There is a line in Forrest Gump: Life is like a chocolate, you never know what the next piece will taste like . This sentence applies to the blind box industry that has emerged in recent years-you never know what products you can take out of the blind box.
But it is precisely this unknown mystery that stimulates the curiosity of consumers, and the uncertainty in probability increases its addiction.
With the help of the blind box, many Internet manufacturers have also launched blind box products. NetEase big player app is one of them. To put it simply, NetEase's big player is a trendy shopping mall created by NetEase's own game IP peripherals, as well as other popular figures, models, and trendy products. The difference from traditional malls is that NetEase attaches great importance to blind box play in this mall.
Users can either choose to buy goods directly, or they can choose to buy a blind box to get a random product, such as mobile phones, game consoles, headsets and other digital products, or various animation figures.
As for what the specific offer is,Depending on the probability, the higher the value of the commodity, the lower the probability.
Does this gameplay feel familiar?
Many people immediately thought of NetEase's krypton gold draw game , but the prizes have changed from game props to physical commodities. The problem is that when virtual game props become physical goods, the value of the goods is linked to cash. With the addictive nature of the probability mechanism, it is difficult to define whether a big NetEase player is a game, an e-commerce, or even a disguised gambling?
Is NetEase suspected of gambling in a disguised form? What are the imperceptible routines used by the big NetEase players in the process of selling blind boxes?
Let me start with the conclusion, As far as the criminal law is concerned, NetEase players may indeed be suspected of gambling in disguise.
Currently online gambling is mainly divided into two categories, is the traditional gambling transferred to the Internet.The other is "disguised gambling online games" derived from online games.
The cleverness of NetEase players is that it combines online games with online malls, so it is difficult to classify them, but we can define them based on relevant characteristics.
According to relevant articles on the official website of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, gambling behavior has three main characteristics: First, the betting has greater economic value; the second is the uncertainty of the game result; the third is that the behavior has constituent elements Compliance.
For the first , the sum of the first is greater than the absolute value of 1000 yuan. The magic gift bag on the NetEase big player APP is priced at 299 yuan for one draw, and the highest value prize is iphone12 at 8,499 yuan. Obviously, the sum of the two is far greater than 1,000 yuan, which meets the criteria for gambling.
Article 2 It is easy to understand that gambling must be based on an uncertain event as the criterion. If the probability of a large NetEase player is random, it meets the criteria. If the probability is manipulated,It constitutes a crime of fraud.
Article 3 needs to be understood in accordance with Article 303 of the Criminal Law, that is, “for profit, gathering crowds of gambling or gambling as a business” constitutes a crime of gambling. NetEase is an enterprise. Naturally, it is for the purpose of profit, and its huge user base of APP meets the standard of "gathering crowds".
Based on the above three points, 's blind box gameplay by NetEase players basically conforms to the above characteristics, and its interactive form may be suspected of gambling in the sense of criminal law. Of course, some people will say that this is not a lottery, it should not be so serious, of course, we have no right to give a judgment, this is just a question we give from the perspective of consumers, I believe everyone will also have My own views and final conclusions need to be given by relevant departments.
But NetEase is a big Internet company after all, and the Legal Department is definitely not a dry food. Some problems will definitely be avoided.
For example, if the user is not satisfied with the product drawn, he can choose to be recycled by NetEase, but 20% of the product price will be deducted as a handling fee. So you see, although users have been slapped with wool, they never return empty-handed, and it is difficult for NetEase to be detained as gambling.
However, even if it is a black heart casino,The tap is basically only about 5%. Is the 20% handling fee of NetEase a bit too much?
The price of blind box products is also suspected to be abnormally high. For example, the price of the national bank version of Sony ps5 host is as high as 6,999 yuan, but it only costs 5988 yuan in a certain east, and the price difference is more than 1,000. Isn't NetEase turned on this host?
The reason is that 's high handling fee and high commodity price are all in order to increase the transaction fee of the user's recycling of goods and thus capture higher profits for the platform.
In addition, the intricate platform rules also make NetEase invincible in its own routine.
