As charges fly that international luxury brands offered on e-commerce platform are either fake or second-hand substitutes, online luxury portal Darveys.com refutes the claim, stating that the luxury products sold at discounted price on its portal are authentic.
Along with Darveys, several luxe retailers, both online and offline, have been battling legal issues with regard to their offerings.
Nakul Bajaj, Founder and CEO, Darveys, said the company has a three-tier check in place, to ensure that the products sourced are authentic.
“We have a tie-up with nearly 287 luxury boutiques, which source directly from the company and sell through Darveys. It is these sellers who offer the best possible rates. Besides, we have hired an external agency to do the quality and authenticity checks,’’ Bajaj said.
He added that Darveys was the only e-commerce portal in India “that offered twice the price of the product as a refund, if the product failed to meet the authenticity criterion as guaranteed to the consumer.’’
Darveys.com has also adopted an international marketplace model in order to achieve the best possible price for luxury-aspiring Indian consumers.
Asked why brand owners themselves were critical about discounts being offered at various portals, Bajaj said the brands were basically concerned about trademark, rather than counterfeit products.
Bajaj added that Darveys works on a commission model, and acts as a market place for international sellers. “We also have ₹1,000 registration fee for prospective buyers. This helps us attract serious buyers to our portal,” he added.
Over 1,000 members Bajaj claims that the site has conducted close to 700 transactions, with the average price range of each transaction at ₹25,000.
“We have added more than 1,000 members with a daily hit to conversion rate of 9.74 per cent,” he pointed out.