Chinanews.com, June 6 (Zhongxin Financial Reporter Zuo Yuqing) Under the trend of "everything can be blind box", the excessive marketing of blind boxes, information opacity, false publicity, "three no" products, and inadequate after-sales service have gradually become prominent.
Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Guidelines for Blind Box Business Conduct (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines), drawing a red line for blind box operations.
These products must not be sold in blind boxes!
"Blind boxes induce excessive consumption of food", "Live pet blind boxes", "Unclaimed courier blind boxes", "Unclaimed luggage blind boxes"... In recent years, blind box chaos has emerged one after another, which has also caused controversy.
Which products can become blind boxes?
The Guidelines set out a negative sales list, stipulating that drugs, medical devices, toxic and harmful substances, flammable and explosive substances, live animals and other commodities that have strict requirements in terms of use conditions, storage and transportation, inspection and quarantine shall not be sold in blind boxes. Food and cosmetics that do not have the conditions to ensure quality safety and consumer rights and interests shall not be sold in blind boxes.
According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, although the Guidelines provide a general definition, whether it is a blind box is prone to cognitive ambiguity and needs to be judged in light of practice. For example, if the food is only randomly shipped with different outer packaging, the food ingredients are determined but the shape is different, etc., which is not enough for consumers to have additional expectations for random delivery, it should not be recognized as a blind box.
It should be noted that although the Guidelines do not provide complete prohibitions on food and cosmetics, food and cosmetics are closely related to consumers' health and pose greater safety risks. To this end, the Guidelines specifically emphasize that business operators should fully fulfill their duty of care to avoid risks such as safety and waste caused by the sale of food and cosmetics in blind boxes.
In addition, the Guidelines stipulate that express shipments that cannot be delivered and cannot be returned shall not be sold in blind boxes.
In terms of value orientation, the Guidelines make it clear that blind box goods or services must not contain content prohibited by laws and regulations such as distorting history, feudal superstition, obscenity, terrorist violence, religious extremism, ethnic discrimination, separatism, etc., as well as contrary to public order and good customs.
Blind box operators must not engage in gambling activities in the name of blind boxes or engage in disguised form.
Data map: Consumers stop in front of the blind box unmanned vending machine. Photo by Zhang Yichen
Encourage the establishment of a guarantee mechanism to resist hoarding speculation
Blind boxes cannot be operated "blindly". The Guidelines put forward specific requirements for problems such as opaque rule probability, false publicity and poor quality in blind boxes.
For the speculation phenomenon in the secondary market of scalpers common in the blind box market, the Guidelines propose to encourage the establishment of a guarantee mechanism.
Blind box operators are encouraged to guide rational consumption by setting the extraction time, the upper limit of the amount of extraction and the upper limit of the number of times, and consciously promise not to hoard, speculate, or directly enter the secondary market.
In terms of marketing, blind box operators must not make false or misleading commercial publicity on the rules of drawing boxes, the probability of extraction, sales status, user evaluation, the quantity of goods, the specifications of goods, the quality of goods, and the methods of service provision, so as to deceive or mislead consumers.
At the same time, the Guidelines also put forward requirements for the quality of blind boxes.
The Guidelines point out that if blind box goods fall within the scope of the compulsory product certification catalog, they should be certified and marked with the CCC certification mark. Blind box operators shall establish and improve the enterprise quality assurance system, strengthen the management of production, warehousing, logistics and other links, and ensure that the source of goods is reliable and the quality is qualified. Commodities produced and traded by blind box operators shall comply with the quality and safety requirements of laws and regulations.
Blind box operators shall organize production and operation in accordance with standards. Where blind box commodities do not have national standards or industry standards, blind box operators shall formulate corresponding enterprise standards and strictly control supply channels, raw materials, design safety performance, etc.
Strictly limit the age of sales targets, and encourage the standardization of blind box sales around schools
It is worth mentioning that the Guidelines impose strict restrictions on the age of blind box sales targets.
The Guidelines stipulate that blind box operators are not allowed to sell blind boxes to minors under the age of 8. The sale of blind box products to minors aged 8 and above shall confirm that the consent of the relevant guardian has been obtained in accordance with law.
At the same time, blind box operators shall conspicuously remind minors aged 8 and above to obtain the consent of relevant guardians to purchase blind boxes, and employ effective measures to prevent minors from becoming addicted, protect minors' physical and mental health, and facilitate the resolution of minors' consumption disputes.
In addition, the Guidelines also encourage local authorities to introduce protective measures to specifically regulate the sales mode of blind boxes around primary school campuses, including distance and content.
Industry enterprises respond: It is conducive to the orderly and healthy development of the industry
How does the industry view the impact of the Guidelines on the industry? The reporter learned that most practitioners believe that this move is conducive to the long-term development of blind box enterprises and industries.
On the 15th, Bubble Mart told Zhongxin Finance that blind boxes are a popular form of sales in the trendy play industry, and the issuance of the Guidelines provides clear guidance for all participants in the industry at the regulatory level, which is of important and positive significance for promoting the standardized operation of enterprises, creating a better industry environment and helping the orderly and healthy development of the industry. "In the future, we will actively cooperate with the regulatory authorities to implement the relevant rules of the Guidelines to help the healthy and orderly development of the trendy game industry."
"The issuance and implementation of the Guidelines will clarify the development direction and responsibilities of the industry and enterprises, and benefit the benign and orderly development of the industry in the long run." Card Game Animation also said that the company has previously implemented a number of relevant measures to guide rational consumption, such as age restrictions and explicit probabilities. In the future, we will continue to fulfill our corporate social responsibility and work with all parties to build a standardized, high-quality and healthy card industry environment. (End)