AmorePacific, one of the major cosmetics companies in the country, announced on Monday it has slashed the purchase limit of its products at both offline and online duty free shops by up to 75 percent, with the new regulations having already taken effect at offline duty free shops from the beginning of this month. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean cosmetics companies are ramping up their efforts to crack down on the illegal resale of their products sold at duty free shops in a bid to stop further damage to their brand image.
AmorePacific, one of the major cosmetics companies in the country, announced on Monday it has slashed the purchase limit of its products at both offline and online duty free shops by up to 75 percent, with the new regulations having already taken effect at offline duty free shops from the beginning of this month.
The company’s decision comes after growing illegal sales of South Korean cosmetics products have been reported, with products obtained through duty free stores at a lower price first then resold online illegally, denting the overall earnings and the brand value of the cosmetics manufacturers.
“Bulk purchasing by unauthorized dealers has been prevalent recently, and in fears of creating chaos and having a negative impact on our global business, we decided to introduce measures to allow consumers to better experience our products by putting a cap on how much one can purchase at duty free shops,” an AmorePacific official said, while addressing the issue of illegal resale.
With the regulations in place, customers at offline duty free shops will only be able to buy a maximum of five items from AmorePacific, and up to 10 items from sister brands like Primera, Mamonde, and Lirikos.
Previously, overseas travelers were able to buy up to 10 individual items from high-end brands under AmorePacific like Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Hera, and Iope, but with the new regulations, the limit has been changed to five, making it harder for customers to buy in bulk and then make a profit by reselling the items.
The newly introduced regulations are stricter for online duty free stores, replacing the previous lax 20-item limit for each customer.
Instead, customers can only buy up to five items from brands including Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Hera, and Iope as a way of curbing illegal cosmetics resale.
LG Household & Health Care also introduced a similar measure earlier last month, lowering the cap previously placed on the number of items from their cosmetics brands sold to each international flight ticket holder.
When asked why, an official from LG Household & Health Care, said, “We introduced the new regulation in order to preserve the value of our brand’s signature items.”
M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
