Recently, there have been a lot of comments on the internet, saying that it is becoming difficult for traders to do business on the platform, that they want to set their own prices, that the platform “must be in full decline” and that there is no flow without a low price, that consumers are frustrated, that the same thing is worth a few bucks for a mobile phone and that a half-day button is needed to cancel the automatic renewal fee。
This may be the end of the day, and on 20 april of this year, cdrc, the directorate-general for market supervision and the web office issued a price code for internet platforms, a total of 29 rules, which were officially implemented on 10 april 2026。
This new rule is for the price-sets on the platform, so let's talk about it today, and what's the problem。
Commercial pricing rights, from “kidnapping” to “do what you want”
Businesses used to have little say in front of the platform。
Have you ever heard of the merchants, “the platform says it has to cost me 30 per cent less to hide my shop or search it”
And even worse, they force traders to sign an exclusive partnership, and if they sell the same money on another platform, they'll give you a “calculator down” right here and cut the flow in half。
It's not an example of this. Many small and medium-sized traders are forced to go to work hard to survive, for a long time, and the worse they do, the more they end up in a “low-cost” cycle。
This new regulation, which directly supports the business community, makes it clear that the platform can no longer engage in forced price reductions, raise fees, cut subsidies and limit flows, and that these “small moves” will be against the law。
Businesses want to price themselves. It's okay. As long as costs and quality hold, they don't have to follow the pace of the platform。
It was okay for the platform to rob the market at low prices in the early stages, but it was a little out of the question when a monopoly was created。
Under the new rules, the priced “director wheel” is returned to the merchant, depending on whether or not the product is worth anything。
Instead of pricing, the merchants are free to exit the platform。
In the past, the platform might have said, “it is okay to quit, and it will be difficult to come in later”。
The new rules now state that the exit of the merchants cannot be prevented and that the readjustment of the rules must be negotiated with the merchants seven days in advance。
For those who want to operate multiplatforms, it's almost untying。
For example, a shopkeeper who used to sell handicrafts on one platform, afraid of being “shoeed”, could now open on several platforms, and the price could be adjusted to the user base of each platform, but the business would be better off。
"price mist," finally "understand consumption."
Let's talk about our consumers after business。
Have you ever had that experience, when a taxi showed an estimate of $10, turned into $20, asked the driver why, and the driver didn't know what the surcharge was, bought members with no care for automatic renewal, wanted to cancel the half-day set, and the button was small like an ant。
These “price mists” may be much less in the future, with three “red lines” assigned to consumers。
Big data, no. The platform has to open the pricing rules. I'll buy 23 for 18 for friends。
The billion billion grant, which looks popular, will have to mark to whom, how, when and when the subsidy ends, and will not be able to blow the full 50% off of it, except for one or two commodities。
Auto-renewal, spin-off insurance, these " pits", have to be marked in large fonts, unbuttoned, and cannot be hidden in a circuit like "set-account-pay-automated-renewal"。
What is most gratifying is the transparency of dynamic pricing, the previous take-out, the same store, which buys in the morning at different prices than at night, and the platform, which says “real-time price adjustments”, is never clear。
After the new rules, all of this has to be made public, for example, “three dollars at peak hours” and “over five kilometres plus five dollars”, which are clearly listed, so we can buy something。
One of her colleagues said that she used to book a hotel “set” and order a new phone number less expensive than an old one, and now that the platform is afraid to do so, she prefers to book a room on the platform because it is “treading”。
The new rules look good, but it may not be easy to land。
The platform is so big, the algorithm is so complicated, will you change the vest to continue the "set"? For example, replace the word “two or one” with the word “priority” and hide the word “automatic renewal” in the “service upgrade package”。
The new regulations define the three institutions that work together, from policy development to law enforcement inspection to algorithm control。
However, the platform algorithm is up to date, monitoring is up to date and will depend on the level of subsequent implementation。
In any case, the new regulations send clear signals that the platform economy can no longer rely on “harvesting” traders and consumers。
Businesses have pricing rights to make good products, consumers can see that they are willing to spend more on experiences, and in the future the platform will have to earn money by providing services, technology and comfort to both businesses and consumers。
April 2026 is not far away, so let's see if internet purchases are really a good day to leave the “set” and get a “quality price”。
