Labubu craze sparks shadow market as counterfeit Lafufu emerges • FRANCE 24 English
This furry half monster half rabbit doll has gotten buyers across the world into a frenzy. The Laboo is sold in blind boxes with customers not knowing which doll model they will get. The tour has quickly gone viral over social media. Even celebrities have succumbed to the trend. Rihanna, tennis star Naomi Asaka, and Madonna even made it her birthday cake. But Leubu is released in limited quantities. In Berlin, people queue for seven hours to purchase one. And in Paris, customers take part in a prize draw for the chance to collect their labubu. It creates a certain rarity and also exclusivity. So once we have one, we’re happy. Oh my god. But a counterfeit cousin is on the rise, the lufu. With 10 million sold per month, the number of fakes keeps multiplying. Accessible on the internet, in unofficial shops, and at street markets, lefu stores are drawing a lot of customers. Priced at €10 each, these lufus are half the price of the official labu. A bargain for street vendors who are importing them from abroad. Alerted to the counterfeat craze, customs officers have tightened controls on fake labubu imports. This summer alone, at least three major shipments were seized in France. This warehouse stores some 91 boxes containing over 20,000 lfufus, which do not comply with the European safety standards. We realized there were counterfeit based on the packaging alone. They’re transported in bulk, which is not the case for real labus. And then there’s the quality of the product. You can see that it’s actually a product that can be dangerous. It breaks easily and then it can become a danger to children if they use it. While customers face the risks of fakes, the battle for the market between the boooos and the fufu is far from over. Together.
Originating in Asia, the Labubu—a white-fanged, furry character from Chinese toy maker Pop Mart—has become a global sensation, selling 10 million units each month and attracting celebrity fans like Rihanna and Dua Lipa. Its high price and limited availability have sparked a shadow market, giving rise to a threatening counterfeit known as the Lafufu.
#Labubu #Asia #Lafufu
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6 comments
Disgusting. People are such simple minded creatures. Ffs. Screaming over a stuffed piece of toxic poison fluff from China. Yay.
I was thinking it was a cat. Oops.
But but but kids are dying in Ukraine and Gaza that's the only thing we care about right??😢
Labubu lunacy 😮
Labubu and whatever else they're selling doesn't appeal to me. No amount of exclusivity will mask their innately hideous aesthetics.
The EU do NOT have a health and safety standard.
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