Too Good To Be True: Swiss ÔGoldÕ Discounts
by swisscham in Bilateral Relations
With billions in sales, Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group reaches customers outside of Asia with its Amazon-like AliExpress Ð and now offers Swiss Ôgold barsÕ along with Swiss Francs at a fraction of the going price. Among the offers on the online retailerÕs website are one-ounce (28.3-gram) bars of Òhigh quality gold plated bullionÓ selling for USD 2.90 (CHF 2.94) each.The bars contain the words ÒCredit SuisseÓ and an alleged serial number. Delivery is possible to the United States and some places in Europe Ð but not to Switzerland.However, the imitation items are nowhere near as valuable as the real thing, which sells for well more than CHF 1,000 per ounce, or over CHF 50 per gram.Credit Suisse told Swiss news portal 20min.ch, which first reported on the fake gold bars, that it would confiscate any such purchases that might turn up at a bank counter, the same as with counterfeit bank notes.