Lower prices prompt customers to buy knockoff products

With prices lower than the market norm, counterfeit products sold online often attract large numbers of consumers. That is contributing to a prosperous market for fakes and demonstrates that there is still a long way to go in the fight against counterfeit goods.

Some online consumers are happy to seek cheaper fakes rather than pay higher prices for genuine articles, especially for luxury brands that convey a sense of wealth and status.

In April, an online vendor, surnamed Cao, was arrested at his premises in Anhui province and charged with selling thousands of pieces of fake jewelry after he was discovered to be selling counterfeit Swarovski Swan necklaces, which have an official retail price of 990 yuan ($150), for 37 yuan on Taobao.