【"Tide Economy" Looks Forward to New Norm No. 5] Don't Let E-commerce Pre-sale Become Infringing "Premeditated"
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The pre-sale system has become a "new way of playing" for e-commerce. However, in reality, some merchants delay shipments, arbitrarily change the delivery date or even unilaterally withdraw orders and do not accept returns and exchanges. Under the guise of pre-sale, some merchants actually pass on the inventory cost and time cost of product preparation to consumers, and the pre-sale system is "broken". Legal professionals said that regulators should issue compliance guidelines, and platforms should also be responsible for local issues.
"618" has not arrived, and the curtain has been opened on e-commerce pre-sales. Under the cumbersome rules, consumers are still waiting for the delivery. The reporter found that as more and more merchants joined, the boundaries of pre-sale goods were gradually expanding, and the delivery time changed from the initial 10 days to 30 days or even 45 days.
As a kind of business model of "fixing production by sales", many netizens complained that some pre-sale system operations were "more and more incomprehensible". From concealing the fact of pre-sale to setting up "overlord clauses", to delaying shipments or even withdrawing orders directly, all kinds of chaos have emerged in an endless stream. Experts suggest that the regulatory authorities should strengthen rigid constraints, formulate unified norms for issues such as the types of pre-sold goods and the delivery period, and instruct the platform to self-examine and self-correct, so as not to let the pre-sale become a "premeditated" infringement.
Ultra-long pre-sale becomes "empty cheque"
"'618' is coming, and the 'Double 11' purchase has not yet been shipped." "In the past, e-commerce was based on 'fast' as a gimmick, how can it start 'slower' now?" ......
On a social platform, netizens created a topic of "hating pre-sale", which has been read by more than 10 million people. At the moment when "everything can be pre-sold", the pre-sale products posted by netizens even include batteries, instant noodles, cat food, etc., which have attracted complaints.
After the 90s, Yue Lin has nearly a decade of online shopping experience, and she remembers that the pre-sale system was initially only for special goods such as customized clothes, but now it is almost everything. As the wind blows harder and harder, the goods that could have arrived in a few days now have to wait at least half a month.
Yue Lin herself had just experienced a bad pre-sale. "I placed an order for a small suit on April 10, the product page did not indicate the pre-sale, who knew that after payment, the customer service suddenly said that the delivery needed to wait for 30 days." After waiting for a month, she waited for the news that "factory shipments are delayed, and it will take 10 days".
"I understand that merchants don't want to press the goods, but the pre-sale can't be bottomless, so it is delayed again and again, and the clothes are out of season even if they are received." Yue Lin said.
In addition to not informing the pre-sale and arbitrarily changing the shipping date, there are also merchants unilaterally withdrawing orders.
Previously, Chu Ting bought a pre-sale 15-day face cream on an e-commerce platform. When it came to the agreed delivery time, the merchant said that "the raw materials were out of stock and could not be produced" and asked her to apply for a refund. "The cream is a full pre-sale, priced at more than 600 yuan, and the monthly transaction volume is about 200 orders, which is equivalent to a short-term interest-free loan, and I suspect that the merchant is using the time difference to make a profit." Chu Ting questioned.
No refund of prepayment, no return or exchange of goods, no acceptance of bad reviews... A series of "overlord clauses" have also made consumers call for deception.
In a live broadcast of Internet celebrities, Bao Ma Xixi took a fancy to a skirt and resolutely ordered it under the guidance of the anchor's words. The pre-sale period for the dress was two weeks, and she quickly realized that it was an "impulse consumption" and contacted customer service to return the advance payment but was rejected.
After the arrival of the skirt, Sissi found that the goods were obviously not right, and she decided to return it. As a result, the customer service sent a screenshot of the purchase page, and a line of extremely small words said "No seven days no reason to return or exchange goods". Since then, When Sissi saw the "pre-sale", she took a detour, "it is like spending money to buy guilt".
Merchants cannot pass on risk through pre-sales
Why do merchants prefer pre-sales so much? Is this a helpless move, or is it a risk-averse speculation?
