One user, Wang Sen, flaunted a wall of Hermes’s Birkin bags|senbags2|TikTok
TikTok videos of Chinese suppliers and influencers claiming to expose the low cost of making luxury goods and how Americans can get them from China for a fraction of their original price are going viral.
Several videos, garnering millions of TikTok views, have surfaced showing Chinese manufacturers urging US consumers to bypass President Donald Trump’s new 145% tariffs by buying directly from their factories. Some claim high-priced footwear, handbags, and clothing cost a fraction of retail prices.
One user, Wang Sen, flaunted a wall of Hermes’s Birkin bags, while another, LunaSourcingChina, claimed Lululemon’s $98 leggings could be sourced for $5 to $6 in Yiwu City, famous for its wholesale markets.
However, Lululemon says that’s false, and those factories aren’t on its official supplier list.
The rise of these direct-to-consumer pitches has also raised red flags around product quality, contractual breaches, and the environmental cost of fast ecommerce. Plus, TikTok has taken some of the videos down, highlighting the shaky legal ground.
Business experts say manufacturers are legally bound by NDAs and wouldn’t risk public exposure. They warn that these videos are likely a mix of counterfeits and misleading claims.
The surge in activity has helped push Chinese wholesale ecommerce apps like DHgate to No. 2 and Taobao to No. 7 in the US App Store, even though they are infamous for selling counterfeits.