Consumers are prone to "addiction"! The China Consumer Association prompts four major problems in the blind box market

Blind box, as the name suggests, is to place different goods in the same box, consumers do not know which one is in the box in advance, but there is a certain probability that they can draw their favorite goods, it is this marketing strategy similar to the lottery, it is easy to stimulate consumers' desire to buy, and become one of the marketing methods that attract young people to consume.

Because businesses from all walks of life have found the blind box market profitable, they all hope to share a piece of the pie, in addition to the initial toys, catering, beauty, stationery, books and many other consumer areas have also set off a "blind box wind", the consumer market everywhere can see the figure of blind boxes. According to a survey, the market size of the domestic blind box industry in 2019 was 7.4 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan in 2021.

While the blind box economy is developing rapidly, some of the problems that accompany it cannot be ignored. According to media reports and consumer complaints, the blind box market mainly has the following problems:

1. Merchants over-market, consumers are prone to "addiction". There are many marketing means for operators, some of which are through cooperation with stars, variety shows, Internet celebrity anchors, etc., constantly "brushing the sense of existence"; some are through player sharing, discussion, exchange, etc., evoking consumers' collection psychology and showing off psychology, stimulating consumers' motivation and desire to buy; and some create a "series" concept, and set up a most difficult to obtain "hidden money" and so on for hunger marketing, and the probability of winning is mostly "one in a hundred". This kind of marketing methods promote many consumers to enjoy the uncertainty and sense of surprise brought about by the opening of the blind box, triggering consumers to make impulsive purchases and promoting irrational consumption behavior. Especially among young people, because they are curious, like to compare, and their consumption concepts are not yet sound, they are very easy to be "addicted" to blind boxes, and some even directly "end boxes" in order to draw "hidden models". In August 2019, Tmall International released the "List of Post-95 Players' Chopping Power", showing that 200,000 consumers spend more than 20,000 yuan a year on blind boxes, and even some consumers spend millions of dollars a year to buy blind boxes. For example, in October 2020, a parent said in an interview with the media that his daughter, who had just entered high school, bought a lot of blind boxes, mainly in order to draw a "hidden money" in front of her classmates, and almost all of the annual 5,000 yuan of money and pocket money were used to buy blind boxes, but after playing for more than two years, a series was not collected. For another example, a blind box enthusiast said in an interview with the media that she began to buy blind boxes in early 2019, and as of November 2020, she had purchased more than 300 blind boxes, of which 8 were priced at nearly 1,000 yuan. In addition, in order to win a limited edition doll with a unit price of about 999 yuan, some players bought 500 blind boxes at a time, and the single consumption was as high as more than 30,000 yuan. In addition, it has also derived the second-hand trading market of "fried blind boxes", and some rare blind box toys such as "hidden models" have been speculated to a high price of thousands of yuan. For example, in September 2019, the original price of only 59 yuan Pan Shen Christmas hidden blind box in a second-hand trading platform price of up to 2350 yuan. This "speculative" behavior has also contributed to the continuous heating up of blind boxes.

2. The merchant is suspected of false publicity, and the goods in hand are inconsistent with the advertisement. Compared with ordinary goods, blind boxes have strong information asymmetry, and consumers can only rely on the advertising of merchants to choose and buy, which is easily misled by false propaganda such as exaggerated product value, fictitious winning probability, and color and style discrepancies of merchants. For example, a certain operator launched the "New Product Privilege Package" blind box product at the "Double Eleven" in 2019, and the advertisement claimed that it would send a new blind box and a set of postcards of the month to players every month, and sent it for 12 consecutive months. But in January 2020, consumers received not new products, but old models that had been pre-sold in December 2019. Many players believe that this is inconsistent with the original advertising campaign, suspected of deceiving consumers, and triggering complaints from consumer groups. For another example, in October 2020, Mr. Hou, a consumer, complained to the Shenzhen Municipal Consumer Commission that the blind box goods he spent 100 yuan online to purchase were actually seriously inconsistent with the advertisement, the pictures used in the publicity were too beautified, and the skin color of the physical dolls was very different from the promotional pictures.

3. Product quality is difficult to guarantee, fake and inferior, "three no" products appear from time to time. After consumers open the blind box, some products may not meet the safety indicators of relevant national standards; some may be counterfeit cottage products or secondary sales products; some are "three noes" products without production date, quality certificate and manufacturer; and there are quality defects such as scratches, paint drops, and stains. For example, in December 2019, the Consumer Protection Commission of Pudong New Area of Shanghai Commission commissioned a professional testing agency to test 10 groups of blind box products of different brands, and found that 8 samples had hidden dangers of "small parts", which may cause children to block the respiratory tract and isolate air circulation and cause suffocation hazards. For example, in December 2020, consumer Mr. Nguyen complained to the Consumer Council of Futian District, Shenzhen, that he had spent 9.9 yuan in November to buy a blind box online, and the blind box contained a U-shaped pillow. However, Mr. Ruan only used for 20 days, the U-shaped pillow had the problem of off-line, and Mr. Ruan found that the U-shaped pillow was a "three noes" product when looking up the operator's information.

