Recently, some netizens said that they spent 25.9 yuan to buy 117 rolls of toilet paper online, thinking that they had picked up a cheap, but when they got it, they found that it was a "pocket version", about 5 rolls are equivalent to the size of ordinary 1 roll. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that many consumers reported encountering low-price traps set by merchants when shopping on e-commerce platforms, and some consumers sighed, "fake low prices, real routines, although online shopping is convenient, but if you don't pay attention, you will fall into the trap of merchants." "Some e-commerce platform merchants still have fake and low-price consumption traps such as "the goods are not on the right board, the goods in hand are shrinking", "partial generalization, the price of accessories replaces the price of the whole product", and "private sellers apply for free cards".
Phenomenon 1:
The product is on the shelves as if it is "not yet a full moon"
Some netizens once posted a video expressing their experience of spending 25.9 yuan to buy 117 rolls of pocket toilet paper online, which caused heated discussions, the netizen said that it stands to reason that there is no routine for merchants, and people did send 117 rolls, but each roll of paper is very small. The Beiqing News reporter searched and calculated on the e-commerce platform and found that the price of coreless toilet paper for ordinary families is about 0.8-1.5 yuan per roll, and the price of toilet paper purchased by the netizen is 0.2 yuan per roll on average, far lower than the normal price range.
In fact, toilet paper, kitchen tissues, etc. are the hardest hit areas of online shopping "wrong goods", many netizens laughed, "Is this paper towel out to work before the full moon?" "I can't see the size on the Internet, but I feel it after I get it, this is a hammer sale"...
In addition, some foods have also been complained by many users that they are much smaller than expected. Before that, a new-generation actor posted the "super many yellow hairy crabs" he bought online, and found that it was less than the size of two fingers. There are also consumers who are attracted by the low price when shopping online, only to buy it back and find that the dried abalone is smaller than the fingernail, and the shrimp is much smaller than the one seen in the video.
With a large quantity, the use of pictures, videos can not see the size of the real product, and do not clearly mark the specifications of the goods, but repeatedly emphasize that the price is low, the quantity is large, the discount is large, there is no lack of this kind in the e-commerce platform is not in the product picture, but after consumers receive the goods, they find that the specifications and net content of the goods are different from the merchant display, and the size and weight are "shrunk".
Phenomenon 2:
The cheapest option is always an accessory
Some netizens said that they want to buy a "printless bath brush" on e-commerce, search for the first ranked product, the list price is only 1.35 yuan, obviously lower than other similar products with a price of about 10 yuan, but the picture is also a standard bath brush. Click in and look carefully to find that there are more than 10 kinds of commodity categories, of which the price of a normal purchase of a bath brush is still about 10 yuan, even slightly higher than other stores, and 1.35 yuan is the price of "1 bath ball". It is such a low price that has tricked countless netizens into this link.
Another netizen also said that searching for "no-punch basket", the front link that came out was a "adult and child double cartridge basketball frame" with a price of 7.8 yuan, the picture was exactly the same as the ball frame he wanted, but the result was clicked in, but found that in the options, the basketball box costs 23 yuan, and the 7.8 yuan is just a "pair of nets". She said she felt cheated.
In fact, many merchants use extremely low prices as diversion, taking advantage of the loophole that the platform can set multiple optional options in one link, and set some irrelevant gadgets in it, bringing sales to the store, or even just draining traffic.
Some netizens said that when they searched on the e-commerce platform, the price was displayed 100 yuan, and it may be 150, 200 or higher after clicking. There is also a product title that says 3 pieces of such and such a product, the price shows 100 yuan, only to find out after clicking on it, 100 yuan can only buy 1 piece, but the title gives the feeling that 100 yuan can buy 3 pieces.
Phenomenon 3:
If you want to discount the goods, you must first get a credit card
Consumer Xiao Zhang has just been promoted to a new mother and wants to buy a second-hand "baby walking artifact" online, she searched in Xianyu and found many baby walking artifacts marked with "brand new", the original price is 699 yuan, and the current price is only about 49 yuan, which is really attractive. She then consulted the other party, and the seller said that the price was 49 yuan, and the thing was brand new, but the premise was that Xiao Zhang had to apply for 2-4 bank credit cards, and the introducer filled in the seller's name to enjoy this low price. The baby walking artifact is actually a gift for applying for a credit card.
The Beiqing News reporter saw that in addition to the baby walking artifact, there are also dining chairs, scooters and so on. However, consumers should note that credit card processing and consumption are closely related to personal credit records, and are an important basis for credit reporting agencies to assess personal credit status. Relying on card applications to obtain goods with much lower market prices may not only cause the leakage of personal information, but also may affect the personal credit limit, in case of future loans to buy a house, there may even be problems such as insufficient loan amount.
