“I hope orders come as easily as Niu Lai’s box office did.”

Recently, the 3D animated film Niu Lai has become a breakout hit.

It opened with almost no audience and earned only 7,169 yuan in its first nine days. Later, its abstract plot, the contrast between ink-wash posters and the rough finished film, and massive user-generated remixes made it go viral on short-video platforms. Within days, box office revenue surged a thousandfold. By August 20, total box office had reached 28.926 million yuan, making it one of the highest-return domestic animated films in history.

As Niu Lai’s viral spread intensified, sellers with a keen business sense began seizing the opportunity.

AMZ123 noticed that soon after Niu Lai flooded social media, the first related merchandise appeared on Amazon US.

Searching “NIU Lai” on Amazon US shows multiple Niu Lai-themed items on sale.

Most are sold by third-party sellers via Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and are based on the Niu Lai image, covering keychains, figurines, plush pillows, notebooks, baseball caps and more, priced from about $5 to $20.

Because Niu Lai is currently extremely hot, its merchandise sparked heated discussion after being listed:

“Someone is already selling Niu Lai merchandise on Amazon.”

“Amazon sellers are way too quick at spotting trends.”

“Is this cross-border speed? 3D printing is so fast.”

By category, most products are 3D-printed items, including keychains and figurines. They can be both custom-made and batch-produced, with capacity flexibly adjusted according to orders, making them suitable for sellers who want to ride the trend. One 3D-printed figurine priced at $19.9 even showed an earliest delivery date of August 21–24.

As of press time, none of these listings showed sales. Some sellers speculated that Amazon had not updated sales records yet, but more believed Niu Lai has limited overseas influence, so few people have bought them.

According to industry sources, before appearing on Amazon, many Niu Lai items were already sold on domestic e-commerce platforms, including plush charms, acrylic keychains, figures and T-shirts. Small items mostly cost 5.88 to 20.88 yuan, and some have sold hundreds of units.

Notably, some sellers said a 3D-printed Niu Lai keychain priced at $6.99 was among the earliest listed on Amazon, but its link can no longer be found. Many speculate it sold out or was removed by Amazon.

As of press time, several Niu Lai items remain on Amazon US, and it is unclear why earlier listings disappeared. AMZ123 reminds cross-border sellers who want to chase this trend: Niu Lai’s popularity is considerable, but selling related merchandise carries significant risk.

AMZ123 has learned that the Niu Lai production team has not publicly commented on the large number of merchandise items appearing on domestic and overseas platforms.

According to industry insiders, although the film team has not registered a text trademark for “Niu Lai,” Article 6 of China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law prohibits operators from using, without authorization, product names or similar marks that have certain influence. This means sellers who use the Niu Lai film as a descriptor may violate the rule.

Meanwhile, under China’s Copyright Law, audiovisual works are original intellectual creations in the literary, artistic and scientific fields that can be expressed in a tangible form and are legally protected. The makers of Niu Lai hold full copyright over the film’s character images, storylines and other elements. Making and selling merchandise with unauthorized elements may constitute infringement.

Overall, although traffic benefits from hot IP merchandise are indeed substantial, the faster sellers chase trends, the higher the risk of pitfalls. Without authorization, sellers may face infringement risks.

It is understood that the film had a low production cost, and the creative team consisted only of director Xin Yumeng and her mother. Industry insiders speculate that the team likely has no dedicated legal staff, so some sellers still hope to take a share by chance.

But infringement risk is not only about being pursued by the film’s creators. In similar past cases, Amazon may also determine that a listing violates rules and forcibly remove it after detecting infringing elements in product images or descriptions.

Hot IPs driving merchandise sales are not uncommon. From the Beijing Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen to Pop Mart’s Labubu, every hot event repeats a similar story: sellers rush in, listings are removed in batches, some make substantial profits, and some lose everything.

In the end, short-term traffic from hot IPs has always been a double-edged sword. Only a few sellers who enter early and exit promptly profit. Most followers miss the traffic dividend and may even affect their normal sales. For mature cross-border sellers, understanding the logic behind the frenzy may be more important than blindly joining it.

Do you know any sellers who have fallen into infringement pitfalls by chasing hot trends? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Source: AMZ123 Cross-border E-commerce
Original link: https://www.amz123.com/t/jQdUe0sV