Small Merchants: We Are the Most Severely Injured
Li Bing told reporters, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have made so many preparations. I imported goods worth more than 200,000 yuan, rented an office for a year, and even registered a company..." "Taobao says we are small merchants. Yes, we can't come up with hundreds of thousands of yuan, so we indeed aren't big. But have they considered that we are not only small merchants but also new ones," said Li Bing. He added that actually, it was their group of new merchants who were most severely affected this time, "We came here with dreams, only to find out that Taobao doesn't even intend to give us the chance to dream."
For Taobao Mall's annual deposit return mechanism, Li Bing believed that it was a standard tailored for large merchants. "Take clothing as an example, an annual sales volume of 1.2 million yuan, they think this requirement isn't high, but for those just entering the market, who knows if we can achieve it? To put it bluntly, Taobao wants to make us newcomers retreat through this way."
Large Merchants: The Greatest Loss is Ours
Yesterday afternoon, Chen Xin, spokesperson for Han Du Yi She’s public relations department, stated in an interview with reporters that according to the goal of achieving over 300 million yuan in sales this year, "The loss from being suspended for nearly a day is at least 8-900,000 yuan." Of course, that wasn't the main issue, "The impact of malicious refunds and negative reviews will continue to affect our operations." Subsequently, Cao Qing, founder of another online store giant "Seven Sisters," also expressed on Weibo, "Let us gather righteous forces and fully support the reform. Who ultimately suffers from today's cyber black forces? Without buyers, how can there be sellers? Where is the possibility of survival for our large, medium, and small sellers? Don't be deceived by rumors, don't be used! Evil cannot prevail over good! Firmly resist cyber black forces."
Zou Yuan, head of Polytime, said: "We understand the actual difficulties and situations faced by some sellers in response to the new rules, but we must also call on everyone to quickly return to a rational path to solve problems. We will never bow to cyber violence."
Taobao and Competitors Make Their Statements
Jack Ma: We Did What We Should Have Done
At around 11:00 AM yesterday, Jack Ma posted on his Sina Weibo account, "Today in China, it's hard to be a businessman, harder still to be an honest one, and hardest of all to establish a commercial trust system. There are always moments in life when we need to muster the courage to make choices. And these choices not only defy common sense, contradict reason, and even go against the grain, offending relatives and friends. Even so, we may still insist! Because we believe in our decisions, we did what we should have done."
Two hours later, Jack Ma updated his Weibo again, "We are not moral models, but we do want to be a different kind of enterprise in China. We wholeheartedly help small businesses because we understand that pain. But not everyone makes money from business; commerce is a serious discipline."
President of Taobao Mall, Zhang Yong, indicated that some merchants just starting their entrepreneurial journey, if they don't plan to renew with the mall or fail to meet the renewal standards, can "switch to Taobao Market with one click," which "will become a free paradise for entrepreneurs."
Taobao Competitor: No Fees Until March Next Year
E-commerce researcher and well-known commentator Wang Bin stated in an interview yesterday that Taobao Mall's new regulations achieved two goals, "Firstly, by increasing various fees, filter out incapable small sellers, reducing the proportion of counterfeit goods; secondly, enhance Taobao Mall's profitability, seize brand seller resources, indirectly combating industry competition." This new regulation can be seen as a one-size-fits-all strategy adopted by Taobao, hoping for swift resolution as Jack Ma said, although difficult, it still needs to be done.
Interestingly, two companies' statements yesterday caught attention. One was QQ Mall, which has a competitive relationship with Taobao Mall. Its responsible person responded to the "riot" incident on Taobao saying, "From the end of this year to the promotion season next March, QQ Mall will not charge any fees." At the same time, "We will refer to the lowest industry standards in the past, fully considering the needs of merchants, to formulate future charging standards."
How Will This "Storm" End?
Taobao Mall: We Will Not Compromise
On October 12, President of Taobao Mall, Zhang Yong, stated: "We will not tolerate internet violence, nor malicious attacks on other merchants, and we absolutely will not compromise because of this." So far, dozens of sellers have been subjected to malicious attacks. Simultaneously, he also indicated that they would individually identify the identities of the sellers involved in this event. Zhang Yong stated that after this incident occurred, Taobao Mall immediately contacted the police, who are closely monitoring and controlling the development of this event. Zhang Yong stated: "The interests of damaged merchants will definitely be compensated."
"Anti-Tmall Alliance": Won't Stop Until Rules Change
A member of the "Anti-Tmall Alliance" stated in a media interview yesterday that this action was not maliciously targeted at Taobao Mall, but hoped that Taobao Mall could consider the interests of small merchants more when revising the rules. He also said that since Taobao Mall does not intend to change the rules, the activities of the "Anti-Tmall Alliance" will continue until Taobao Mall cancels the previous revision. The person emphasized that the "Anti-Tmall Alliance" operates within the scope allowed by law, merely using Taobao Mall's rules more strategically.
Legal Interpretation:
Disrupting the Market Can Lead to Criminal Liability
Regardless of whether the price increase is right or wrong, the malicious attack behavior of small merchants is not rational and even suspected of being illegal, which became a hot topic among netizens yesterday. Later yesterday, Yan Qiao, spokesperson for Taobao Mall's public relations department, confirmed to reporters that after receiving the report, the public security authorities have already started investigating the matter.
Regarding this, relevant legal experts provided an interpretation. Zhang Fan, a researcher at the Intellectual Property Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law and associate professor of the Department of Law at Xiangfan College of Economics and Politics, believes that organized malicious attacks on Taobao Mall brands constitute a criminal act, forming the crime of damaging commercial credibility and product reputation. By maliciously purchasing and then refunding, giving 0-1 star negative reviews, it is essentially fabricating and spreading false facts, severely damaging the commercial credibility and product reputation of large sellers, causing significant losses to large sellers.
Wu Xuhua, deputy director and senior partner of Zhejiang Ze Hou Law Firm, also stated that unlawful network behaviors still fall within the legal regulatory scope. The network is not an isolated society, but rather a part of society, and network behaviors are still constrained by real-world morality, laws, and other norms. He stated that due to Taobao adjusting its rules, some sellers gathered to discuss and proposed malicious attacks on Taobao Mall, which constitutes malicious disruption of market order. These improper and unlawful behaviors will be constrained and punished. Moreover, this malicious attack behavior may infringe on others' property rights, defame others' business reputations, disrupt the market economy order, requiring civil and administrative responsibilities, and severe consequences necessitate criminal responsibility.
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