"E-commerce clothing homogenization is serious, if you do not try the 'water temperature' blindly stockpiling, then all pressed in the warehouse, on the new loss once." Liu Adu, the manager of a women's clothing store, told reporters that through pre-sale, the market response can be tested in advance, production can be adjusted in time, and orders are placed to the factory on demand, so as to minimize the storage cost, and consumers can also enjoy certain discounts.
However, some insiders said that some Internet celebrity stores "don't want to take any risks" and "win-win" is afraid of becoming "lose-lose".
For example, considering the high return rate, some merchants pre-sell 100 pieces, but only produce 70 pieces, by setting a long pre-sale period, the previous batch of customers' return orders are sent to the next batch of customers. Some merchants found that the pre-sale data was not good, so they made up reasons to unilaterally withdraw the order, so that consumers could bear the cost of trial and error. What's more, there was not even a sample, and a pre-sale was launched by hanging out an rendering...
The Consumer Protection Commission of Jiangsu Province recently issued a document saying that some merchants engaged in ultra-long pre-sales have been informed on the surface, and there is nothing wrong with it, but in fact, they use their dominant position in operation to completely transfer the inventory cost and time cost of product preparation to consumers, which is an unfair business behavior in essence.
Xie Yanping, founding partner of Beijing Humble Law Firm, believes that when consumers order pre-sale goods, they have reached an online shopping contract with the merchant, the merchant should deliver the goods on time in accordance with the agreement, repeatedly changing the delivery date and canceling the order without reason is a breach of contract, according to the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, the merchant needs to bear the legal responsibility of refund, refund of the advance payment and payment of interest, reasonable fees and so on.
On April 28, the China Consumer Association also named the ultra-long pre-sale. With regard to some merchants setting unfair standard clauses such as non-return of pre-sale goods and non-refund of prepaid funds, the China Consumer Association quoted relevant laws and regulations saying that business operators must not use standard terms, notices, statements, store notices, etc., to make unfair or unreasonable provisions on consumers such as excluding or restricting consumer rights, reducing or exempting business operators' responsibilities, and increasing consumer liabilities, and must not use standard terms and use technical means to force transactions.
"Pre-sales cannot override the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and merchants should respect consumers' right to know, their right to make independent choices and their right to fair trade." Liu Xiaochun, executive director of the Internet Rule of Law Research Center at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
The relevant rules need to be further clarified
"While online shopping brings convenience to people, it also brings many challenges to traditional laws." Xie Yanping said, "Under the pre-sale model, only the pre-sale rules for commercial housing tend to be perfect, and in the field of ordinary commodities, especially for the form of online transactions, the law does not make clear restrictions." ”
Xie Yanping said that the regulatory authorities should issue compliance guidelines, clarify the types of pre-sale product requirements, and make restrictive provisions on the pre-sale period according to the type of goods; Strengthen supervision of platforms and merchants, focusing on cracking down on "concealing pre-sales", "compulsory refunds", "goods not on the board" and other loopholes, managing merchants through credit archives, blacklists, and other methods, further increasing the cost of illegal and untrustworthy, and also providing reference for consumer choices.
The reporter found that for the "cat greasy" in the pre-sale, some platforms have introduced relevant restrictive measures.
"Regulating pre-sale behavior, the platform is responsible for guarding the soil." Liu Xiaochun believes that e-commerce platforms should improve the pre-sale mechanism in accordance with regulations, form a unified specification in terms of information disclosure, require merchants to clearly mark the quality, price, performance period and method, after-sales service, risk tips and other contents of pre-sale goods, and strengthen shelf review to filter out goods that exceed the reasonable pre-sale period.
Xue Jun, deputy dean of Peking University Law School and director of the E-commerce Law Research Center, told reporters that the platform must first ensure that user evaluation can play a normal role, which is a big constraint for merchants. In addition, it should provide more convenient complaint and dispute resolution channels to provide strong support for consumers, and if merchants obviously use pre-sales to defraud, the platform has an obligation to assist consumers in protecting their rights.
Xue Jun suggested that consumers should clarify the pre-sale rules before trading, clearly stipulate their respective rights and responsibilities with merchants, and if their rights and interests are infringed, they should promptly retain the vouchers to protect their rights. For merchants, the establishment of word of mouth depends on the trust of consumers, although the goods can be pre-sold, but the quality and service must not shrink.