"Enduring Criticism and Tears to Earn 30 Million: Who's Creating the 'Super Profit Myth' of 2D Character IP Perfumes?"

Text | Jolene

“After a gathering, everyone sprays perfume. Friend A takes out Chanel, Friend B brings Loewe, Friend C pulls out Hermès, and I present my origami heart-shaped perfume.”

On March 4th, the otome game “Love and Deep Space” under叠纸 (Zhezhi) launched an exclusive perfume called “Siren’s Promise” for the character Qi Yu. The pre-sale price for 30ml is 285 yuan, and for 50ml is 430 yuan, already comparable to prices of many top international perfume brands.

Even though the official closed sales display to prevent comparisons and disputes, outsiders still estimated astonishing results through clues: first-week sales exceeded 80,000 bottles, with single-product sales approaching 30 million yuan, surprising even some beauty and perfume industry insiders.

On one hand, it’s immense wealth; on the other, endless criticism. Official information shows the perfume’s OEM factory is Guangzhou Xuelie Cosmetics Co., Ltd. This factory has previously provided OEM services for affordable perfumes from brands like Miniso, including 9.9 yuan sandalwood body sprays and 15 yuan island solitude rose perfumes. Netizens traced this line to Alibaba’s 1688 platform, discovering that Xuelie’s own brand Meidun perfumes and wholesale prices for custom perfumes are around 20 yuan—tens of times cheaper than the 430 yuan retail price.

This huge price gap makes the pricing of top-tier brands even more glaring: “In the end, it’s just mass-produced, assembly-line products. Is叠纸 really selling it like this?”

In fact, this isn’t the first time叠纸 has launched character-themed perfumes, and Guangzhou Xuelie isn’t just an ordinary “assembly line”: the company has over thirty years of experience in this field, providing full-spectrum solutions for perfume and fragrance products, with clients including Unilever, Watsons, and other major FMCG companies. Previously, they also made perfumes for companies like miHoYo and BlueBlue Interactive, but none of these IPs escaped criticism, often for similar reasons.

Just a few days ago, the “Full-Time Master” character impression perfume project suddenly announced a delay ten minutes before pre-sale started. This project was licensed by IP owner Yuewen, produced by the “second-dimensional perfume brand”弗止 (Fuzhi), closely linked to retail giant GOODSLOVE. The negative reactions focused on “too expensive,” “not worth it,” and “exploiting fans.”

If the IP owner’s own OEM factory can easily be criticized, why not hand this task to a professional beauty and fragrance brand?

The reality is, in today’s fiercely competitive beauty and personal care scene, second-dimensional IPs face a strange “cold reception” in the perfume track. Perfume brands prefer popular cute IPs like Hello Kitty and SpongeBob, rather than risking millions in sales on these “paper dolls.”

With the full explosion of “Guzi economy,” fans are more knowledgeable and diverse than ever. Even the most loyal fans are no longer willing to pay for rough “IP premium” products. In the already opaque perfume industry, the game of “exploiting fans” is becoming more intense.

Why do perfume brands struggle to tap into this niche market? The demand for character perfumes persists long-term. How can IP owners avoid criticism, and what kind of perfume brands still have a chance to meet this demand?

To understand whether players are truly losing or profiting, and whether叠纸 is really making a killing, we need to recalculate the economic model.

Currently, there are two main modes for character perfume products. The first is OEM manufacturing, similar to the path chosen by叠纸 and early Miniso. Guangzhou Xuelie provides full-service solutions—from scent selection, sampling, filling, to packaging. Usually, OEM factories do not share profits but charge for services and manufacturing costs. After deducting logistics, warehousing, and marketing expenses, the gross profit from sales belongs to the game company.

According to 香水时代 (Perfume Times), most perfume liquid costs (perfume essence and solvents) account for less than 5% of the retail price. Even brands with higher quality requirements rarely exceed 15%. However, the bottle and packaging costs are higher, generally 2-3 times that of the liquid. For this launch,叠纸 applied for a bottle appearance patent and needs to coordinate with packaging suppliers (“external sourcing”), adding costs for custom molds—so-called “external sourcing.”

ChopChop (剁椒) consulted multiple packaging manufacturers about custom mold prices. Surprisingly, shaped glass bottles are not the most expensive part: depending on complexity, quotes range from 8,000 to 30,000 yuan, but all said mold costs won’t exceed 35,000 yuan. The most costly component is the pump head, which includes 6-7 parts, each mold costing around 20,000 yuan, though most brands use universal pump heads. The outer cap mold costs about 40,000 yuan, and inner caps around 35,000 yuan.

Most manufacturers say that if using standard pump heads and common double-layer caps, the total mold cost is about 100,000 yuan.

