Popularity of 'dupe' products skyrocketing in New Zealand

From makeup and skincare, to international clothing trends and perfumes — the popularity of dupes continues to grow both in New Zealand and around the world.

The trend is most active among Generation Z, with social media influencers and other online content creators playing a large part in promoting dupe products.

Tik Tok creator Paige Cameron told 1News she is frequently uses dupe items.

"I obviously started seeing them online, everyone using the dupes, so I wanted to try them out and see how I liked them," she said.

"I have dupes for makeup, clothing, jewellery dupes, perfume and even drink bottle dupes".

The cost of living crisis is believed to be one of the main contributors to the spike in popularity for these products, according to Consumer NZ.

"What a dupe does is it's not trying to be that same product, but it's having similar qualities that might be just as effective, but for a third of the price", said Consumer NZ's Head of Research and Advocacy, Gemma Rasmussen.

"Times are really expensive and often people feel like if there's a shortcut to getting a really great product at a lower price then absolutely they're going to take that".

But concern is growing over whether these cheaper products could be fuelling over-consumption, affecting sustainability efforts, and undercutting small businesses.

Concerns have also been raised over potential legal issues, with some dupes pushing the boundaries with intellectual property and trademark.

AJ Park intellectual property lawyer Paul Johns said there is a scale for dupe products.

"At one end, perhaps at the more legal end, there are products that are simply competing. That achieve the same effect or work in the same way but have a different name.

"Further along the spectrum there are perhaps more look alike products, where not only does the product have the same effect but it's packaged in a similar way and might have a similar sounding name, but not the same name".

"Then at the far end, the unlawful end, would be the counterfeits where its an exact copy of the original product, including using the same products, the same brand names, and it's likely to be inferior in those circumstances".

He's urging businesses to take the appropriate steps to protect their brands.

"Businesses should take care to protect their IP, it makes life much simpler if you have protection in place".

Consumer NZ has also warned that cheaper products aren't always the best-quality items in the long run.

"We've heard of instances where dupes have actually performed very well, they've been pretty comparable to the products and have delivered high quality.

"But in some instances they're just terrible, so it really is about doing your research and looking at online reviews," Rasmussen said.