Youth Economics Says
Online Stores Are Blowing "Pure 'Pre-Win'" Consumer Risks Can't Be Ignored
In the apparel industry, the reason why more and more businesses are adopting pre-sale is because the overcapacity in the industry can easily lead to a backlog of inventory.
However, consumption risks such as "procrastination" and "mismatch of goods" in pre-sale cannot be ignored.
—————————
At present, the wind of commodity pre-sale is sweeping across various e-commerce platforms, and the pre-sale period of commodities is continuously extended, from 15 days to 45 days to 90 days or even longer, and individual consumers have not even received the 2022 New Year's Day. clothing.
Many netizens jokingly called this phenomenon "pure 'pre'".
When this kind of "wind" blows on the e-commerce platform, many young people start to think: Why do more and more merchants choose pre-sale?
How can consumers protect their rights when they encounter problems such as delays in delivery time, incorrect goods, and inability to return or exchange goods?
"When the courier arrived, I forgot to buy it myself"
Many people have stepped on the pre-sale "pit". Bao Mama Zhang Xiran (pseudonym), who has 15 years of online shopping experience, took a fancy to two pairs of pants from a plus-size women's clothing online store in February this year. Shipped within 5 days", she placed the order.
On March 1, Zhang Xiran saw that the logistics status of the product was updated to "to be collected", and until March 24, the logistics status of the product was not updated.
During this period, Zhang Xiran communicated with merchants many times.
The merchant said that due to the impact of the epidemic, ZTO Express could not send from Guangzhou to Beijing.
Zhang Xiran repeatedly negotiated with the merchant to change the express delivery company, but the merchant did not perform the contract after agreeing.
On March 24, Zhang Xiran consulted with the customer service again, but the customer service asked her to return it for a reshoot, claiming that the courier company would be changed.
In Zhang Xiran's view, "I suspect that they actually don't have the goods, and they don't plan to ship it to me at all."
On March 27, a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, as a buyer, repeatedly asked the store's customer service "whether Beijing Haidian can deliver goods normally", but the customer service did not answer directly, always emphasizing: "The areas that can be delivered normally are warehouses. will be dispatched.”
Wu Yiyuan (pseudonym), who is still in school, had a similar experience.
Previously, she had purchased a sweater on an e-commerce platform. After waiting for half a month, the merchant did not deliver it. She kept urging the merchant to deliver it, but the merchant was unmoved.
"I couldn't wait any longer, so I got my money back," she said.
"When the courier arrived, I forgot to buy it myself." Wu Yiyuan also encountered some merchants who did not communicate with the buyer when the delivery date was approaching, and directly revised the latest delivery date.
She said, "If the quality is good, forget it. The most fear is that the quality and size are not suitable, and you have to return it. You have to have freight insurance to protect the buyer. Otherwise, you will have to pay for the postage yourself."
Business logic under the prevalence of pure "pre"
Why do merchants increasingly prefer the pure "pre" style?
A senior clothing person and the person in charge of the Shenyun store in Kyushu told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that in the clothing industry, the reason why more and more businesses are adopting pre-sale is to a certain extent because the overcapacity in the industry is easy to cause inventory backlog.
"Pre-sale is also a last resort." The person in charge said that pre-sale can reduce the inventory pressure of merchants and avoid risks to a certain extent.
She pointed out that the e-commerce platform stipulates that the goods marked as spot by the merchants must be shipped within 48 hours. Otherwise, the platform may deduct points or fine the merchants. After the merchants' scores drop, their promotion may be limited, thus affecting sales .
In addition, the phenomenon of "exploding orders" is easy to occur by means of live streaming.
The person in charge said that it may be difficult for merchants to deliver the goods within 48 hours after the product "explodes", so for the sake of insurance, it is set as a pre-sale.
The impact of the epidemic is also one of the factors for merchants to choose pre-sale.
Senior e-commerce merchant and short video blogger "Zhang Baozi Baozi" also pointed out that under the epidemic, some merchants suffered losses due to the backlog of goods, which made many merchants dare not stock up. Production; on the other hand, in the production process, due to multiple factors, there is also a phenomenon that the factory cannot supply goods.
To a certain extent, pre-sale has become a "barometer" for merchants to produce or purchase goods.
The person in charge of an e-commerce platform children's clothing online store said in a short video that the pre-sale is not "playing routines", and the pre-sale money has not entered the merchant's account, and the merchant is making money in advance.
