You get what you pay for - shopping for fakes in China
The Chinese saying is 一分;钱一分;货, "yi fen qian, yi fen huo" (pronounced ee fen chee-ahn, ee fen hoo-oh). This translates literally to one cent gives you one cent's worth of merchandise. Makes sense, right?
There's a whole industry of fake goods in China that lots of visitors to China go wild for when they arrive but there's a healthy local market for them as well. It goes beyond pirated DVDs and fake Gucci bags (those are the ones the tourists buy). Very few locals will spend money on legal copies of software when copies of everything from Microsoft Windows and Adobe Photoshop are available for install at every cybermarket. There are smart phones on the market that look like iPhones, operate like iPhones and smell like iPhones for a fraction of the cost (just don't drop it, it will likely shatter and don't expect and after-sale warranties on fake goods).
As a travel writer, I get asked frequently where to buy the fake goods. The answer is easy to give: every large market in China sells fake products - be it eyeglasses, watches, bags, shoes, clothing or electronics. But I remind visitors that you get what you pay for. People are often surprised when they get home and their watch doesn't work anymore or their sunglasses don't actually offer any UV protection whatsoever. The best example comes from my poor husband who bought a "leather" briefcase at the old Xiangyang Market (Shanghai's famous fake market that's now been closed and moved). To his credit, he needed a new bag for an upcoming business trip. We lived close by the market so it seemed like a quick and easy option. After an important meeting in Frankfurt, he closed the meeting, grabbed his bag and left the room - with just the handle in hand.
You get what you pay for. If you come to China and do some shopping, it will be tempting to sample some of these fake goods. But don't pay too much money for them and don't forget, yi fen qian, yi fen huo.
Dear Sara
do you have any experience with purchasing a jade item here? any tips…i loved the details you gave for the purchase of pearls…
Hi Aysha,
Unfortunately I haven’t had much experience with jade. What I have heard is that the jade you find at large market areas is mostly very low quality and if it’s especially beautiful, has been injected with green dye to make it look more brilliant. I would personally be very wary when buying jade as it is very difficult for an untrained buyer to know what is good.
Best,
Sara
I would rather save money traveling so I could use it all to shop! There’s a contest going with a prize of 2 tickets to ANYWHERE in the world!
check it out: http://bit.ly/3rDcN
I bought a very expensive pearl necklace at Fanghua in Beijing. When I returned home to the USA and had the necklace appraised, our jeweler said it was not worth the price I paid for it. Fanghua has not credited me for the overpayment.
Is there a consumer protection agency in Beijing?
Ahh, Beverly. There may be a consumer protection agency here, but even if you were sold outright fakes I wouldn’t favour your chances of getting money back. Most purchases here are caveat emptor, especially if you’re a tourist.
That’s why I never recommend that visitors purchase things not easily benchmarked- because the Chinese shopkeepers will fleece you blind. If you go back to Beijing, bring your receipt, your appraisal, and be prepared to scream.
I mean that literally. Make a scene, make them lose face and business, and you may have a chance (it’s called throwing a laowai fit). Otherwise, chalk it up to (expensive) experience.
Sorry, but thems the breaks.
After living quite some time in China, I found places where they sell goods, like what they call ‘that fell off the wagon’. Those are the products that were made in the same process as the original ones (and mind you, almost ALL the goods in the world are now produced in China!Legally!) and which they secretly ‘overprocessed’. These are good products and cost only a fraction of the original cost. The secret is, to find these towns (yes, whole towns produce a certain item, like a town for reading and sun glasses, a town(s) for sweetwater pearls, a town for crockery and teapots etc. etc. Once you have found these town, then the shopping is much easier. THere are ofcourse still ‘real’ fakes lying around,but the majority are the products that come from this ‘over-production’ system. Another thing that you have to watch here is that lots of stuff are 2nd choice and have flaws. However, if you buy a complete Christmas dinner-set for 12 for around 50 Euros, then it doesn’t matter so much that one of the plates has a bit of a flaw in the painting etc.!!
As for the pearls, if possible get information from the foreigners who live there. Most of them know which shops are trustworthy, also in the pearl-cities ets. I have been cheated only in the first year I lived there, then it was fairly easy knowing which one to trust and it always worked out, with prices about ONE-TENTH from back home.