China News Service, January 26, China Consumers Association released a consumer reminder on its official website on the 25th, reminding operators to sell blind boxes as a standard, and consumers should not buy blind boxes blindly.
Blind box, as the name implies, is to place different products in the same box. Consumers do not know in advance which one is in the box, but there is a certain probability that they will be able to get their favorite products. It is this kind of marketing similar to a lottery. Strategies, it is easy to stimulate consumers' desire to buy, and it has become one of the marketing methods to attract teenagers to consume.
As merchants from all walks of life find the blind box market profitable, they all hope to get a share of the pie. In addition to the initial toys, many consumer areas such as catering, beauty, stationery, and books have also set off a "blind box trend". Blind boxes can be seen everywhere in the market.
According to a survey, the market size of the domestic blind box industry in 2019 was 7.4 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 10 billion in 2021.
The China Consumers Association pointed out that with the rapid development of the blind box economy, some problems that accompany it cannot be ignored.
According to media reports and consumer complaints, the blind box market mainly has the following problems:
—— Merchants are over-marketing, and consumers tend to be "addicted".
Operators have a variety of marketing methods. Some are constantly "sharing the sense of existence" through cooperation with celebrities, variety shows, and Internet celebrity anchors; some are sharing, discussing, and exchanging with players to arouse consumers' collection psychology and show off psychology. Stimulate consumers' purchase motivation and desire; others create the concept of "series" and set up a "hidden item" that is the most difficult to obtain for hunger marketing. The probability of winning is mostly "one in a hundred".
This kind of marketing method makes many consumers indulge in enjoying the uncertainty and surprise brought by blind box opening, triggering consumers' impulse purchase, and encouraging irrational consumption behavior.
Especially young people, because they are curious, like to compare, and have unsound consumption concepts, they are very prone to "addiction" to the blind box, and some even directly "end the box" in order to win the "hidden money".
In August 2019, Tmall International released the "Post-95 Player Chopping List", showing that every year 200,000 consumers spend more than 20,000 yuan a year on blind boxes, and some consumers even spend millions of dollars a year Come and buy blind boxes.
For example, in October 2020, a parent said in an interview with the media that his daughter who had just entered high school bought a lot of blind boxes, mainly to draw a “hidden money” to show up in front of his classmates. The annual charge of more than 5,000 yuan Almost all of the money and pocket money were used to buy blind boxes, but after playing for more than two years, a single series was not collected.
In another example, a blind box enthusiast stated in an interview with the media that she started buying blind boxes in early 2019. As of November 2020, a total of more than 300 blind boxes have been purchased, 8 of which have a unit price close to 1,000 yuan. .
In addition, in order to win a certain limited edition doll with a unit price of about 999 yuan, some players bought 500 blind boxes at a time, with a single consumption of up to 30,000 yuan.
In addition, a second-hand trading market of "fried blind boxes" has also emerged, and some rare blind box toys such as "hidden models" have been fetched to high prices of thousands of yuan.
For example, in September 2019, the Panshen Christmas hidden blind box with an original price of only 59 yuan sold for as high as 2,350 yuan on a second-hand trading platform.
This "speculation" behavior also contributed to the continued warming of the blind box.
——The merchant is suspected of false propaganda, and the goods on hand do not match the propaganda.
Compared with ordinary products, blind boxes have a strong information asymmetry. Consumers can only rely on merchants' advertising to purchase, which is easy to be false by merchants such as exaggerating the value of the product, fictional probability of winning, and color style inconsistency. Misleading by publicity.
For example, an operator launched a blind box product "New Product Premium Gift Package" during the "Double Eleven" in 2019. The advertisement claimed to send players a new blind box of the month and a set of postcards of the month for 12 consecutive months. .
But in January 2020, consumers received not new products, but old models pre-sold in December 2019.
Many players believe that this is inconsistent with the original advertising, suspected of deceiving consumers, and triggered complaints from consumer groups.
For another example, in October 2020, consumer Mr. Hou complained to the Shenzhen Consumer Council that the blind box products he bought online for 100 yuan were seriously inconsistent with the promotion, the pictures used in the promotion were too beautifying, and the skin color of the actual doll was different from the promotion picture. Big.
——Product quality is difficult to guarantee, and fake and inferior, "three-no" products sometimes appear.
After consumers open the blind box, some products may not meet the safety indicators of the relevant national standards; some may be counterfeit products or secondary sales; some do not have the production date, quality certificate, and the manufacturer’s "three no "Products; there are also quality defects such as scratches, paint peeling, and stains.
For example, the Consumer Protection Committee of Shanghai Pudong New Area commissioned a professional testing agency to test 10 sets of blind box products of different brands in December 2019, and found that 8 samples had hidden dangers of "small parts", which may cause children to block the respiratory tract, Isolate the risk of suffocation caused by air circulation.
