Luxury resale market faces rising counterfeit threats and new tech solutions

The luxury resale market faces ongoing challenges from counterfeit goods, prompting both expert warnings and technological innovations to protect consumers.

In Singapore, luxury goods expert Jas Pang of WeLoveCuratingSG warns that accessories like original boxes and receipts do not guarantee authenticity. She emphasizes that true authentication requires inspecting engravings, serial numbers, and the overall integrity of the product. This follows significant enforcement actions by the Singapore Police Force, which recorded 47 intellectual property rights raids in 2025, seizing goods valued at approximately S$1.38 million.

In South Korea, the startup QUAZAR is developing AI-assisted software to combat the global counterfeit trade, which was estimated by the OECD and EUIPO to have reached $467 billion in 2021. QUAZAR’s technology uses guided smartphone photography to examine “signature points” such as stitching, hardware, and logo placement. The goal is to allow shoppers and retailers to identify fakes through visual data and eventually link products to Digital Product Passports (DPP) for better supply-chain transparency.