Perspectives
China’s largest business-to-consumer platform, Taobao Mall, recently announced it wouldn’t remove blocks on a fake cosmetic trader’s online shop despite efforts from the 27-year-old store owner, who abandoned his 90-year-old grandmother at the Hangzhou-based company in an effort to threaten the company, according to reports in the Yangtse Evening News.
The grandson, surnamed Ye, began to sell cosmetics on “taobao.com” in 2009 and developed into a double-crowned seller, the second highest level in terms of credibility assessment for traders.
However, Taobao administrators received complaints from customers in June that claimed Ye had sold them fake products. Ye admitted he was selling counterfeit cosmetics. Taobao deducted 24 scores from his business evaluation as a preliminary punishment. After that, Taobao administrators continued to receive such appeals. Finally in early July, Taobao deducted 48 scores, a mark to assess a business ineligible and shut it.