Recently, Mr. Sun of Hebei Province spent 165 yuan to buy a famous painting of 137 cm * 69 cm at the "Hongya Pavilion" store of Weipaitang. In the face of such a price, Mr. Sun began to wonder in his heart whether he was really "picking up leaks" or anti-"being pitted".
The low price of the platform "picking up leaks" is doubtful
The customer service of the store assured Mr. Sun that "all the works in our store are original hand-painted authenticities" and "100% authentic". Judging from the order information, the author of the flower and bird painting, Jia Guangjian, is a member of the Chinese Artists Association, a professor of the National Academy of Painting of China, a national first-class painter, and is currently the president of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.
△ Screenshot of order information
The China Business Daily reporter learned that in 1992, Jia Guangjian's work "Autumn Sound" won the silver medal of the "5.23" National Art Exhibition, and since then, Jia Guangjian has held exhibitions in many places and also gone to Japan and South Korea to participate in art exchanges. The reporter inquired that in 2018, the 132 cm * 67 cm (about 8 square feet) Jia Guangjian's work "Spring Yi Chu Nong" sold for 1.012 million yuan, and the unit price of a flat foot reached 126,500 yuan; another 138 cm * 69 cm (about 8.6 square feet) "Shuangjitu Zhongtang" was sold for 436,800 yuan, and the unit price of a flat foot was about 50,800 yuan; the transaction price of the flower and bird painting "Breeze on the Lake" (about 8.5 square feet) was 201,600 yuan.
The painting photographed by Mr. Sun is about 8.5 square feet, about one person high, and the unit price per square foot is less than 20 yuan. This is far from the price of Jia Guangjian's public works.
△ Paintings purchased by Mr. Sun
The reporter tried to contact Jia Guangjian himself to confirm whether the painting was genuine, but as of press time, he had not received a reply.
An expert familiar with Jia Guangjian's work said that the painting purchased by Mr. Sun was obviously flawed, and the drop did not look right, not like it was from the artist's hand. Another member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, who did not want to be named, told a China Business Daily reporter that the portrait was smudged.
There are many similar low-cost "famous paintings" on the micro-auction hall. Chen Liang, a member of the China Artists Association and director of the China Ethnic Minority Culture and Art Foundation, started at 348 yuan for his 138 cm * 68 cm works; Long Ying, director of the China Young Calligraphers and Painters Association, sold 180 cm * 70 cm flower and bird paintings for 132 yuan; Liu Shunbing, a painter of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and an adviser to the Singapore Academy of Chinese Paintings, increased the price by only 22 yuan.
△ Screenshot from Micro Pai Tang
In addition to the low-cost calligraphy and painting works that claim the authenticity of the painter, there are also many "leaky" goods on the micro-auction hall. For example, the original price of nearly 100,000 yuan of Oak Millor automatic mechanical watch, in the micro-auction hall "Diou famous products" shop starting price of 0 yuan, the increase in the range of 1488 yuan. The reporter saw in the live broadcast of the store of Weipaitang that many live broadcast rooms said that they were selling "high goods" (merchants said that they were high-value goods). However, the reporter found that whether it is calligraphy and painting, lighters, or jewelry jadeite, the price is very small. Consumers can buy ZIPPO Marlboro lighter gift box for 306 yuan on the platform, 870 yuan can buy Hetian jade seed material weighing 78.8 grams, and some anchors said that "this is at least five figures outside" "This big leak you don't pick up what are you waiting for." It is worth noting that these live auctions are hidden, and merchants only put links in the lower left corner when bidding, and once the goods are auctioned off, the links are removed.
△ After the goods were auctioned, the link was removed from the shelves
The account named "zippo lighter brother" on the micro-auction hall said during the live broadcast that it "forgot to change the price again", and the starting price of the lighter blind box was 18 yuan. Then the starting price increase was 28 yuan, a "bullish" box was sold at 280 yuan, and the anchor said that the official price was 1288 yuan, "We buy and send ZIPPO belt" "I want to lose money with your surname." The reporter saw that the Mercedes-Benz logo ZIPPO lighter of "at least seven or eight hundred yuan outside" was auctioned for 280 yuan.
△ Screenshot of live broadcast room
The merchant runaway platform only refunds the deposit
In addition to a variety of low-priced goods on the platform that are difficult to distinguish between true and false, there are also consumers who report to the China Business Daily reporter that they have encountered difficulties in settling claims in Weipaitang.
Mr. Zhang of Shandong Province purchased a coin with collectible value for 4,200 yuan at the Weipaitang store "Lixintang Guquan" on January 18 this year, and the store promised that the coin would have an appraisal certificate from Beijing Gongbo Ancient Coin Art Appraisal Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Beijing Gongbo).
