Finding a Labubu in France has become a bit of an obstacle course: Pop Mart releases sell out in minutes, and the secondary market has become flooded with copies. This article provides an honest comparison of available purchase channels—their prices, their risks, and what you can do when things go wrong.
The four purchase channels, compared
The first channel is direct from Pop Mart—stores, vending machines, and their official website. It is the safest for authenticity and the cheapest at the retail price. The problem is availability: sought-after series sell out in minutes, and not everyone has a store nearby.
The second is specialized resellers, of which we are one. The price is higher than the retail rate—this is the trade-off for sourcing and immediate stock—but the product is available and the contact person is identifiable.
The third is major generalist marketplaces. This is where the risk is highest: anyone can open a shop there, and copies circulate there en masse using official imagery.
The fourth is second-hand trading between collectors. Excellent for rare pieces and sold-out series, but without any guarantee: you are buying on gut feeling and the seller's reputation.
Why "Lafufu" are a real problem
Collectors call counterfeit Labubus "Lafufu." They are no longer crude: some replicate the packaging, the authentication card, and even the holographic sticker.
Three signals remain reliable. The number of teeth—a real Labubu has exactly nine. The authentication QR code, which must be activated for the first time when you open a new box. And the quality of the vinyl face finish, which copies almost always make coarser.
We detail each of these checks, with photos as evidence, in our guide dedicated to identifying a real Labubu—to be read before any secondary market purchase.
Blind box or guaranteed color: two ways to buy
The blind box is the historical format: the box is opaque, and the color inside is distributed randomly among those in the series. That is the principle of the game, and it is what makes collecting addictive—but you don't get to choose.
Conversely, some formats are sold with a guaranteed color: you order a specific color and receive that one. This is the case for our plush keychains, available in Soymilk, Lychee Berry, Green Grape, Sea Salt Coconut, Toffee, and Sesame Bean.
The choice depends on what you are looking for. The blind box is for the surprise and the hope of landing a rare piece; the guaranteed color is for when you want a specific color, to match a bag, or to give as a gift.
What you can do when it goes wrong
By purchasing from a professional seller, you have a fourteen-day cooling-off period for most online purchases, as well as the legal guarantee of conformity if the product received does not match its description.
A counterfeit sold as an original falls under a lack of conformity: you are entitled to request a refund. Always keep photos of the package upon opening; they constitute your proof.
When buying from a private individual, however, these protections do not apply. This is the parameter many buyers discover too late, and it is what justifies the price difference compared to a professional reseller.
Our position, stated clearly
We are not an official Pop Mart distributor, and we do not claim to be: we are a reseller. What we guarantee is the verification of the authenticity of each piece before shipment, a published business identity, and the possibility of returns within thirty days.
This is intentionally less spectacular than the promises you read elsewhere. But in a market where counterfeiting is the rule rather than the exception, a sustainable promise is worth more than a superlative.