For example, the free shipping is only for three items, otherwise it will cost 15 yuan for postage. In many cases, the products that users get are not expensive, and they can only choose to be recycled. You think NetEase is making money in probability, but in reality What it earns on it is the user recovery fee.
Some netizens have reported that if the products drawn are out of stock, they cannot be submitted for delivery. After a certain period of time, the products will be automatically forcibly recycled. The price of the recycling is the user's lottery fee.
In other words,Even if you get an iPhone, but it shows that the product is out of stock, then I'm sorry, as long as the time passes, NetEase will only refund you the lottery fee at most.
In essence, NetEase has a high probability of making money using the user's "gambler" psychology, and it has long been familiar with it.
As early as 2016, NetEase introduced the "1 yuan purchase" gameplay. The 6,000 yuan iPhone was priced at 6,500 yuan and then divided into 6,500 equal parts. Each participant can participate in the lottery for one yuan. , The final probability will be 1 in 6,500. In the end, no matter who draws the iphone, NetEase guarantees that there is a 500 yuan difference to earn. It was not until 2017 that the state defined "one-yuan purchase" as a gambling behavior, and NetEase removed it.
One dollar purchase is categorized as gambling, then two dollar purchase, three dollar purchase, or N dollar purchase in blind box gameplay?
is actually just a new bottle of old wine in logic! Whether it is a few dollars to buy, the core problem inside, on the one hand is the value of the product, in the end whether there is an inflated price, shoddy, or even fraud, or not sending prizes, absconding with coupons, etc.; , on the other hand, is the issue of supervision.As a well-known platform, with a huge number of users, how to ensure that the operation of the platform is risk-free? Can we only rely on self-management? Will there be fraud in the process, such as designating winners, using robots to participate in lowering the winning rate of real consumers, etc., these are risks and require supervision.
In addition, if you search for a large NetEase player, you will find a large number of European emperors showing off that they have won high-priced goods, but if you leave a message and question it, you will immediately be deleted and blacked out. I have to say that even the navy has used it, and Netease's food scene this time is really a bit ugly.
Not only that, but NetEase's terms of service are also eye-opening.
In the service description of the big NetEase players, the platform asks “users understand and agree that there may be certain flaws in the products of Molifu bag”, “the existence of slightly flawed products is not a quality problem”, “after the online box is opened, No 7-day return without reason is not supported. "The product information may change at any time, and the company will not notify you separately."
To sum up: NetEase’s products may be defective, but minor defects are not considered defective, and the product information can not be returned or changed without 7 days notice without notice. user.
listen, is this human?
is nothing more than a referee and an athlete.The new Consumer Rights Protection Law officially implemented on March 15, 2014 stipulates that online shopping products shall be returned without reason within 7 days from the date of arrival, which has also been ignored.
If NetEase admits that it is selling goods, then its overlord clause obviously violates the consumer's right to fair trade . If NetEase believes that what it sells is not a commodity, then its suspected gambling in a disguised form is a real deal.
The Chinese Consumers Association stated that the basic attribute of blind boxes is commodities, and operators must bear statutory quality guarantee responsibilities to ensure that the product quality information is true and not overuse consumers’ curiosity to mislead people. Impulse spending.
There is a Western proverb, a bird looks like a duck, calls like a duck, and walks like a duck, then it is a duck. Whether a big NetEase player is a duck or not, ultimately depends on how the law defines it. But even if you take a step back, just as a business, what the big NetEase players do is still open to question.
More importantly, a considerable part of NetEase’s blind box audience is its game users, with a high proportion of teenagers. Their economy comes from their parents and their self-control is relatively weak. Once they fall into this “gambling” It is often difficult to get out of the marketing based on the "apprentice" mechanism. We do not demand that NetEase become a charity enterprise, but as a Chinese Internet company, we still hope that it can maintain the basic bottom line of respecting consumers and protecting young people.
Of course,Netease is not the only enterprise adopting similar routines. Therefore, we hope that while various business model innovations, supervision should keep up in time, and we cannot rely on industry self-discipline. Only in this way can the interests of consumers be protected to the greatest extent.
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