Did TikTok tell you to buy luxury goods straight from China? Experts say proceed with caution

Think you've found a great deal on TikTok to buy Lululemon or Louis Vuitton directly from the factory? Experts say you might want to think again about how real the claims in that video are.

In recent days, social media users claiming to have an inside scoop on how and where luxury brands are really made have begun popping up online, especially on TikTok. 

In the videos, users claim to be Chinese manufacturers, or say they have friends in high positions at factories that make luxury goods. They go on to say that brands like Louis Vuitton, Lululemon, Hermes and more make their products in China, and claim the items are made for much less than they're sold for. 

Some of the videos also offer links or website names that they say users can go to in order to purchase versions of their favourite products of the same quality but for a fraction of the price. 

Other accounts, like @lunasourcingchina which shared a very popular video claiming that Lululemon products could be bought directly from Chinese factories for $5 or $6, have since disappeared from TikTok, though accounts with nearly identical usernames and content styles do remain up.

Inga Trauthig, a research professor studying cybersecurity at Florida State University, says many of the videos repeat specific messages — like the claim that China has the best supply chains —and this raises red flags.

Some of the accounts — like this one, this one and this one that profile the same supposed manufacturer — have few followers and posted their first videos just days ago. Many of the same videos have also been reposted across these accounts. Some of their followers also have no profile pictures, random usernames and strange posts on their pages, which could point to those accounts being bots.

Trauthig says accounts being new and followed by possible bot accounts hints that they could be part of a propaganda campaign. Flaws in the video or audio quality also indicate that these videos might be propaganda, Trauthig says, as these kinds of imperfections can arise when creators of propaganda are editing and repurposing content for multiple videos, trying to spread their message as far and wide as possible.

It would be impossible to tell whether or not these videos are actually being made by real Chinese manufacturers or if they might be part of a Chinese state-run campaign without further research, Trauthig says — especially given the trade war would incentivize both the government and business owners to make videos like this that promote manufacturing within the country.

TikTok did not respond to the CBC's request for comment by deadline regarding the nature of the posts on their platform. TikTok does have rules against selling counterfeits and says that they prohibit false or misleading content.

Either way, Trauthig says the intent is to speak directly to U.S. consumers during the trade war, projecting confidence in the quality of Chinese products as U.S. President Donald Trump claims his country should make its own stuff.

Already, the U.S. government has imposed 145 per cent blanket tariffs on China, which experts have said would raise the price of consumer goods tremendously for American consumers.

"What the Chinese want to portray … in these videos, is like, 'It's not on us, we can get you whatever you want, we can get it for you cheaper,'" Trauthig said. "And that obviously implicitly puts the blame on the American government."

Whether or not the videos are actually made by manufacturers in China, Samuel Roscoe, a lecturer in supply chain and operations management at the University of British Columbia's business school, says some of the posts do describe roughly how our supply chains work.