In the era of "blind box for everything", what are the pitfalls hidden in the products and services packaged as "blind boxes"?
Nandu reporter searched on the e-commerce platform and found that common types of blind boxes include blind boxes for snacks, antique blind boxes, beauty blind boxes, blind boxes for adult products, and blind boxes for banknotes.
Among them, the blind box of express delivery sold by the pound and the blind box of the mobile phone that claims to have won 100% of the lottery are the hardest hit areas of consumer disputes.
Blind boxes for couriers sold by the pound: the source of the goods is questionable
In addition to the box drawer mini program, the "blind box lucky bag" products on the e-commerce platform are also various, and most of them are marked with "no return and no change", of which "express blind box" and "mobile phone blind box" are high incidence areas of consumer disputes.
Nandu reporter searched on major e-commerce platforms and found that there are a large number of online stores selling "express blind boxes", and most of their product pages do not indicate the content of blind boxes and commodity categories, but use extra large font sizes to mark "overseas stranded express delivery", "backlog parcel random delivery", "overseas express blind box" and so on.
An online shop called "Blind Box Preferred", there is only one product link in the store, there are six blind boxes to choose from, and the price is between 5.9 yuan and 588 yuan. The product introduction video states, "The new goods are closed, everything in it" "can open mobile phones and tablets" "It is said that it is a courier stranded by foreign trade merchants, all of which are handled according to the pound." The staff in the video claimed that some fans selected a bag of blind boxes for 248 yuan and 10.8 kilograms, which removed a Bluetooth headset worth one or two hundred, a Bluetooth headset of a foreign brand, AirPods Pro headphones worth more than 2,000 yuan, a T-shirt, three polo shirts and so on.
Nandu reporter search found that such stores are not uncommon in the e-commerce platform, the store page does not introduce the scope of goods in the blind box, only with high-value goods to lure consumers to place orders, such as "the value of the goods far exceeds the order price" and "steady profit and no loss", etc., and with a large font size clearly marked "no return, no change" and "do not accept bad reviews".
For the above-mentioned "express blind box", the co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of the International United Business School of Zhejiang University, researcher Pan and Lin Xiangnandu pointed out that from the sales point of view, this transaction model and the "three guarantees method" have conflicts, if the product has no actual value, then it should be refundable and exchangeable. From the perspective of source channels, there is a problem of unclear sources of goods, whether there are items such as foreign garbage that are prohibited from being imported; it may also be items stolen by express delivery, or it may be "three noes" products. "In the absence of regulation, the transparency from the supply chain to the sales channel is very poor, so the transaction model may involve violations."
For the blind box merchants on the product page marked "do not accept the bad reviews", Pan and Lin believe that the e-commerce platform merchants do not have the right to do so, the e-commerce platform sales platform has the responsibility to ensure the quality of goods, can not because of the sales form change, and ignore this responsibility, the e-commerce platform still needs to accept "bad reviews", the mainland "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law", "E-commerce Law", "Product Quality Law" have clear provisions on the responsibility for commodity quality.
Mobile phone blind box: suspected of fraud or unfair competition
In addition to the blind boxes sold by the pound, there is also a type of "mobile phone blind box" on the e-commerce platform that is also controversial. When the Nandu reporter searched for the blind box Fukukuro on the online platform, he found that there were a large number of stores selling blind boxes with mobile phone pictures as the main picture of the goods, and the price was mostly concentrated between 200 yuan and 300 yuan.
Nandu reporter saw in a Can'en toy franchise store that a 29.9 yuan "blind box for leaking mobile phones", the page shows "100% winning", click to buy can find that the goods are divided into three gears: 30% probability of winning Apple Huawei (price 29.9 yuan), 65% winning Apple Huawei (price 69.9 yuan) and [four boxes] mobile phones and watches tablets must be one (169 yuan). In the product evaluation, some people feedback that they won the mobile phone after buying a 30% probability of the product, and some people bought the 65% probability of the product but only received toothpaste, and some people bought the 169 yuan product and finally failed to open the mobile phone.
