Recently, the domestic tide play building block brand Keeppley caused a storm due to crowdfunding. It launched the "Lucky Luck Workshop" limited brick project on the crowdfunding platform Modian Network, promising that the crowdfunding price and the listing price are 699 yuan, but some consumers have found that the building block is sold at least 449 yuan on the third-party merchant platform, and can get the spot faster.
On January 27, Keeppley staff told Nandu reporters that the price reduction behavior is the independent market behavior of third-party merchants and cannot be controlled as a supplier. At present, the Market Supervision Administration has intervened in the investigation and is still being processed, and no results or progress can be announced. Modian network customer service said that it has asked Keeppley to refund the difference of 250 yuan, deducting the corresponding liquidated damages. On the 29th, a lawyer interpreted that consumers have the right to demand certain compensation or compensation from Keeppley bricks based on false publicity or fraud.
Keeppley bricks are controversially listed at a lower price than the crowdfunding price
Project details show that on November 30, 2021, Keeppley launched a crowdfunding project on the crowdfunding platform Modian.com, with a target amount of 100,000 yuan, and consumers can spend 699 yuan to purchase a set of "Lucky Luck Workshop" limited block set. If the crowdfunding target amount is reached, it will be 100,000, 200,000, 300,000, 500,000 and 950,000 yuan respectively, and you can also unlock one benefit for each of the five gears, including remote control version lighting parts, manuscript drawings, coloring sets, motor modules, limited special edition building block dolls, acrylic display boxes, etc.
It is worth noting that the project also promises that the crowdfunding price and the listing price are 699 yuan / copy, and the future sale does not include gifts, does not participate in the platform offer, and the New Year is limited to selling out. As of December 20, 2021, at the end of the crowdfunding project, the project has raised 1,958,744.84 yuan, with 2,617 participating supporters.
However, recently, some consumers found that the sales price of "Lucky Luck Workshop" bricks on the third-party merchant platform is only 499 yuan, and if the platform preferential red envelope is superimposed, it can also be bought at a price of 449 yuan, and it can be faster to get the spot in the offline store of the platform.
A number of consumers complained about Keeppley on Modian.com and related rights protection websites, complaining about its suspected false publicity and demanding that the company "refund one and lose three".
Keeppley has twice issued a statement that the difference can be refunded and the crowdfunded giveaway is retained
Nandu reporter combed and found that Keeppley building blocks have released two treatment plans for this. On January 4, Keeppley offered to unconditionally accept a refund for returns and compensate for a 40% off Keeppley Mall membership coupon. Consumers can choose to refund the difference of 200 yuan in cash and keep the free acrylic display box, but other unlocked crowdfunding giveaways will not be given away, or refund the difference of 200 yuan (100 yuan of member mall shopping funds and 100 yuan in cash), and retain a full set of crowdfunded gifts.
The treatment plan was questioned by a number of consumers, and some consumers told Nandu reporter that keeppley bricks violated the provisions of the initiator agreement signed with Modian Network, that is, during the crowdfunding period to 90 days after the crowdfunding return products were fully shipped, if the initiator or its sales partner sold the main return products in other channels, the transaction price (actual price) of the commodity was lower than the amount of the return of the crowdfunding project, and the Modian had the right to require the initiator to compensate the crowdfunding supporters for the difference in price. According to the rules of the Modian platform, Keeppley bricks must return the difference to consumers and ship all the welfare goods unlocked by the crowdfunding.
On January 6, Keeppley Bricks issued another statement saying that the original moped crowdfunding price of 699 yuan / share is now officially reduced to 449 yuan / copy, and retains all the promised gifts. After the consumer confirms the receipt of the goods, the difference between 250 yuan that chooses to keep the product will be refunded, and those who hope to return the goods in full will be compensated for a 40% discount coupon of the member mall.
Nandu reporter noted that in the statement on January 21, Keeppley bricks said that "through various ways to communicate with all supporters as much as possible", for users who choose to return refunds have been implemented as planned to return refunds; for users who choose to refund the price difference will be handled in accordance with the moped publicity; for supporters who have not replied or have not clearly selected the plan, they have been shipped in accordance with the normal delivery process of crowdfunding, and will be processed by default to the user.
Keeppley said that the price reduction is an autonomous act of third-party merchants and cannot be controlled
On January 27, Keeppley brick staff told Nandu reporters on this matter that the "listing price" marked on the Modian platform refers to the fact that after the products of the Lucky Lucky Workshop are listed on the official channels, such as Keeppley's self-operated Tmall, Jingdong and other platform online stores, they will not participate in the promotional activities led by these platforms. Up to now, the company has not yet sold Lucky Luck Workshop products on the self-operated mall platform, and there is no independent promotion and promotion.