Under normal circumstances, when a merchant does not know whether it is a hit or not, the merchant will test 300-400 items first. After detecting the hit, the pre-sale will be conducted only when the consumer can accept it. "It is impossible to make If a merchant makes 2,000 pieces of each model directly, it will be crushed by the inventory.”
Doing commodity spot sales requires the support of people, goods, and fields, that is, it requires a lot of money to produce goods, people need to manage them, and a certain space is needed to store goods.
In fact, some merchants themselves do not have the ability to do spot products.
"Zhang Baozi Baozi" pointed out that some merchants, especially some Internet celebrities, in order to reduce the cost of purchases, wait for the pre-sale to accumulate a certain amount of orders before purchasing, so that they have the "chip" to lower the price with the manufacturers.
She gave an example: the sales volume of a live broadcast room may be 50 pieces per day, and the cost of picking up goods with this quantity may be 50 yuan/piece. If the accumulated sales volume reaches 1,000 pieces, at this time, the price may drop to 30 yuan/piece. pieces.
She said, "There are some unscrupulous merchants who deliberately 'accumulate' for profit, and wait until buyers can't bear it anymore and complain about returning goods in large quantities before purchasing goods."
The long waiting time for pre-sale is only one aspect. On the other hand, many consumers have encountered the situation of "incorrect goods".
"The goods are not right, there are too many such situations." The person in charge of an online store revealed to reporters that some stores wait for the products to be sold and then go to the factory to make the spot. In this process, some companies use cheap fabrics to reduce costs. As a result, the goods received by consumers are incorrect.
It is worth noting that in the pre-sale, the goods received by individual consumers may be products returned by others.
An industry source revealed that in some live broadcast rooms, the refund rate of clothing may reach 60%, largely because the goods are not right.
"In order to avoid losses due to hoarding, merchants may send out half of the goods first, and wait for these consumers to return the goods before sending them to another group of consumers."
A guide for consumers to avoid pits
Under the prevalence of "pure 'pre'", many consumers are deeply disturbed.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, said that pre-sale will help businesses to further improve business efficiency or reduce risks.
However, "there is still some risk for consumers."
Chen Yinjiang explained that in the process of stockpiling, merchants may face factors such as rising raw material costs, insufficient order volume, and factory non-scheduling. The delivery time is delayed, or even a breach of contract.
In response to the "incorrect goods", the merchants do not allow refunds and other overlord clauses. Chen Yinjiang said that this is an "invalid clause". Faced with this situation, the responsibility must first be determined, and there is an obvious situation of "incorrect goods". , the merchant has the possibility of fraud, and the consumer can apply for 3 times the price of the product.
At the same time, the description of the product by the merchant may not be specific enough, and there is ambiguity in the understanding of the product by both parties.
Pre-sale items should not be the exception.
Chen Yinjiang said that in accordance with the Consumer Protection Law, consumers who purchase pre-sale products should also enjoy the right to return products without reason within seven days.
Even if it exceeds 7 days, if the product has quality problems, consumers can also ask the merchant to fulfill the responsibility for repair, replacement and return.
When the rights and interests are violated, consumers can negotiate with the merchant first. If the negotiation fails, they can complain to the market supervision department. In addition, they can also protect their legitimate rights and interests through litigation and other methods.
In response to the phenomenon of merchants repeatedly delaying the delivery time, Chen Yinjiang said that in the face of deliberate delays, the regulatory authorities can order the merchants to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations, and impose corresponding penalties on the merchants.
"To solve this problem, the key is that businesses must operate in good faith and law-abiding." Chen Yinjiang suggested that consumers should also choose to buy pre-sale products carefully, especially some products without a clear delivery time, which may be more risky.
"Zhang Baozi Baozi" also often encounters the situation that some stores are delayed in delivery. She released videos such as "8-year-old e-commerce company reveals 10 real reasons for buyers' slow delivery" on the short video platform, reminding consumers Don't step on the pit.
She said that in some stores, if the store has a low rating, low average price, zero sales or high sales but few evaluations, and the buyer's show is very vague, there are model pictures but no face, there are screenshots but they are blocked, etc. Consumers should pay extra attention and try to avoid them, because it may be that the merchant is testing the explosion, and no matter how long the consumer waits after the photo is taken, the merchant may not deliver the product.
"Customer service goes around and does not solve the problem at all." Zhang Xiran said that if the merchant really encounters any problem, don't delay it again and again, you can choose to tell consumers directly.
Wu Yiyuan hopes that when the store is doing pre-sale, it will be marked with obvious fonts on the details page, and the pre-sale time will not be too long.
"While waiting, I may have lost the urge to get this item."
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Zhao Limei Source: China Youth Daily