Ministry intervenes in Taobao controversy

    Updated: 2011-10-17 09:04

    By Shi Yingying (China Daily)

      Comments() Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按鈕 0

     

    ?

    Ministry intervenes in Taobao controversy

    Authorities seek to diffuse anger of small vendors over fee increases

    BEIJING / SHANGHAI - The Ministry of Commerce intervened on Saturday in a bitter dispute between Taobao Mall, China's top online retail platform, and small business owners sparked by a massive hike in membership fees.

    Taobao Mall announced last week a minimum five-fold, and a potential ten-fold, increase in membership fees. This ignited an immediate protest by the owners of small businesses who disrupted online services by placing orders and then canceling them after leaving disparaging remarks.

    The ministry expressed its concern at the protests and vowed to support small businesses and stabilize prices, according to a statement on its website.

    It also said that Taobao Mall should listen to small business owners and insisted that protests should be within legal parameters.

    Taobao Mall said last Monday that it would increase annual membership fees from 6,000 yuan ($940) to between 30,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan, depending on the type and scale of the business.

    Fees will be fully or partially refunded to a shop if its scale and service quality meet set criteria, Taobao Mall said.

    Cash deposits also increased from 10,000 yuan to a maximum of 150,000 yuan, depending on the category of goods.

    Large businesses could easily accommodate the changes but small businesses would be crushed, owners said.

    Thousands of small-scale Taobao Mall vendors started protesting online on Tuesday night by buying up goods from large retailers and then asking for refunds or filing complaints to interrupt their businesses.

    Taobao Mall said on Wednesday that it had referred the matter to the police.

    The new fees are seen as part of Taobao's efforts to bring order to online shopping, where consumers have repeatedly complained about fraud and counterfeit products.

    "There's no way I could afford the additional costs," said a small wine vendor, who declined to be named, from Xiamen, Fujian province. "Small vendors demand that the increased fees and deposits are cancelled. I will protest at Taobao's Hangzhou headquarters to make sure this happens."

    The vendor said he would not have invested 200,000 yuan in his shop, which has been in operation for a little more than three months, if he had been informed of Taobao's intentions earlier.

    "I had heard about a possible fee hike three months ago but Taobao denied it and said it would not increase charges."

    The protests have hit the takings of the big retailers, such as Hstyle and Osa.

    "The financial losses will be significant but more importantly our reputation will suffer due to the libelous attacks on our website," Chen Xin, spokesperson for Korean-style dress shop Hstyle, said.

    IT critic Tang Yi said Taobao Mall will not compromise as the fee hike is part of "its strategy to squeeze small- and medium-sized vendors out of the mall".

    Taobao Mall, founded in April 2008, hosts more than 40 million registered users, 50,000 registered businesses and 70,000 brands.

    Products sold on Taobao Mall range from daily essentials to household appliances and cars.

    According to Analysys International, Taobao Mall accounts for 33 percent of the B2C online retail market in China, followed by 360buy and Amazon.cn.

    Xinhua and Xu Junqian contributed to this story.

    八戒理论片午影院无码爱恋| 无码精品A∨在线观看| 无码国产精品一区二区免费16| 亚洲国产精品无码中文字| 无码囯产精品一区二区免费 | 亚洲Av无码精品色午夜| 天堂а√在线中文在线最新版| 久久久无码一区二区三区| 中文字幕乱码人妻综合二区三区| 亚洲Av无码乱码在线播放| 无码无套少妇毛多18PXXXX| 最近中文字幕免费mv在线视频 | 亚洲高清无码在线观看| 无码毛片视频一区二区本码| 亚洲av中文无码| 波多野结衣中文在线播放| 亚洲美日韩Av中文字幕无码久久久妻妇| 亚洲爆乳无码专区| 最近最新中文字幕视频| 中文字幕二区三区| 亚洲开心婷婷中文字幕| 黑人无码精品又粗又大又长| 久久精品亚洲中文字幕无码麻豆| 97无码人妻福利免费公开在线视频 | 午夜无码中文字幕在线播放 | 国产精品无码日韩欧| 无码AV中文字幕久久专区| 伊人久久精品无码二区麻豆| 区三区激情福利综合中文字幕在线一区亚洲视频1 | 久久久99精品成人片中文字幕| 中文字幕精品一区二区精品| 天堂网www中文在线| 中文字幕无码av激情不卡久久| 无码色AV一二区在线播放| 人妻一区二区三区无码精品一区 | 国产在线观看无码免费视频| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV男同 | 精品无码无人网站免费视频| 久久亚洲AV成人无码国产| 国产精品ⅴ无码大片在线看| 成人无码视频97免费|