Regarding the reasons for the price reduction of other platforms, the staff member said that the price reduction behavior is the independent market behavior of third-party merchants, and as a supplier, Keeppley cannot control it. Building block products need to have a certain number to be scheduled in the factory, and it is difficult to meet the production demand with crowdfunding orders alone. Therefore, during the crowdfunding period, the fact that Keeppley bricks are underwritten by third-party merchants has always been stated in the crowdfunding fan base.
After the end of the Modian crowdfunding period, on January 4, third-party merchants launched a preferential campaign to reduce the price of Lucky Luck Workshop products to 499 yuan. Keeppley has negotiated with it, but the merchant has carried out public promotions and publicity, and cannot withdraw the promotion.
The staff member revealed that at present, the Market Supervision Administration has intervened in the investigation and is still being processed, and no results or progress can be announced. Keeppley is still carrying out batch after-sales in accordance with the compensation plan announced on the Modian website, and the after-sales time is From January 27 to 28 before the year, and no later than February 15 after the year. For consumers who are still dissatisfied with the compensation plan and refuse to negotiate with them, Keeppley hopes to wait for the market supervision bureau to characterize and deal with the incident before responding to consumers.
On January 28, Nandu reporter called Modian Network on this matter, and the customer service staff said that the "offline or online other platforms and/or sales channels" referred to in the platform agreement refers to any channel other than Modian.com, and there is no difference between the brand's self-operated channel and the third-party merchant platform as described by Keeppley.
According to the penalty announcement of Modian Network, Keeppley bricks have been listed on other channels for spot sales at a price significantly lower than the amount of crowdfunding return products in the case that the crowdfunding order has not fully completed the delivery, constituting a de facto breach of contract. On the evening of January 5, Modian.com has asked Keeppley to refund the difference of 250 yuan and keep all the unlocked gifts, and at the same time, deduct the corresponding amount of liquidated damages from the settlement amount.
Lawyers say the biggest point of contention is the understanding of the price of Keeppley bricks
According to public information, Keeppley is a small-grain brick brand under Guangdong Qimeng Toy Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qimeng Toys"). This domestic building block company was formerly known as CEFC Plastic Mould Factory in Chenghai District, Shantou City, founded in 1984. By 1994, the small particle building block brand "Enlightenment" was created, and in 2019, the enlightenment particle building block sub-brand "Small Block Music" and the above-mentioned Keeppley were created.
Nandu reporter noted that Keeppley bricks are mainly aimed at the adolescent and adult markets, and the products are roughly divided into two series: tide play and national play. At present, Chao Play Line has launched genuine IP licensing products such as Naruto, Doraemon, pokémon, etc.; Guowan Line has launched IP licensing products such as the Forbidden City and China Aerospace, as well as self-developed theme products such as New Chinese Street View and Colorful Street View.
According to the data of Tianyancha, Qimeng Toys was established in June 2017 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, and its business scope covers production, processing and sales: toys, plastic products, molds, animation design, production, animation culture planning, etc. At present, Qimeng Toys has set up an operation center and R&D center in Guangzhou, and set up offices in Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shijiazhuang.
Modian.com is a platform established in June 2014 focusing on the field of cultural and creative crowdfunding. Nandu reporter noted that recently, many books, tide play, hand-made and other projects have tried to obtain start-up funds through crowdfunding platforms, or to test market reactions before officially putting into production.
Regarding this model, Modian network introduced, "participating in crowdfunding is to support the process of turning ideas into reality, rather than direct commodity trading, so there are certain risks." Crowdfunding exists between the promoter and the supporter, and the promoter is responsible for the reward products, commitments and other follow-up service matters of the crowdfunding. In addition, crowdfunding may fail due to various factors such as insufficient ability and experience of promoters, market risks, legal risks, etc.
On January 29, Zhu Junchao, a lawyer at Kenting Law Firm, analyzed to Nandu reporters that he believed that the biggest point of controversy in this incident was the understanding of the price of Keeppley bricks. The sponsor agreement of Modian.com clearly states that the transaction price of the goods is the amount actually paid by the consumer in the end. However, the "crowdfunding price and listing price of the same price" mentioned by Keeppley bricks are more similar to the official daily pricing, and are not the actual transaction price that ordinary consumers usually understand. Therefore, keeppley bricks do violate the agreement of Modian Network and should compensate the difference to consumers. In addition, consumers have the right to claim certain compensation or indemnification from Keeppley bricks based on false publicity or fraud.
Written by: Nandu reporter Fang Shiqi intern Zeng Han