The second mode is “authorized co-branding.” In Japan, character perfumes have become a mature category, with companies like Primaniacs, Zerogact, Broccoli adopting licensing models: they handle R&D, find perfume manufacturers, design packaging, establish sales channels, and bear inventory risks, taking most of the profits. The IP owner provides only character artwork and concept licensing, collecting minimum guarantees and sales royalties.

Among these, Primaniacs is quite active. It releases 3-4 new IP collaborations per month, each with re-designed scents based on the characters.

In China, few brands develop new products through co-branding. A notable example is Honor of Kings (王者荣耀) collaborating with气味图书馆 (Scent Library): in 2022, they launched a limited-edition 520 gift box with two 15ml perfumes priced at 290 yuan. The following year, Scent Library announced a limited fragrance “Peach Blossom Fan” for Xiao Qiao, along with a series including perfume, bath products, and hand cream, with 30ml priced at 225 yuan. However, a close look at the scent description reveals it’s nearly identical to Scent Library’s previous “Peach Luck” perfume.

Why don’t domestic or international big perfume brands do similar collaborations, given Japan’s successful examples? The awkward Genshin Impact x Guerlain collab in 2024 might shed some light.

In late July 2024, Genshin Impact’s official account announced the implementation of a Fudan perfume designer Emily’s character scent, and a week later, news of a Guerlain collaboration emerged. On August 15th, Guerlain launched a “collaboration limited edition” set priced at 980 yuan, including a new “Miracle Garden” 75ml perfume and four related accessories.

In reality, this perfume isn’t entirely a new Guerlain custom. Rumors of negative reviews and price drops had circulated since April. Guerlain’s strategy is simple: co-branding can boost niche SKUs, clear inventory, and attract young new customers. If they used popular existing products for collaborations, it would be “icing on the cake,” possibly just paying licensing fees to the IP owner for free. Although there’s debate over who acted first—miHoYo or Guerlain—Guerlain’s “Miracle Garden,” being relatively new and lacking growth momentum, became the best candidate.

From a marketing perspective, Guerlain and miHoYo both suffered. Fans weren’t receptive: female fans disliked the revealing skirts of the characters, male fans criticized the collaboration between “miHoYo and a female-oriented brand,” and rumors spread that the character was drawn by an internal female artist, with accusations of “selling fans’ money to favored brands.” More critically, perfume is a highly personal, emotional product. If the scent doesn’t match fans’ expectations or, worse, is “bad smelling,” the product’s basic usability drops to zero, damaging the “luxury perfume” image.

This collaboration happened during the peak of player controversy in summer. After heated online debates, the partnership quietly ended: compared to the same series of perfumes “Rose Rose,” which was promoted by celebrities, the Genshin Impact collab sold only half as much. Post-collaboration, the perfume’s rating on 香水时代 remains far below other series, with only 6.7 points, ranking last in the 花草水语 (Floral & Water) series. The character Emily also didn’t get further appearances and was almost forgotten.

Guerlain’s setback has made other perfume brands wary of working with niche IPs. The demand for character perfumes now falls into the hands of the IP owners themselves: in June, Genshin Impact launched its own “Yulin and Flying Sand” series, including a 10ml character impression perfume, which received a relatively stable response, and later a series of impression crystal scent boxes. The game company can’t set up production lines on-site, so they turn to OEM factories like Guangzhou Xuelie, which is a major player.

After 2025, we see beauty brands still doing collaborations, but the perfume track deliberately avoids second-dimensional IPs: brands like Wildberry choose Hello Kitty and Star People, while Honey Flower’s crystal scent boxes turn to safer, mainstream brands like Ulike.

For perfume brands, developing new scents for second-dimensional IPs is costly, and perfume consumption is slow with low repurchase rates. If they just repackage old products, fans can easily buy unbranded or gray-market versions on secondhand platforms like Xianyu, avoiding official prices. There are also mature, low-risk collaborations like tea-flavored perfumes, which are easier and more profitable.

Deeper reasons lie in the “Guzi” (Guozi) dimension: co-branded perfumes are somewhat awkward. To be portable, 10ml bottles are hard to design with novelty—unlike lipstick or cushion compacts, which can be carried around for touch-ups and even kept as collectibles, carrying “social currency.” But designing shaped bottles like叠纸’s is not easy to carry around.

Moreover, big IPs like Hello Kitty and Star People are easy to sell, and content operations are simpler. Niche IP fans are extremely picky, making costs high and risks outweighing benefits.

Ultimately,叠纸’s audience isn’t just upset about the 300-400 yuan price—after all, IP owners have released more expensive merchandise. The core issue is the feeling of being “rushed”: “You didn’t hire a professional perfumer, didn’t put effort into R&D, just slapped a low-end mass-produced product with a paper doll label to fool me.” The high markup inherent in the perfume industry intensifies this contradiction.

