany trademark but not made by brand, unless the design of this product has a clear Tiffany style or related packaging.

Susan Scafidi, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in the United States, wrote in her blog that more and more counterfeit luxury goods began to appear on the shelves of supermarket chains. At the same time, lawyers said that although doing so will lead retailers to face serious legal penalties, such phenomena are becoming more and more common. ?

generally speaking, the prices of luxury goods on the shelves of chain supermarkets such as Costco are really exciting, but they do not come from formal official channels, not to mention the risk of counterfeit goods. Again, don't hurry to pay for the bag when you see the price. Rational consumption is very important.