TikTok Shop: Design a Counterfeit-Detection and Authenticity-Verification Tool

You are a product manager at TikTok. Design a tool that checks whether the products sold on TikTok Shop are genuine: decide who it protects, where in the shopping flow it steps in, and how you would know it is working. ```hint Find where fakes slip in A counterfeit can enter when a seller lists it or when a creator promotes it in a video or livestream, and it can surface when the order ships or only after delivery. Decide which of these checkpoints you can control, and at what cost to honest sellers, before choosing any technology. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "authentic" mean only "not counterfeit", or should the tool also catch unsafe, misdescribed or trademark-infringing items? - Who is the primary user: buyers who want reassurance, brands whose goods are copied, or the platform's own review team? - Should the first version cover every listing, or start with categories where fakes are common and costly, such as luxury accessories, sneakers, beauty and electronics? - Can the tool require brands and sellers to supply proof or data, such as supplier invoices or codes on packaging, or must it rely on signals the platform already has? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise definition of authenticity and a goal tied to buyer trust and brand participation - A deliberate choice of which buyers and categories to protect first, grounded in how counterfeits reach buyers through listings, creator videos and livestreams - A layered set of checks across seller onboarding, listing review, fulfillment and post-purchase reporting, prioritized by risk and effort - Metrics that estimate counterfeit exposure without relying on complaints alone, with guardrails on false positives, seller friction and sales - Adversarial risks: sellers who pass checks and then swap stock, banned sellers returning, and abuse of reports or takedowns ### Follow-up Questions - A seller passes verification with genuine samples and later ships fakes. How does your design catch that, and how quickly? - How would you set the threshold for automatically pulling a listing, given that removing a genuine reseller costs sales and goodwill? - How would the tool change for secondhand or vintage items, where the brand cannot vouch for each unit?