Summary of the Core Content
This news report exposes the long-standing "gray market" practices in China's beauty industry: numerous beauty salons illegally sell unlicensed products and provide medical treatments beyond their authorized scope (such as microneedling and hyaluronic acid injections). When regulations tighten, they use various tactics to conceal these violations. Businesses engage in these risky practices due to the extremely high profit margins—selling products that cost just a few dozen yuan for thousands. However, they now face challenges such as difficulty in attracting new customers, rising costs, and extortion from professional counterfeiters. Consumers are willing to take the risks despite being aware of the dangers, driven by the desire for lower prices, convenience, and quick results. Behind all this is a complex web of interests involving hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, creating a situation where all parties (businesses, consumers, counterfeiters, and upstream institutions) tacitly agree to allow these practices to continue, making it difficult to achieve full transparency.
I. The Beauty Salon Owners' "Hide-and-Seek Games": How Do They Conceal Violations?
When supervision intensifies, salon owners resort to various tricks:
- Concealing products: Factories usually prepare two sets of products—one set that complies with regulations and is registered for sale, while the other set consists of unboxed, unlabeled goods used in practice. Now, they label these illegal products as "personal items not for external use," "cleaning solutions for personal use," or "samples for display only." It is believed this helps avoid fines from authorities.
- Concealing services: Gift cards are a common source of complaints, so salon owners claim that customers purchase products and receive immediate services, not use gift cards. They also delete chat records or deny access to them, citing privacy concerns.
- Concealing terminology: They avoid using sensitive terms like "anti-aging" or "traditional Chinese medicine," referring to basic skincare treatments as mere "facial cleansing." Some joke that in the future, people might even have to go to the hospital just to shave.
II. High Profits as the Motivation for Risky Practices
The profits from illegal activities are astonishing:
- A product used for removing spots may cost 80 yuan at the factory but be sold for 6,000 yuan in the salon; a small bottle of a scar removal treatment can earn thousands. Facial masks, which cost 100–300 yuan per box at the factory, are sold for 400–500 yuan each in salons. Whitening kits, costing less than 300 yuan, are priced between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan.
- Factories also control online sales, preventing consumers from seeing the real prices, allowing salon owners to set arbitrary prices.
III. The Three Major Challenges Faced by Salon Owners
Salon owners are facing increasing difficulties:
- Difficulties in making money: They can only attract older customers looking for cheap services; online group purchases attract one-time buyers with no repeat business. High-priced services attract fewer customers and often result in losses. Consumers are also less willing to subscribe to membership programs due to concerns about salons closing down.
- Rising costs: Rent increases by 60% annually, and staff turnover is over 30%. Additionally, customers tend to follow their beauticians, making it hard for owners to retain staff.
- Extortion by counterfeiters: Professional counterfeiters target illegal practices (such as selling unlicensed products or providing medical treatments beyond authorization) and demand compensation (often three to ten times the cost of the violation). Fearing fines, many salon owners choose to pay to avoid trouble—some have been forced to pay up to 50,000 yuan for violations.
IV. Why Do Consumers Continue to Buy Despite the Risks?
Many consumers are willing to risk buying from illegal salons:
- Low prices: Medical treatments at beauty salons are 20% cheaper than in hospitals; for example, a weight loss injection might cost several thousand yuan at a hospital but only a hundred yuan at a salon.
- Convenience: Salons offer home services, and even licensed doctors sometimes provide treatments in non-medical settings.
- Perceived benefits: Some treatments (like hyaluronic acid injections) are more effective and have longer-lasting effects. Salons often promise no downtime or side effects, which is appealing to customers.
- Avoidance of barriers: Salons advertise treatments that do not cause skin damage or discomfort, making them more attractive.
V. The Interconnected Interest Network: Hospitals and Pharmaceutical Companies Also Benefit
A significant portion of the industry's profits comes from partnerships with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies:
- Referral commissions: Salons earn 50%–40% of referrals to plastic surgery clinics for medical treatments. Hospitals may offer discounted prices to encourage salon owners to try their services and then refer customers.
- Collaborations with pharmaceutical companies: Companies use salons as distributors, allowing them to sell products at higher prices and still make a profit (e.g., selling a weight loss treatment for 2,000 yuan instead of the factory price of 1,000 yuan). They may also suggest creative ways for businesses to comply with regulations (e.g., charging for services without providing actual injections).
This interconnected network makes it difficult for the gray market to disappear.
Why Is the Gray Market Persistent?
Everyone has something to gain: businesses earn high profits, consumers get lower prices and convenience, and counterfeiters make money from claims. No party is willing to change this status quo—unless regulations become much stricter or consumers stop supporting illegal services. For now, the gray market will likely continue to exist.