PETALING JAYA: Skincare and make-up products are being sold widely these days, from physical stores to online platforms, and even pasar malam and kiosks.
The problem, however, is with unregistered and fake products, which industry sources say are usually brought in from Thailand, where they are sold in bulk for dirt cheap, with some items priced as low as RM1 per unit.
“Traders, particularly in Kelantan, will buy them in bulk and bring them across the border. There are products without labels and the sellers craft their own after bringing them in.
“In most cases, we do not even know what the ingredients are,” said a beauty business owner based in the east-coast state.
Given the extremely low prices, particularly for large orders, she claimed the sellers could not care less about the products’ safety and efficacy.
“They can contain dangerous ingredients such as bleaching agents or high levels of mercury. But the sellers aren’t bothered because they can make cheap deals while still profiting.”
The businesswoman added that such low-cost and counterfeit products are now widely available, including online.
Some of the products may not even work, but these are repackaged and sold, she said, adding that even if a certain product is sold for as little as RM10, the seller could make a 10-fold profit from the cost price.
She said duplicate products are also popular and can be sourced from China as well.
“The packaging and fonts are usually similar to the original product. There is a ready market and wholesalers supply them to shops for sale,” she added.
On the possibility of the items being smuggled in, the businesswoman said some could come in that way due to the Kelantan border being porous.
Another beauty products entrepreneur said popular items include creams, along with eye and lip products.
“It is quite a lucrative business as people have opened shops selling such products.
“Usually, these products are not registered with the Health Ministry as the cost is high. It’s also to avoid scrutiny by the authorities.
“After all, they retail the products for a measly sum and will not want to go through all that hassle,” she pointed out.
On March 23, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said there was a rising trend of influencers and cosmetics entrepreneurs buying beauty products from Thailand without approval from the Health Ministry and Customs Department.
He said these untaxed products were smuggled in because of their lower prices in Thailand and sold at marked-up rates in the Malaysian market, adding that the General Operations Force had seized some of these illegal items.
Razarudin also revealed that smugglers used illegal pathways or relied on individuals to bring in small quantities of the products to avoid vetting at the Malaysian-Thai border.