But it’s not a dead end. As mentioned, Japan’s Primaniacs, which specializes in second-dimensional IP perfumes, also prices its 30ml perfumes at about 7,920 yen (~450 yuan after taxes and fees), higher than叠纸’s controversial perfume, yet it’s not criticized and remains successful.

In 2021-22, miHoYo licensed Primaniacs, which launched 17 Genshin Impact character perfumes across three waves, covering various character types, with stable reviews and secondhand prices. Primaniacs also produces licensed perfumes for domestic IPs like Identity V, Xiao Black, and Heaven Official’s Blessing. Since domestic IPs only share profits, their marketing on Chinese social media is modest, with few complaints—some find the prices high, others dislike certain scents, but no one accuses the brand of “mass exploitation.”

Primaniacs’ official slogan is “A specialty store where you can meet the characters from the other side of the screen.” Many have shared experiences of testing perfumes in physical stores: staff are friendly, familiar with collaborations, creating a near-fan gathering atmosphere that encourages impulse buying.

Besides physical stores, the brand releases “small essays” explaining scent design ideas based on character backgrounds and plots when launching new products. IP owners often cooperate with promotional activities, such as inviting voice actors to promote the perfumes. Feedback shows some styles last 7-8 hours, with clear top, middle, and base notes, matching character stories, making the design process itself a pleasant experience.

Philippe Benacin, CEO of Interparfums, admitted in an interview with Le Monde that 50% of perfume costs go to distribution, 30% to advertising and marketing. Both merchandise and perfume are high-margin emotional products. “Expensive” isn’t the problem; marketing and storytelling are part of the product’s value. Brands need professional processes to deliver emotional resonance. This capability allows Primaniacs to develop products without partnering with top perfume houses, keeping costs low while transforming from “unknown brands” into “specialized second-dimensional perfume brands.”

叠纸’s problem may be missing this layer of operation: the content of the game and perfume marketing stories don’t fully transfer, leading players to think: “You just slapped a paper doll label on a low-end mass product and sold it at high prices.” OEM factories aren’t necessarily low quality, but failing to communicate this relationship and tell the right story to consumers who buy emotionally is a mistake by the brand.

For IP owners, if they can’t partner with big brands, collaborating with emerging niche perfume brands with channel control, brand identity, and quality assurance might be better. They can select scents that match characters and co-brand with minimal investment, establishing a “professional” image first, rather than raising prices to big-brand levels and relying solely on IP premium.

This doesn’t mean the second-dimensional perfume market is doomed to survive only in “big brands dismissing small factories.” From a brand perspective, hesitation from major brands stems from a “business purist” view: high investment, high risk, narrow audience. But China still has space to incubate small, niche brands like Primaniacs that understand their segment deeply. After all, Primaniacs is essentially an IP merchandise planner in disguise, relying on research and understanding fan psychology rather than “selling high-end perfumes.”

Some domestic players are already experimenting with this “professional” approach. Last year, a leading domestic chain, GOODSLOVE, quietly opened a “Fuzhi” fragrance space next to its flagship store. Fuzhi held scent sampling events in multiple GOODSLOVE stores, claiming to be “a fragrance lifestyle brand focused on ACGN (Anime, Comics, Games, Novels).” Besides perfumes, they offer character impression scent customization, providing formulas for fans to experiment with. This “experience” makes the high markup more acceptable, and DIY customization avoids the awkwardness of fans rejecting official scents.

After a trial in Shanghai, Fuzhi plans to start online pre-sales of its “Full-Time Master” impression perfume for Genshin Impact on March 15, aiming for nationwide reach. Compared to叠纸’s 430 yuan price, Fuzhi offers lower-concentration body sprays and smaller portable sizes, with prices between 45 and 158 yuan. Yet, after product info was released, some fans complained it was “too expensive,” leading to a temporary suspension.

This scene is quite dramatic and reflects the delicate situation of the emerging second-dimensional perfume market: after controversy, consumer defenses are at their peak. Still, some comments show a nuanced attitude: “Although your deadline was embarrassing, at least you fixed it after being called out. Still listening to advice.”

While the online sales of “Full-Time Master” are paused, Fuzhi’s offline Shanghai store continues to host “Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu” scent activities, attracting many “seeking custom” and “buying on behalf” voices.

For叠纸, perfume might just be a one-time project to earn 30 million yuan in short-term merchandise sales; but for brands like Fuzhi trying to establish themselves, every word of reputation counts.

This pricing and sincerity game is a necessary pain for the second-dimensional perfume market. After this round, if GOODSLOVE can stabilize with more affordable, participatory pricing, a Chinese version of Primaniacs might truly emerge.