4. Consumer disputes are difficult to resolve, and after-sales service needs to be improved urgently. Some consumers have reflected that some merchants have "shop cheated customers", and consumers have only exchanged and not returned when they encounter quality problems; and some consumers have reflected that the after-sales efficiency of merchants is low, and the problems of consumers have been delayed. For example, according to media reports, in December 2020, a consumer in Tieling, Liaoning Province, spent 295 yuan online to buy 5 blind boxes. After receiving the courier, it was found that 1 of the 5 blind boxes had been visibly damaged and 2 had quality defects. The consumer immediately communicated with the operator and requested the return of the 3 problematic products. However, the operator made it clear that even if there is a quality problem, it cannot be returned, and can only replace the new spare parts. Consumers say they don't accept it. Another example, Ms. Li, a consumer in Hengshui City, Hebei Province, purchased a blind box online at the end of July 2020, the price was 47 yuan, and after receiving it, she found that the blind box was a fake, so Ms. Li contacted the merchant customer service to request a return, and the customer service said that she would help deal with it, but Ms. Li waited for a week without any processing results, and finally Ms. Li complained to the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission for help.

The China Consumer Association believes that at present, some operators do not have strong competitiveness in their products themselves, and only want to rub the marketing heat of blind boxes; some operators regard blind boxes as tools for "clearing inventory", winning immediate benefits but losing long-term reputation. These acts not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but also disrupt the normal order of the market, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the industry. Business operators should earnestly abide by the provisions of laws and regulations such as the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, the E-commerce Law, and the Product Quality Law, especially in the following aspects:

1. The basic attribute of the blind box is the commodity, and the operator must bear the statutory quality guarantee liability. Regardless of whether the blind box is sold according to the genuine product or the accessory, the blind box itself is a commodity, and the operator must bear the statutory quality guarantee liability. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the source of the product is reliable, the chain is complete, and the "three noes" products and counterfeit products are eliminated; on the other hand, the obligations of the operators such as return, replacement and repair should be actively performed, and the quality assurance and after-sales service obligations that should be undertaken shall not be exempted from the excuses of "attached gifts" and "lottery products".

2. Blind box operators should ensure that the quality information of goods is true and ensure that consumers make informed choices. Although there is a certain degree of confidentiality in the blind box sales regarding the style of the product, the information related to product quality and service, such as the place of origin, ingredients, production date, shelf life, use and storage conditions, safety warnings, prices, "three guarantees", etc. should be fully informed, to ensure that it is true and comprehensive, and must not make false, exaggerated or misleading publicity, so that the key information such as the commodity value, probability of occurrence, and distribution of the items in the blind box is true and transparent, so as to protect the consumer's right to know and ensure that consumers know the choice.

3. Blind box marketing should be moderate, and should not over-market consumers' curiosity to mislead consumers into impulsive consumption. At present, blind box sales are hot, attracting operators in many industries to participate, trying to use blind box marketing to obtain a larger amount of goods. However, if the operator does not focus on improving the quality of the main products and services, excessive reliance on blind box marketing gimmicks to mislead consumers to buy impulsively, with some shoddy products to fool consumers, can only produce short-term attraction, will soon consume consumers' sense of trust, damage their own business reputation, by consumers spurned, enterprises are difficult to obtain long-term stable development.

At the same time, the China Consumer Association reminds consumers to have a sense of risk prevention and maintain a rational consumption concept:

1. It is necessary to recognize the risk of rational consumption, and do not blindly follow the trend of moderate consumption. Consumers should recognize the nature of the blind box with uncertainty, recognize and prevent the excessive marketing routine of the business, open the blind box may be surprised by being higher than expected, or it may be disappointed because it is lower than expected, can not only hold the psychology of speculation or winning the lottery to buy the blind box, should not be overly addicted, do not follow the trend and comparison, to combine their own economic ability, consumer demand and hobbies, rational consumption, do what they can, more rational and calm, less blind and impulsive.

2. To retain relevant vouchers such as shopping receipts, rights and interests should be protected according to law. When consumers buy blind boxes, they should try to choose merchants with high reputation, good reputation and perfect after-sales service for transactions, and at the same time, they should also pay attention to shopping receipts such as invoices and advertising information of operators as evidence for rights protection after the fact. When their legitimate rights and interests are damaged, they should communicate and negotiate with business operators in a timely manner, and those who fail to negotiate can protect their rights by complaining to the market supervision department, consumer association organizations, or filing a lawsuit with the people's court in accordance with law.

Source: China Consumer Association website