Surge in prepayment losses among beauty industry consumers

Consumers lost more than $108,000 after they paid in advance for beauty products and services that were never delivered in the first half of 2025, a near 500 per cent increase from a year earlier.

- Raul Dancel

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) said on Aug 5 that the losses involving the beauty industry rose 464 per cent from $19,000 in the first six months of 2024, even though the number of complaints inched down from 600 to 558.

The organisation said the use of "aggressive or misleading sales tactics" made up about 28 per cent of these complaints.

"Many of these cases involved consumers being pressured into signing high-value packages under unclear or exaggerated promises," Case added.

It highlighted one case that had a contract value of more than $370,000.

The complainant alleged that he was subjected to aggressive, high-pressure sales tactics, and that the company he dealt with "made false promises that were not fulfilled, offered misleading discounts and ultimately overcharged".

Case president Melvin Yong said the beauty industry "remains a concern" due to the sharp increase in prepayment losses.

Overall, Case reported that there had been a 19 per cent drop in consumer complaints from 7,721 to 6,253.