One vendor on wholesale site Dinodirect.com boasts Prom Dresses replicas of the Elie Saab designed dress worn by Mila Kunis at the 83rd Oscar movie awards last February for just 851 yuan, a fraction of the 9,750-yuan price tag of most Elie Saab dresses. But consumers purchasing replica goods, such as the Elie Saab dress, risk buying objects that break international intellectual property (IP) laws. "If a vendor is selling something that a foreign designer can prove Brown And Pink Strapless Tulle Cocktail Dress created, it is against the law," says Ma Qiang, a lawyer from the Unitalen law firm and a doctorate from the Renmin University of China School of Law.

"Although the cost of the investigation can be high, I think it is worthwhile to do so." He says if Chinese Customs or security abroad seize the items, the buyer may not receive their goods and, even if a Chiffon Strapless Sweetheart A-line Dress complaint is filed, they may not receive a refund. While the individual retailers on the website can be held liable, consumers are often not targeted for such IP cases, unless they are found reselling the counterfeit products, he says.

"They won't necessarily get in trouble, but they may lose some money or get fined," he says. "On our platform, we control those untrustworthy businesses strictly," says Wang, though she Chiffon Tea Length Dress sometimes they can slip through the cracks. "Because there are thousands of suppliers on our platform, we cannot identify all the unqualified products at the very beginning," she says. "We have a 'Trust and Safety' (TNS) department to supervise all of the products. If they find any unqualified ones, such as fake products and counterfeit goods, TNS will cancel the vendor."