△ Screenshot of Mr. Zhang's order
However, a month later, Mr. Zhang accidentally broke the box containing the coins, and it was this accident that allowed Mr. Zhang to discover the truth of the matter. Mr. Zhang sent the coins together with the box to the headquarters of Beijing Gongbo to reload the box, and the feedback from the Headquarters of Beijing Gongbo to Mr. Zhang was that "this box is a fake box of counterfeit money".
Mr. Zhang found "Lixintang Guquan" and wanted to ask for an explanation, but the store did not reply but wanted to withdraw the store and run away. Mr. Zhang said: "I was scared by the grass at that time, and when I found out that the fake one was sent to him (the shop) at the first time, then he had to run away to withdraw the deposit, and the withdrawal period of the loss deposit was 30 days." ”
△ Mr. Zhang reported to the store that the product was identified as fake
Subsequently, Mr. Zhang found the customer service of Weipaitang to reflect on this matter, and Weipaitang froze the deposit of the "Lixintang Guquan" store of 1,000 yuan, but for the loss of The remaining 3200 yuan of Mr. Zhang, the platform said that it could not be responsible, "The remaining money he let me find it myself, is this not funny." Mr. Zhang said.
China Business Daily reporter saw on the Weipaitang App that the platform set up a consumer protection fund of 10 million yuan. According to the explanation, "Weipaitang took the initiative to set up a consumer protection fund of 10 million yuan to actively and additionally provide certain rights and services to consumers through mediation." It is an appropriate compensation for the buyer who has suffered losses, and does not exempt the merchant from the liability for compensation that should be borne in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of the state."
△ Weipaitang set up a consumer protection fund of 10 million yuan
Can Mr. Zhang's remaining money damaged be compensated by the Consumer Protection Fund? In response to this problem, the China Business Daily reporter asked the customer service of Weipaitang. Customer service said that the platform has assisted in processing store refunds, and we are sorry that the merchants have insufficient funds to support full refunds. The platform has assisted in the disclosure of business information, and if consumers have further rights protection claims, the follow-up platform will actively assist and cooperate.
Mr. Zhang told reporters that he had called the police but did not have much hope for recovering the money. Mr. Zhang said that he saw many cases on the Internet that had similar encounters with him, "There was a buyer who bought jadeite on the platform and was defrauded of tens of thousands of yuan, but the merchant only had a deposit of 5,000 yuan, and finally, like my situation, I lost him 5,000 yuan."
The entry process is rough
A store that can sell 4200 yuan of goods only needs 1000 yuan to deposit? With doubts, the reporter of China Business Daily began to understand the settlement process of micro-paitang merchants.
The reporter learned that in addition to the liquor, tea, food must be certified by the enterprise, the stores operating other categories can apply for a store in their personal capacity. The applicant needs to submit the ID photo, name, ID number and detailed address, apply for verification and pay the fee after submission, and then wait for the platform to review.
Merchants need to pay two fees to open a store on the platform, one is the technical service fee of 1800 yuan / year handed over to the platform; the other is the store deposit. Shops dealing in jadeite, wax, turquoise, amber, craft swords and precious stones need to pay a deposit of not less than 5,000 yuan, furniture needs to be no less than 20,000 yuan, high-end consumer goods, jadeite rough needs to be no less than 50,000 yuan, alcohol needs to be no less than 70,000 yuan, and other ordinary classifications are from 1,000 yuan (voluntary payment). The tariff standard was released on March 15 this year.
Weipaitang customer service said that merchants can also not pay the deposit, but the more deposit paid, the higher the weight of the store, and the higher the exposure.
△ Screenshot of "Micro Paitang Merchant Settlement Tariff Standard" (partial)
It is understood that the 1800 yuan technical service fee paid for opening a store in Weipaitang is non-refundable, so some sellers said on the black cat complaint platform that Weipaitang has "overlord clauses".
In this regard, the China Business Daily reporter asked the customer service of Weipaitang, and the response was that if the store certification has been approved, the audit technical service fee will not be refunded, even if the store does not have shelves and no transaction record. When the reporter questioned that the check agreement was too small and the prompt was not obvious, the customer service still said that those who had checked the agreement could not be refunded.
So, can I get a refund if I want to withdraw my store during the platform review period? The official response said that the customer service does not have the right to review, and can use the store account to try to contact feedback. As for whether the audit can be successfully intercepted, customer service said that there is no guarantee.
△ Screenshot of customer service dialogue
According to the official website of Weipaitang, Weipaitang belongs to Hangzhou Weipaitang Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd., which was established in 2014 and is "the leading cultural and art e-commerce platform in China". At present, the platform has more than 70 million cumulative users and more than 300,000 merchants. However, the China Business Daily reporter found that in 2019 and 2021, there were problems such as the sale of fake goods in micro-pat hall stores.
According to the credit China website, in July 2021, Hangzhou Weipaitang Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd. was fined a total of 1.35 million yuan by the Hangzhou Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau for three illegal facts.
Reporter 丨 Ma Wenbo
Edited by Wang Huangren and Li Monan
Cover image 丨MarVinbo