New rules for Douyin e-commerce are here! A large number of merchants have been closed down and deducted money. What should they do?

I believe that everyone often shops on e-commerce platforms, and it is inevitable that they will buy fakes. This time, there are finally regulations to discipline these merchants who sell fakes. Let's take a look at this article to learn more.

Douyin e-commerce has introduced new regulations, this time targeting merchants selling counterfeit goods.

After the new rules were implemented, Douyin e-commerce punished and cleared a large number of merchants. In serious cases, their stores were closed and their deposits and payments were frozen. Selling counterfeit goods is the bottom line of the platform, but some merchants reported that the platform’s punishment was too heavy and they had no way to appeal. Some merchants also complained bitterly...

In fact, this is not the first time that merchants have complained about Douyin's regulations. In addition to the current crackdown on counterfeit sales, other regulations on the platform have also caused headaches for merchants.

Merchants have suffered from Douyin for a long time, but they can do nothing about it...

1. Douyin e-commerce “anti-counterfeiting”?

"Our store was closed, and our deposit and payment were frozen."

Recently, Douyin merchant CC (pseudonym) told Xinbochang that one of their products was suspected of selling counterfeit goods because it showed a big brand logo, which led to the entire store being blocked. They tried to appeal, but it failed, and there was no entrance for a second appeal.

Another Douyin merchant, Xiaoke (pseudonym), said that they had previously put up a piece of clothing with an unfamiliar logo on it, which they later found out was a brand. Later, the clothing was removed from the shelves, and the platform determined that it was a general violation, so the store was not deducted points, but the traffic was restricted.

The change in the severity of the penalties is due to the new rules on the sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods released by Douyin E-commerce in early April, "Merchants - Rules for the Sale of Counterfeit/Pirated Goods".

According to the detailed rules, the platform strictly investigates the sale of counterfeit goods. When merchants sell counterfeit or pirated goods, the platform will take one or more punishment measures according to the actual situation, including permanent removal or banning of goods, freezing of store payments, deduction of deposits, etc.

After the new rules were implemented, a large number of stores suspected of selling counterfeit goods were banned, including CC. This also caused dissatisfaction among many merchants, who thought it was too harsh. In addition, some merchants thought the rules were not clear enough and had no idea why they were suddenly deducted so much or even banned.

To this end, on April 22, Douyin e-commerce revised and released the "Merchants - Selling Counterfeit/Pirated Goods Rules", which stated the following two types of violation decisions. Among them, if it belongs to Category B (serious violation) and the deduction points reach 12 points, the store will be closed and all deposits will be deducted.

CC's store was fined B12 points. But according to the detailed rules on April 22, they violated the rules for the first time and did not sell any products. The corresponding penalty should be B4, which means "3 days of suspension and rectification + deduction of 2,000 yuan in liquidated damages".

CC tried to contact customer service to explain the situation, but the customer service responded that "different violations have different penalties, and the penalty center will prevail." He finally said helplessly that Douyin would basically not withdraw the penalties that had already been determined.

2. Have businesses suffered from TikTok for a long time?

Selling counterfeit goods is the platform’s red line, but such a strong rule makes many merchants feel aggrieved.

CC said: "I think the platform is a bit ruthless. The deposit and payment add up to more than 100,000 yuan, which is a heavy loss for small merchants."

Another industry insider told Xinbochang that after Douyin cracked down on counterfeit sales, a large number of merchants were punished and cleared out. A group of merchants with large amounts of payment went directly to Beijing to find the platform after their payments were frozen.

"It's useless to file an online appeal because you need to provide a complete set of qualification authorization, purchase orders, invoice vouchers, etc. If you can't provide them, you are doomed to fail."

In fact, this is not the first time that merchants have complained about Douyin's penalty regulations. In addition to the current crackdown on counterfeit sales, other regulations on the platform have also caused headaches for merchants.

For example, some merchants reported that the platform rules changed a lot. "We did it last year, and the platform rules were updated very frequently. Many old merchants couldn't continue to do business. What they could do before might suddenly be stopped."

