Don’t give streamers tips, don’t make in‑game purchases, and don’t make impulsive buys
On average, each gamer in China spends roughly 480 yuan per year on games, and that money is almost impossible to get back. The law supports parents seeking refunds for a minor child’s spending on gifts or game credits without consent when the amount is inappropriate for the child’s age and intellectual capacity; adults have no such provision. The easiest way to stay on budget is to take preventive steps: disable password-free payments, set per-transaction and daily limits, and unlink payment options.
There is no cost at all. It only takes a few minutes to do…
This is a very large expenditure. In 2024, the actual sales revenue of the domestic game market in China was 3…
There is no cost at all. It only takes a few minutes to do three things: turn off automatic payment, set daily and per‑transaction limits, and remove any linked payment methods from the platforms. The hard part is resisting the urge to click those buttons right then and there.
This is a very large expenditure. In 2024, the actual sales revenue of the domestic game market in China was 325.783 billion yuan, with 674 million users, averaging approximately 480 yuan per person (this is calculated by dividing the previous two figures). The money spent is basically unrecoverable. There is only one exception: for tipping and recharging by persons with limited capacity for civil conduct (referring here to minors) without the consent of their guardians, when the amount is inappropriate for their age and intellectual capacity, the 'People's Court shall support' the guardian's request for a refund. There is no such provision for the tipping and recharging of adults by themselves. Additionally, minors are originally only allowed to play online games on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and statutory holidays. The only playable time is the 1 hour from 20:00 to 21:00 daily (China, 2020, 2021).
国家新闻出版署 (2024). 今年中国游戏市场收入超 3257 亿元创新高（中国音数协游戏工委《2024 年中国游戏产业报告》）. https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxfb/ywdt/202412/t20241216_877445.html；最高人民法院 (2020). 关于依法妥善审理涉新冠肺炎疫情民事案件若干问题的指导意见（二）（法发〔2020〕17 号，第 9 条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/230181.html；国家新闻出版署 (2021). 关于进一步严格管理 切实防止未成年人沉迷网络游戏的通知（国新出发〔2021〕14 号）. https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxfb/tzgs/202108/t20210830_666285.html
Open source linkIt is rated as Grade B because no one has directly measured 'how much money can be saved by not tipping'; there are only total figures from the gaming industry. The two methods of disabling password-free payments and setting limits are empirical practices and are individually rated as Grade C. The original text of Article 19 and Article 145 of the Civil Code has already been quoted verbatim in Item 9 (children using mobile phones to recharge and tip). This does not constitute investment advice. If a spouse makes large-scale tips using shared funds behind your back, see Item 22 of Section 10 (tipping streamers).