When shopping online, follow platform rules and laws — not influencers or “positive reviews”

There’s no cost involved. Just take a moment before ordering to read the return policy and deposit rules. After receiving your purchase, keep screenshots of the order, the livestream replay, and any chat records. The real challenge is resisting the persuasive atmosphere created by influencers.

Sellers found guilty of fraud must pay three times the purchase price, with a minimum payout of 500 yuan. Platforms aware — or reasonably expected to know — that sellers are violating laws must also bear joint liability, so you can seek compensation directly from them. Livestream hosts and platforms may not fabricate transaction volumes, follower counts, views, or likes, nor spread false information; doing so incurs civil liability. Those caught orchestrating fake transactions or reviews face fines up to 1 million yuan; repeat offenders may be fined between 1 million and 2 million yuan and even lose their business license. Deposits must stay under 20% of the contract total; if you breach the contract, that deposit is lost, but if the seller does, they must return double it. Using personal data for automated pricing decisions that result in unfair price differences — commonly known as “algorithmic price discrimination” — is illegal nationwide.

全国人大常委会 (2013 修正). 消费者权益保护法（第四十四、五十五条）. https://www.samr.gov.cn/zfjcj/tzgg/art/2023/art_615af9ed6bcd4974bf853dd2e02bc663.html（市场监管总局转载）；国家网信办等七部门 (2021). 网络直播营销管理办法（试行）（第十八、二十八条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-04/23/content_5601682.htm；全国人大常委会 (2025 修订). 反不正当竞争法（第九、二十五条）. https://www.ssf.gov.cn/portal/rootfiles/2025/09/01/1758444945285569-1758444945303119.pdf（全国社保基金理事会转载）；全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第五百八十六、五百八十七条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/233181.html；全国人大常委会 (2021). 个人信息保护法（第二十四条）. https://www.stats.gov.cn/gk/tjfg/xgfxfg/202503/t20250310_1958923.html（国家统计局转载）；山东省市场监管局 (2025). 六起网络不正当竞争典型案例. https://www.samr.gov.cn/jjj/fbzdjz/art/2025/art_cbaed1c006584baeb6823a6b01325ba4.html

There are no official comparative statistics available on which platforms offer the best value or minimize the risk of buying low-quality goods, so this book does not rank any platforms. The only publicly available data consists of general inspection results (see Section 32 regarding national inspection reports). Following the 2025 revision of China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law, provisions on false advertising moved from Article 8 to Article 9, while related penalties shifted from Article 20 to Article 25; the new law took effect on October 15, 2025, so be sure to use the updated article numbers. In one case in Shandong, a company organized 75 fake transactions involving over 680,000 yuan; although the exact fine amount was not disclosed, the company was penalized. For information on seven-day unconditional returns, see Section 23 in this chapter (“Making the seven-day return policy work for you”).