Another Hongqi toy franchise store launched a blind box with a price of 235 yuan, the picture is a mobile phone, and the text introduction reads "100% of the winning rate of the leak king". In the product evaluation, some people have won the mobile phone, and some people say that only watches, charging treasures and so on have been opened.
Nandu reporters entered the above-mentioned toy franchise stores and found that the top sales products in the store were all "mobile phone blind boxes" marked with 100% winning.
"The blind box of mobile phones has run counter to the original business model of the blind box. First of all, the probability of winning the mobile phone is artificially set by the merchant, if the real proportion does not match the label on the product page, it may constitute fraud. If there is such a big probability that you can buy a mobile phone at a price of tens of yuan, it is suspected of unfair competition," Liu Ying said, no matter from which point of view, the business model of the blind box of mobile phones is improper.
Pan and Lin also believe that the mobile phone blind box is not compliant, most mobile phone blind boxes are difficult to ensure their blind box attributes, the goods themselves are put into the business, do not have randomness. Merchants in the development of prize sales need to meet certain requirements, to clarify the prize information, to ensure the randomness of the process, business information is not clear, there is no process to ensure the probability of winning the lottery. Falsely claiming that 100% of the winning sales method induces users to buy is illegal against the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. ”
"Blind boxes without borders turn into gambling"
In the view of Pan and Lin, it is not reasonable for blind box lucky bag products to be "no return and no replacement", but the current system for blind boxes has not yet been perfected, and the future will be followed up on the system to remedy.
"First of all, blind box merchants should formulate corresponding process rules to ensure the fairness of blind boxes, and have institutional guarantees to ensure the random probability of commodities appearing, and cannot engage insiders to win the lottery." Secondly, the blind box should be responsible for the quality of the product, to distinguish the definition between the randomness of the blind box and the quality of the product, the two are not contradictory, and finally, to form a good reputation, respect the regulations, and build a good blind box industry ecology. ”
"Blind box products are still an innovative business model, its commodity characteristics determine that consumers can not return goods without reason after purchasing, but the blind box is not a legal place, at least to inform consumers of the scope of goods inside the blind box, without borders to smoke the blind box has become gambling, followed by the blind box in the commodity value can not be too different from the price, can not use the psychology of small and broad to induce or even deceive consumption", Liu Ying said, blind box as an innovative format should be encouraged, currently in compliance still needs to be improved.
【Expert Advice】
The rules of blind boxes are intricate, how can consumers "avoid the pit"?
Zhang Zhenshi, Shanghai Zhonglian (Guangzhou) Law Firm: When consumers choose a blind box, they need to carefully check the rules of the game of the merchant to confirm whether the goods are "not applicable to return without reason." After selecting the blind box, if you find that your rights and interests have been infringed, you can check whether the merchant clearly stipulates that the product is "not applicable to return without reason", and whether it has been confirmed by the consumer, retain the proof of payment, chat records with customer service, call recordings, blind box unpacking videos, screenshots of the product purchase page and other evidence, once a dispute occurs, you can complain to the relevant functional departments or complain to the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Committee to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Li Ya, partner of Zhongwen Law Firm: First of all, you should choose a certified platform to purchase the corresponding goods or services; second, you should check the relevant user agreements in advance on the provisions of the transaction rules, and finally report the situation to the platform operator and the market supervision department in a timely manner when encountering disputes, and you can also file a lawsuit with the people's court.
Liu Ying, professor at the Law School of Jinan University and president of the Network and E-commerce Law Research Association of the Guangdong Law Society: When it comes to consumption that is not large, it is recommended to focus on pre-event prevention. First of all, consumers should correct their mentality, do not have the psychology of gambling, the second is to see its rules clearly, if you really encounter merchants who do not indicate the rules, buy without knowing it, and fall into disputes, it is recommended to go to court to sue.
Producer: Nandu Business Data News Department
Planning/Co-ordinating: Zhen Qin Tian Aili
Written by: Nandu reporter Ma Ningning