The conference was held in order to examine the various advantages and disadvantages of Chinese e-commerce. Online Chinese retailers are mainly known for their incredibly low prices, but come with a whole number of issues when it comes to consumer rights.
When it came to one of the best-known Chinese online stores - Alibaba - Austrian engineer Rainer Will pointed out that it was first and foremost cheap prices and a wide range of products that draw consumers to these sites. At the same time, issues usually tend to arise in areas such as quality, delivery times, and returns.
A key issue pointed out by Will is the way these companies often misrepresent a number of consumer rights as exceptionally advantageous deals – rights that are already enshrined in EU consumer law.
As an example, Alibaba advertises the possibility of refunds for late deliveries, or for returns that require no more justification aside from that the item 'did not correspond to the buyer’s original wishes'. These are, however, not actually deals but rights considered ordinary for EU customers.
Will also criticised the fact that, by paying an additional fee that guaranteed product authenticity, people are recognising and indeed acknowledging that oftentimes, these products are in fact counterfeits.
Finally, Will lamented the fact that Alibaba bypasses customs and VAT charges, using the example of Austria. Since these fees are only required for orders above €22, and 97% of items shipped to Austria lie below the minimum, the online retailer circumvents a number of expenses.
A further test revealed that, when buying a pair of shoes that cost €30.78, the declaration papers disclosed a lower price of €18. No matter what or how many times they tried, every purchase produced a lower amount than had previously been indicated.
The main problem with e-commerce outside the EU is that it is not precisely defined whether companies have to comply with local or European law. In the hopes of avoiding future contentious cases, the European Commission is in the process of developing rules to respond to the latest digital market developments.
