Avoiding counterfeit stock from suppliers
How a South African shop can lower the risk of buying counterfeit or illicit goods from suppliers, and keep records that show where its stock came from.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Retail businesses in South Africa
A new supplier calls a spaza-style convenience store in Gqeberha with an offer that sounds too good to refuse: a well-known brand of cooking oil, a popular perfume and branded sneakers, all well below the usual wholesale price, cash on delivery. The owner is tempted. Margins are thin, and the customers want those brands.
The risk is not only that the goods are poor. Counterfeit and illicit products can harm customers, damage a shop's reputation overnight, and leave the owner unable to show where the stock came from when someone official asks. This article looks at which products are most exposed, what a barcode can and cannot tell you, and how to buy in a way that leaves a clear trail.
Where counterfeit and illicit goods concentrate
The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa states that its Illicit Economy Task Forces focus on the product categories most affected by illicit and counterfeit trade: liquor, tobacco, food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, clothing, and toys. Those categories make up a large part of what many South African shops sell.
The scale is not small. The CGCSA states that organised crime and illicit trade are estimated to cost South Africa R68 billion a year across 11 key sectors, a figure it gave in August 2026. Its Consumer Goods Crime & Risk Initiative works with members to reduce crime-related risks in the retail and consumer goods chain, from ordinary crime and civil disobedience to cyber-crime, bomb threats and terrorism.
For a shop owner, the practical lesson is to be most careful with suppliers of the categories above, and most suspicious of prices that undercut the brand owner's own distributors.
What a barcode can and cannot tell you
Barcodes are often mentioned as a quick test of whether a product is genuine. The CGCSA explains that products made or packaged in South Africa have barcodes starting with 600, issued through GS1 South Africa. It is just as clear that a barcode not starting with 600 does not mean a product is fake or illegal. Plenty of genuine goods are imported and carry other prefixes.
GS1 South Africa states that whether a product is sold in South Africa or anywhere else in the world, the seller will need a GS1 barcode number, or GTIN. So:
- a product with no barcode at all, in a category where barcodes are normal, deserves a closer look;
- a product with a barcode that does not start with 600 is not, on that ground alone, suspect;
- a barcode can be copied, so a correct-looking barcode is not proof that the product is genuine either.
The barcode is one clue among several. Packaging quality, spelling on the label, the price and, above all, the supplier's identity matter more.
Checks on a new supplier
Before buying from a supplier you do not know, especially in the high-risk categories:
- Confirm who they are. A registered business name, a physical address, a VAT number if they say they are VAT-registered, and a landline that is answered.
- Ask where the goods come from. An authorised distributor can usually name the brand owner or importer it buys from.
- Compare the price with what the brand's known distributors charge. A large discount with no explanation is a warning.
- Insist on proper paperwork: a tax invoice and a delivery note, not just a cash slip.
- Inspect the first delivery closely against a genuine product you already stock.
The CGCSA's website covers its work on product data standards, food safety and crime risk management for the consumer goods and retail sector.
If you suspect stock already on the shelf
Sometimes the doubt comes after the goods are in the shop: a customer complains that a perfume smells wrong, or a regular notices that the stitching on a pair of sneakers is off. Take the line off sale while you check, keep the unsold units and their packaging together, and pull out the supplier's invoice and delivery note. Contact the brand owner or its local distributor, who can usually tell a genuine product from a copy. Do not return the goods to the supplier until you know what they are, because they may be the only evidence you have.
Records that show where stock came from
If an inspector, a brand owner or a customer questions a product, the shop needs to show which supplier sold it, when, at what price, and that the delivery matched the order. Achekam's purchasing features make that trail part of the ordinary buying routine.
One supplier list. A business keeps one supplier list with duplicate checks by name or VAT number, and quotations, orders and bills pick suppliers from it. That stops the same supplier being set up twice under slightly different names, which is one way a questionable supplier can slip back in after being dropped.
Reasons when a quote is chosen. Supplier quotations are captured against a requisition and one is selected. Choosing one that is not the cheapest needs a written reason that is kept, and a quotation can also be disqualified with a reason. A note such as "disqualified: could not name its distributor" is exactly the record you want later.
Matching invoices to orders and deliveries. A supplier invoice recorded against an order is matched with what was ordered and what arrived. If price or quantity differ, it is held until someone writes a resolution note. That match is where substituted or short deliveries are caught before they are paid. For duplicate billing, see duplicate supplier invoices, and for how matched purchases reach the stock account, see stock purchases to inventory.
Go through your supplier list this month, mark every supplier of liquor, tobacco, food, cosmetics, clothing or toys, and check that each one has a confirmed address, a tax invoice on file and a named source for its goods.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