The deliberately "shrunken version" is suspected of infringing on consumers' right to know
With the vigorous development of e-commerce platforms and the fast and convenient logistics and distribution, people's consumption habits have undergone tremendous changes, and online e-commerce platform shopping has gradually become a relatively mainstream consumption method. According to data from the domestic online consumer dispute mediation platform "Telev. Bao", in the first half of 2023, online fraud accounted for 8.83%, online counterfeit sales accounted for 6.14%, false promotion accounted for 4.97%, and wrong goods accounted for 2.61%. The "fake low price" behavior of e-commerce platforms on the edge of the law will affect the shopping experience of consumers to a large extent, and it is not a long-term business method for the merchants themselves.
According to Article 20 of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Consumers, proprietors shall provide consumers with truthful and comprehensive information on the quality, performance, use, and validity period of goods or services, and must not make false or misleading publicity. Proprietors shall give truthful and clear responses to consumers' inquiries about the quality and use of the goods or services they provide. Proprietors providing goods or services shall clearly mark the price.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Law Research Association of the China Law Society, told the Beiqing News reporter that although there is no clear reference material, this deliberately "shrunken version" of the product is actually suspected of infringing on consumers' right to know, "Operators should use this kind of information that has important interests with consumers, including price, model, model, and precautions, to remind consumers in a conspicuous way, to ensure that consumers independently and fully informed to choose." The problem boils down to a misleading way, such as I present the information that is most beneficial to you in a significant way, and other points that may affect sales. Consumers themselves can request returns and refunds, and the platform should also restrict merchants to operate in good faith. ”
He also said that the use of other low-cost options to entice consumers to click on links is a classic misleading behavior. "Merchants attract consumers over, even if they don't cheat money, but at least they cheat the traffic, occupy the consumer's time, with this traffic, his ranking will be higher and higher on the platform, which is harmful to the interests of more consumers." Therefore, at this time, the platform must also eliminate this kind of 'illegal traffic', and cannot allow such merchants to profit through this improper behavior. ”
For second-hand platform inducing card sellers, he said, "When some banks promote credit cards, they will give commissions ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan to card specialists, in addition to giving consumers gifts." However, credit cards require great caution, which involves personal credit issues. Consumers should have the courage to report these individuals or sellers, and platforms should also intervene to not give space to those who 'hang sheep's heads and sell dog meat'."
Photos that lack references are difficult to judge false claims
In the investigation, the Beiqing News reporter found that the above situation is actually more difficult in determining the truth. In response to the low-price inducement trap of the above e-commerce platform merchants, the Beiqing News reporter called the 12315 consumer complaint reporting hotline. 12315 customer service staff said that merchants may use close-up lenses and filters on the display of product pictures, and there are often consumers who complain that the display weight of goods is very sufficient, and the goods are shrunk, but as long as the picture has no control, it is difficult to determine whether the merchant is false publicity. For example, the customer service staff used to have a burger brand's promotional poster in which the burger was particularly large and the meat was much thicker, but the consumer actually found that it was very small, although there were consumer complaints, but it could not be determined that the brand was illegal, but under the pressure of morality, the poster was removed.
The 12315 customer service staff believes that merchants need to appropriately beautify product pictures for publicity considerations, but sometimes they are a little on the edge of the law, which can only be said to violate business ethics, and it is difficult to determine whether it is illegal or not. For activities such as "card delivery" on e-commerce platforms, customer service staff said that it is difficult to evaluate, consumers themselves should be cautious, can call the corresponding bank to consult the corresponding bank, pay attention to protect their personal information.
The lawyers called for platforms to strengthen supervision
Liu Yi, a senior lawyer in the civil and commercial arbitration legal department of Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, told the Beiqing News reporter, "For merchants, if a merchant makes advertisements, pictures, sample videos or other ways to publicize the quality of products on the online platform, it should ensure that the goods or services received by consumers are exactly the same as the advertisements, pictures and video descriptions advertised." Otherwise, you must bear the legal risk of returning the goods and bear the shipping costs. This is a clear provision of the Consumer Rights Protection Law. It is not subject to the promotion and transaction rules specified by the merchant itself (if the seven-day no reason applies), which is mainly based on the rules of fair and honest commercial transactions. For consumers: as long as the goods are not subject to seven days without reason as stipulated in Article 25 of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Consumers, they can request a return within seven days without reason; If it is due to the wrong goods, shrinking size, material inconsistencies, etc., the merchant must return the goods and bear the shipping costs.
For the platform, as long as it is a more famous large-scale e-commerce platform, it will generally be handled fairly after the complaint is intervened according to the screenshots of the merchant customer service chat and product descriptions provided by the consumer, if the merchant does not agree to the refund, even if it is a custom-made jade bracelet, the platform will also use the merchant's deposit to advance the refund, so consumers should try to shop online on well-known e-commerce platforms, and pay attention to retaining evidence of customer service chat dialogue. In short, no matter how cunning and sophistry the merchants are, they cannot escape the regulation of the law, consumers must fight according to reason, cannot tolerate timidity, and jointly contribute to the purification of the e-commerce shopping environment. “
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Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Wen Jing Intern reporter Wang Jiaojiao
Editor/Fan Hongwei