The popular but risky practice of Daigou

More haitao shoppers are buying directly from foreign merchants to avoid fake products.

When it comes to haitao, another frequently mentioned term will pop up - daigou, which means "buying on behalf of someone else".

Despite the popularity of cross-border e-commerce in China, agents who make purchases overseas on behalf of Chinese consumers still constitute a big, gray market. And although the practice of daigou is an informal, small-scale, person-to-person business, it still dominates China's haitao market.