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Luxury Braces for the Return of the ‘Daigou’

Grey market resellers that frustrate global brands in China by exploiting cross-border price gaps have been unleashed by the end of pandemic-era travel restrictions.

Customers purchase bags at CDF Sanya International Duty Free Mall. — Customers in the CDF Sanya International Duty Free Mall in Hainan, a mainland Chinese shopping hub that became a focus of the daigou trade during the pandemic. (Getty Images)

By

Tiffany Ap

25 April 2023

BoF PROFESSIONAL

Luxury industry leaders have been keeping a close eye on China’s recovery this month. While key barometers like company earnings, GDP growth and outbound tourism levels are certainly illuminating, they’re not the only way to track the all-important market as it enters the final reopening phase. A controversial but no less revealing indicator to consider is the health of the

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About the author

Tiffany Ap is Senior Correspondent at The Business of Fashion. She is based in New York and covers marketing and the critical China market.

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