Watch smuggling

In recent years, there has been a radical breakdown of legitimate trade and healthy competition caused by the explosion in the presence of counterfeit products. This problematic situation, which is also reported by the Panhellenic Union of Retail and Online Watches and Jewelry Stores, has 2 results. On the one hand, it leads to the ultimate misleading and deceiving of the public, on the other hand, it brings to the brink of bankruptcy the legal businesses, which have to survive in conditions of a multi-year economic crisis and the pandemic.

This misleading of consumers, according to the announcement of the Panhellenic Union, is also confirmed by the report of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published recently. According to the report, almost 1 in 10 Europeans (9%) have stated that they have already been tricked into buying counterfeit products, with the corresponding figure in Greece being around 25%, as the Greek consumer chooses based on the lowest price, ignoring the authenticity factor.

In the last three years, in fact, hundreds of tons and more than 500,000 counterfeit products have been confiscated by the prosecuting authorities, with the loss to the State and legitimate traders estimated at more than 300 million euros just for the confiscated products throughout the country. Due to the lower price and apparent competitiveness of the products on the popular platforms, those online stores selling imitation products (so-called monkey products) occupied the first positions, resulting in the further destruction of the legitimate trade, a situation that was reinforced during the quarantine period, where physical stores remained closed and online sales soared.

A well-known, highly misleading, practice of these e-shops selling these products is to use photos of genuine watches, stating that the watches are genuine and accompanying them with fake warranty and authenticity cards.

The request to protect legal traders is extremely reasonable and beneficial for the economy as the contribution of this category to the State budget will almost double and these thousands of businesses will also be able to survive.

The Panhellenic Union represents a professional category that officially consists of over 5,000 shops that, apart from the owners, employ over 7,000 workers and corresponding taxpayer families. In the category of watches alone, customs, tax, VAT and employer contributions already contribute to the state budget with several tens of millions of euros per year.

According to the president of the Panhellenic Association of Retail and Online Watches and Jewelry Stores, Giorgos Partaktzoglou , in order for consumers to avoid being deceived by counterfeit products, the following protection measures are recommended:

1. Special attention to disproportionately large discounts. Always compare prices with the websites of the official dealer network.

2. Special reservation for stores that on price comparison platforms do not bear the mark of the recognized merchant.

3. Do not hesitate to contact the official representatives in case of doubt.

Source: www.sofokleousin.gr