For example, in the "no-source model", some merchants said they supported it when they opened the store, but they were forced to remove all products from the shelves in less than a year; and in the course of operation, a product finally sold well, but within a few days they were notified that they could no longer sell such products.

There is also the store experience point that gives merchants a headache. Xiaoke said that the experience point is updated monthly and may be reset to zero. It is very easy to deduct points, making it difficult to brush them.

As for other regulations, if merchants make the slightest mistake, they will receive a penalty notice.

Some merchants said that they were fined 5,000 yuan by the platform rules simply for placing jewelry in the wrong product catalog. Some were even fined 20,000 yuan for placing it in the wrong category.

The issue of freezing store funds is also one of the manifestations of the platform's strength. Faced with frozen store funds, some merchants can wait 30-180 days to contact Douyin customer service to unblock them, while some merchants with serious violations may not be able to unblock them even after half a year.

If you want to unfreeze the frozen store funds at this time, you can only consider the detailed rules previously issued by the platform - pay 3-10 times the amount earned from the illegal products, and you can apply for unfreezing after the compensation.

In addition, there are also penalties for the deposit. When the merchant's deposit is insufficient, the platform will restrict the use of some functions of the merchant's store, including but not limited to cash withdrawals, product listings, transaction orders, etc. If the merchant has outstanding payments on the platform, the platform has the right to deduct them from the amount first to make up the deposit.

Merchants seem to have suffered from Douyin for a long time...

3. Where should businesses go?

In addition to these platform rules and penalties, after Douyin e-commerce implemented a low-price strategy this year, many merchants were also forced to lower prices, further squeezing their profit margins.

At the end of February, at the Douyin E-commerce Industry Belt Service Provider Conference, the official clearly put forward the "price power strategy" and released 49 key categories in the low-price range and 87 absolutely low-price categories.

It is reported that in the official definition, "commodity price power" refers to measuring the price competitiveness of the current commodity by comparing it with the current affordable price of the same commodity, which is divided into the lowest price in the entire network, the same low price and the same high price.

In short, the one who offers the lowest price wins the world. Low-priced products will be more likely to receive traffic recommendations, be more easily displayed, and will have a conspicuous low-price label on the user front end.

In addition, according to LatePost, Douyin e-commerce has set "price power" as the highest priority task in 2024. A person close to Douyin e-commerce said that in the new year, Douyin e-commerce's low-price strategy will be extended to the content field: the mall and short videos will vigorously recommend low-priced goods, and the live broadcast room will continue to carry high-priced goods mainly from brands.

The Douyin e-commerce person also revealed that until early 2023, Douyin e-commerce will still compare itself with Alibaba, but now "internally it is more benchmarking against Pinduoduo."

"This year has been so tough, with Douyin's low prices causing widespread grief." An industry insider lamented, so merchants are either forced to adapt and embrace low prices, or they can only switch platforms, such as going to Video Account.

Many small and medium-sized businesses on Douyin originally migrated from traditional e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo and Taobao. Now, with the fading of traffic dividends, content e-commerce platforms have to return to the traditional shelf e-commerce strategy. The strategies they accumulated on Douyin are no longer effective, and they can't help feeling confused.

"Our supply is stable, so we can still do it. It's just that we haven't promoted the business, so the threshold has been raised and it's becoming increasingly difficult." Xiaoke previously worked for Pinduoduo. She feels that in comparison, Pinduoduo is more difficult to do business, and small businesses have their own difficulties.

After the store was closed, CC said that they currently have other stores and will not give up Douyin. "I just feel frustrated and the loss is huge, but what else can I do?"

After all, from the perspective of the platform, compliance comes first, and cracking down on counterfeit sales is indisputable; however, for small and medium-sized businesses, there is no room for trial and error and adjustment. Even if there is a misjudgment or a heavy sentence, the consequences will be heavy losses.

Every time the platform adjusts its rules and strategies, whether it is regulations on selling counterfeit goods or low-price strategies, it is a storm for merchants.

Author: Field sister

Source public account: New Broadcasting Field