The most notorious physical markets for counterfeiting in 2025

 

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) issues a report each year titled Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy. Online brand protection experts regard this report as a great source of information on general trends and the various IP-related developments of both physical and online marketplaces all over the world.

 

An interesting point to check is the differences between two consecutive reports. Has anything changed for the better (or the worse) in a specific marketplace following the annual findings of the USTR? More often than not, marketplaces tend to be featured in several consecutive issues before a significant improvement allows them to be removed from the USTR’s report. Surprises in that regard are rare, but not completely unheard of.

 

Last year we examined the most interesting physical marketplaces featured in the 2024 report. Let’s take a look at this year’s issue to highlight some noteworthy differences!

 

Check out the most interesting notorious physical marketplaces of 2024!

 

In general, we can note that the 2024 list is still quite relevant: all but one of the markets we highlighted in our article are still featured in the 2025 report. Therefore, we chose to introduce a few other interesting physical marketplaces that facilitate considerable trade in fake and pirated products.

 

 

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China

With 93% of the value of all IP-infringing goods seized by US customs agents originating from China, the country is still regarded as the most important source of fake goods in the world. As mentioned last year, enforcement is severely lacking in physical markets, and vendors often use their stalls as a showroom for fake goods more widely available on online marketplaces. Yet again, the report urges Chinese authorities to improve their enforcement efforts, especially on the markets highlighted by the USTR.

 

 

AI-generated illustration of a physical market in China

 

 

The Kinsun Market near Zhanxi Road in Guangzhou is a new addition to the report this year. The large marketplace consists of five floors and sells almost exclusively fake products. The lower floors are dedicated to counterfeit versions of branded clothing and accessories, while the upper floors contain more of the same with a slight distinction: these floors can only be accessed by customers when escorted by vendors.

 

The Luohu Commercial City in Shenzhen is a mall where sellers openly offer "high quality" counterfeits of well-known branded products (mostly fashion and accessories) to customers, despite the large signs prohibiting the sale of fake goods. No enforcement efforts are visible in the mall, which is why the USTR decided to feature it yet again in its report.

 

The Wu’ai Market in Shenyang serves both as a wholesale distribution center and a retail sales point for fake goods in the region. While raids and inspections occur on the market, they do little to curb the issue, which is elevated by the fact that the production and sale of counterfeit goods is often the sole employment opportunity for the local population.

 

A notable occurrence is the removal of the Kindo Garment Market in Guangzhou from the 2025 report. It seems that the USTR found the improvements in enforcement on this market noteworthy enough to remove Kindo from its newest issue.

 

 

Brazil

The Rua 25 de Março in Sao Paolo encompasses seven different physical markets in the area that both store and sell counterfeit products. It operates over a thousand selling points, both wholesale and retail, for fake goods, including fashion, electronics, printing supplies, pharmaceuticals, and pirated IP works. Enforcement is weak, if present at all (no enforcement actions were reported throughout the year of 2025), and the area also serves as a distribution point for counterfeit goods travelling across the entire country.

 

Find out how grey market pharmaceutical products damage both brands and consumers!

 

 

Vietnam

The Gia Lam market in Hanoi distributes counterfeit products in both wholesale and retail capacities. The most prevalent product types are apparel, footwear, and luxury accessories. Although a raid took place in 2025 that resulted in the closure of many shops in the market, rights holders report that many sellers have since returned to the area and set up shop again.

 

The Saigon Square Shopping Mall in Ho Chi Minh City, on the other hand, operates as a counterfeit selling hotspot for tourists. Fake versions of branded clothing, footwear, and luxury watches are often found here, and despite the government’s efforts to penalize vendors, the subsequent fees are too low to have any real deterrent effect.

 

 

Peru

The Gamarra district in Peru is the city’s main textile market. It sells both fabrics in bulk and finished clothing, and many items are quite clearly either off-brand or counterfeit. The market is widely known amongst locals and tourists as a place where people can shop for cheap alternatives to branded products, so much so that sometimes even makeshift vendors set up shop on the neighboring streets. Despite 2025 enforcement efforts by the authorities that resulted in the capture of $90 million worth of illicit products, the market continues to thrive.

 

The Polvos Azules shopping center in Lima sells a wide variety of products, including fashion, electronics, accessories, and perfumes, many of them fake. Besides the physical market, the center also operates e-Commerce and social commerce sites featuring product availability and contact information for sellers. Although enforcement actions have had a positive effect, the penalties are not strong enough to act as true deterrents.

 

 

Thailand

The MBK Center in Bangkok is a well-known shopping center frequented by both locals and tourists. Authorities have conducted a series of raids in 2025, which resulted in a significant reduction in the availability of counterfeit goods. The center has reportedly terminated the contracts of sellers who were found guilty of selling IP-infringing products. Unfortunately, some of them have apparently set up temporary stalls on different floors of the center, which is why the USTR encourages MBK’s owners to introduce stricter measures against repeat offenders.

 

 

Illustration of traditional Thai tuk-tuk taxis

 

  

India

The Musafir Khana Market in Mumbai is a popular selling point of cosmetics, watches, electronics, and accessories, a lot of them counterfeit. Moreover, Musafir also serves as a distribution center of fake products en route to other parts of the region. Despite enforcement efforts, authorities have not managed to make a significant improvement.

 

The Sadar Patrappa Road Market in Bengaluru specializes in counterfeit electronics as well as ink cartridges, cell phone accessories, and pirated software. Although the authorities try to curb the sale of illicit products, their occasional raids are not enough to solve the issue.

 

The Delhi-based Tank Road Market serves as a wholesale selling point for counterfeit fashion, footwear, beauty products and watches. Many of these products are also manufactured in the region, and rights holders raise concerns about the health and safety hazards they pose for shoppers.

 

 

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Brand protection on physical markets for counterfeiting and piracy

While online enforcement becomes more sophisticated, fake and pirated products sold on physical markets remain a major challenge for brands and businesses. As the USTR’s 2025 review points out, physical markets continue to play a crucial role in the creation and distribution of counterfeit products across multiple countries in almost every product category.

 

For brand owners, this means that solely focusing on online or offline brand protection is not enough. In fact, a comprehensive brand protection solution must combine online and offline elements to be truly effective.

 

Discover how our online-to-offline brand protection solution addresses complex IP infringement issues!

 

Several popular brand protection services are available both online and offline. For example, thanks to our extensive network of researchers all over the world, globaleyez can conduct test purchases in physical markets as well to collect evidence about the nature of the products and/or the identity of their seller.

 

 

Conclusion

Counterfeiting remains a major issue in world trade on both physical markets and e-Commerce. In order to diminish its devastating effects on your brand, you need to set up a comprehensive brand protection program that is tailored to your exact needs.

 

Contact us and find out how we can protect your invaluable IP rights both on- and offline!