Online Bulk Purchasing:a Blessing or a Trap?

As China has the largest number of Internet users in the world, a new way of shopping online has flourished over the past several months.

But many online shoppers have become victims of newly-emerged "shared bulk purchasing" websites.

A growing number of Chinese Internet users have discovered the joys of shopping via "shared bulk purchasing" websites.

Online shoppers find the biggest attraction of this new way of shopping is the low price of goods.

Through bulk purchasing websites, a group of people share the cost of buying an item in large quantities, and in return each one gets a cheaper price for that item.

During the past three months, more than 400 Chinese bulk purchasing websites have been set up to tap the huge market potential.

But gradually, many consumers find they have fallen into a trap by some of the websites.

Miss He from Shenzhen has bought a pair of shoes via a bulk purchasing site. But she only finds that she has been cheated.

"I applied for my purchase at noon. The website said it had received my order and money and would soon deliver the goods when I logged onto the site again in the afternoon. But one week later, I didn't receive my purchase and found the website had disappeared."

Mr. Huang from Shanghai bought a 1,900 yuan cell phone at another bulk purchasing site. He was delighted that he could save about 30 percent of the gadget's price found at a bricks-and-mortar retailer's shop.

But later he received a shock.

"The website told me that I could receive the gadget in five to ten days. But I didn't get it at that time. So I turned to the site again and couldn't find it."

Moreover, these victims' complaints have been turned down by market regulators.

An unnamed staff member of a consumers' complaint treatment center in Beijing says detailed information of the websites has to be offered.

"Lodging a complaint, consumers should provide the offender's real information. Also the offender has to be a company in reality. And consumers have to provide the company's name and detailed address."

Insiders say some swindlers have made use of the bulk purchasing sites as this kind of scam is very difficult to hunt down.

They point out that swindlers pretend to be sellers or online agents between shoppers and sellers.

Usually, online shoppers are required to send money to an online agent or seller first. Once the scam is complete the cyber crooks escape with the money and shut down the website. As a result, consumers lose all information on the swindler along with all the false information.

In light of this situation, industry insiders say the lack of effective regulation is to blame for the increasing online scams.

To better manage online business, Chinese authorities have recently put into effect a regulation, demanding shop owners to submit real information to e-commerce agents before running their businesses online.

At the moment, Chinese consumers are being advised to keep vigilant when enjoying the convenience and bargains that come with online shopping.

For CRI, I'm XYee.