It's about the bag or box, not what's inside

Massive orders through Taobao have prompted an explosive growth in China's courier industry. Xu Congjun / for China Daily

China's online shoppers have taken the concept that packaging can be as important as what's inside to a whole new level - a plane where they do away with the contents altogether.

Many who order Gucci bags online aren't purchasing the handbags for which the brand is known but rather the paper shopping bags these purses would come in if bought in stores.

Status-seeking shoppers on Taobao, the country's largest online store, also buy empty bottles of fine wine and fake iPhone tags for the QQ messaging service.

"It's a typical case of China's 'face' culture, where one will do anything to appear superior, either in social rank or in personal wealth, and when in public," public relations and communications agency Illuminant says in its 2012 report The Things You Can Buy on Taobao and What They Say About the Chinese Consumer Market.

"By its own definition, a 'luxury product' is not something that's affordable to just anyone. Some prefer buying cheap counterfeits to beef up their face index, while others choose to buy authentic packaging."

Most luxury brand paper shopping bags and boxes cost several yuan but can be as much as 100 yuan ($16.34).

Yet while such purchases were popular a couple of years ago, when they grabbed headlines, they're in decline - arguably because of those very headlines.