For another example, in December 2020, consumer Mr. Ruan complained to the Consumer Council of Futian District, Shenzhen, saying that he bought a blind box online for 9.9 yuan in November, and the blind box contained a U-shaped pillow.
However, after only 20 days of use by Mr. Ruan, the U-shaped pillow had a problem of disconnection. When Mr. Ruan searched the operator's information, he found that the U-shaped pillow was a "three-no" product.
——Consumption disputes are difficult to resolve, and after-sales service needs to be improved urgently.
Some consumers reported that some merchants "deceived customers" and that consumers only exchanged for quality problems; some consumers reported that merchants had low after-sales efficiency and delayed handling of consumer problems.
For example, according to media reports, in December 2020, a consumer in Tieling, Liaoning, spent 295 yuan on the Internet to buy 5 blind boxes.
After receiving the courier, it was found that one of the five blind boxes was obviously damaged, and the other two had quality defects.
The consumer immediately communicated with the operator and requested the return of the 3 problematic products.
However, the operator made it clear that even if there is a quality problem, the product cannot be returned and can only be replaced with brand new spare parts.
Consumers did not accept it.
Another example is that at the end of July 2020, Ms. Li, a consumer in Hengshui City, Hebei Province, bought a blind box online at a price of 47 yuan. After receiving it, she found that the blind box was fake, so Ms. Li contacted the merchant customer service to request a return. The customer service said that they would help, but Ms. Li waited for a week without any results. Finally, Ms. Li complained to the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee for help.
The China Consumers Association believes that currently some operators do not have strong competitiveness in their products, and only think about the marketing enthusiasm of blind boxes; some operators regard blind boxes as a tool to "clear inventory" and win immediate benefits. But lost the long-term reputation.
These actions not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but also disrupt the normal order of the market and are not conducive to the healthy development of the industry.
Operators must earnestly abide by the "Consumer Rights Protection Law", "E-commerce Law", "Product Quality Law" and other laws and regulations, especially the following aspects:
——The basic attribute of the blind box is a commodity, and the operator must bear the legal quality guarantee responsibility.
Regardless of whether the blind box is sold as a genuine product or an accessory, the blind box itself is a commodity, and the operator must bear the legal quality guarantee responsibility.
On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the product source is reliable and the chain is complete, and to eliminate "three noes" products and counterfeit products; on the other hand, actively fulfill the operator's obligations such as return, replacement, repair, etc., and no excuses such as "gifts" and "lottery" Exempt from the obligation of quality assurance and after-sales service.
——Blind box operators should ensure the authenticity of product quality information and ensure consumers’ informed choices.
Although there is a certain degree of confidentiality regarding product styles in blind box sales, information related to product quality and service, such as origin, ingredients, production date, shelf life, use and storage conditions, safety warnings, prices, "three guarantees", etc. It should be fully informed to ensure that it is true and comprehensive, and no false, exaggerated or misleading publicity should be made, so that key information such as the value, probability of occurrence, and distribution of the items in the blind box should be true and transparent, so as to protect consumers' right to know and ensure consumers Informed choice.
——Blind box marketing should be moderate, not over-marketing consumers' curiosity to mislead consumers' impulse consumption.
Blind box sales are currently booming, attracting operators from many industries to participate in an attempt to use blind box marketing to obtain larger shipments.
However, if operators do not focus on improving the quality of their main products and services, relying too much on blind box marketing gimmicks to mislead consumers to impulse purchases, and fooling consumers with some shoddy products, they can only produce short-term attractiveness. It will quickly consume the trust of consumers, damage their own business reputation, and be spurned by consumers, making it difficult for companies to achieve long-term and stable development.
At the same time, the China Consumers Association reminds consumers to have risk prevention awareness and maintain a rational consumption concept:
——Recognize risk and rational consumption, and don't blindly follow the trend in moderate consumption.
Consumers must recognize the uncertain nature of blind boxes, recognize and prevent over-marketing routines of merchants. Opening blind boxes may be surprised because they are higher than expected, or they may be disappointed because they are lower than expected. If you buy blind boxes with speculation or winning the lottery, you should not be overly addicted, and do not follow the trend and compare with others. Instead, you should combine your own economic ability, consumer needs, and hobbies, and consume rationally and do what you can, and be more sensible and calm. Blind and impulsive.
——Relevant vouchers such as shopping receipts should be retained, and rights should be protected in accordance with the law if the rights are damaged.
When consumers buy blind boxes, they should try their best to choose merchants with high reputation, good reputation, and perfect after-sales service for transactions. At the same time, they should also pay attention to requesting and retaining invoices and other shopping receipts, and operator advertising information as proof of rights protection afterwards.
When one's own legitimate rights and interests are damaged, they must promptly communicate and negotiate with the operators. If the negotiation fails, they can protect their rights by filing a complaint with the market supervision department, consumer association organization, or filing a lawsuit with the people's court in accordance with the law.