Let me tell you something。
Early this morning, when i turned on my cell phone, i came up with a delivery: the rules of price conduct for internet platforms, a joint initiative of the national development commission, the directorate-general for market supervision and the national network office, were officially implemented on april 10。
Mother peach is hot milking in the kitchen, and i'm going over with my cell phone: "look, the country's finally taking action with all the shit that's done, like, killing and running."
She didn't say anything to her head: "it's time to take care of it! The last time i looked at my cell phone with my mother's phone, it was worth a dozen dollars
I said, "this is not the same time. They put a whole set of rules in you once and for all. The platform can't come back."
I'm just going to tell you what's wrong with us today -- what's good for us, what's good for us。
One, what does the new rule matter? Just remember these four pains
This code of price conduct for internet platforms, with a total of 7 chapters and 29 articles, has a lot of content, but you don't need to remember it all. You'll remember four words: the price's a mess。
To put it bluntly, the new rule is to deal with four old problems: big data killing, mandatory double-checking and low-priced internal rolls, automatic renewal trap, false promotions and non-transparent prices。
What do you care? There are just a few: transparent prices, open algorithms, a reminder of continuation costs, and a platform that can't go around。
Let's talk。
Big data cut -- this time someone finally put a tight spell on it
What do you mean? The more you know, the more you consume, the more you are slaughtered。
Article 15 of the new regulation makes it clear that the operator cannot use algorithms and data to discriminate against prices without the knowledge of the consumer on the basis of your willingness to pay, your ability to pay, your consumption habits. Same commodity, equal terms, different prices for old and new clients? I can't. If the platform is to be priced differently, it must be made public on the page and cannot change。
There's something real around me. A friend of mine bought the same four sets of bedding on an electrician platform, 20 per cent more expensive than the first. He went to the merchants, and they tricked him into saying that “sales promotions are different”. Listen, isn't this a classic killing? It's not as good as new clients, is it
There was also a ms. Zhang in shenzhen, who checked two mobile phones for the same commodity — one that she usually used, the other a new one. And guess what? The usual phone is more expensive, and she is a member of the platform! It's more expensive than a non-member. Isn't that what you are
The new rules require that such differential pricing be made public and that it be no longer a secret. When you meet different prices later, you can go straight to the platform: why
Protection of merchants - two or one and a low-priced paper
We usually buy things online and think, "the cheaper the better." but have you ever wondered how the price was so low
Businesses don't make less money. They're forced by the platform。
Article 5 of the new regulation explicitly prohibits the platform from imposing price reductions on vendors, from forcing vendors to sell on the platform at prices that cannot be lower than other channels, and from forcing traders to open automatic price-fixing and automatic price reduction systems. It's obvious: how much is a merchant selling, it's his own business, and the platform can't use traffic, search rankings as leverage to push you down。
There's an expert who's got a pretty good point - ouyang-yang fai from central university of finance and economics. He said that, in the past, some platforms had used the distribution of flows to force vendors to participate in promotional activities, with the result that they were caught in a “no drop in prices and no flow”. Short-term consumers are cheap, long-term merchants are forced to lose profits and end up stealing less, and good things are not done。
I'll give you a specific example. Before the merchants sold something on the platform, the platform came up with a notice: “as soon as possible, you must participate, the price must be reduced by 80% and the cost must be borne”. You don't want to go? Okay, you can't search your shop without cutting off your rights. In order to survive, the merchants had to lower their prices, end up losing their money and lose their quality. That's what's called an internal volume competition。
The new regulation is this - a business can be priced on its own cost and brand, without the platform taking its nose. It's not just about protecting the profits of businesses, it's about protecting our consumers' choices. If all the merchants die in a low price paper, where are you going to buy something
The new regulations also require that the platform's fees be transparent, that new or changed fee items be publicly consulted seven days in advance and that vendors be free to withdraw from the platform if they do not accept them. This is good news for small and medium-sized businesses。
Auto-renewal costs - "renewal cost assassins"
I'm sure everyone's had it before。
“first month special, next month automatic renewal” — the new user is a $1 meeting boy, but you don't know that there's a “49. 9 automatic renewal” hole behind a dollar。
In april of this year, there was a real story on the news. The achilles app, without any knowledge from the users, directly deducts the annual fee of $348. The dude went through the phone, texted no, no tweets no, no reminders. Finally, there was a little red dot on the bottom right of the app page, and it was five days ago that there was a message in the station that the membership was about to expire. Listen, who can see this alarm hidden on several levels? The court has previously ruled — this is not called a “notable reminder”。
There's more to it. There is an automatic renewal of the members of the united nations system when people pay for the parking lot, and a coupon of $0. 1 comes out, and they go along with it. When he finds out he's trying to cancel, good guy, flipping around, he can't find the cancel button。
Even more exaggerating is the fact that someone was withheld for 22 months without finding out that 63 dollars per month had been withheld for a total of over 1,000 dollars. On one of the complaint platforms, in 2025 alone, there were nearly 70,000 complaints relating to automatic renewal, with a cumulative total of over 220,000. How many people have been fucked
Why "renewed assassin"? Because when it's open, it's "one key straight" and it's just a click; when it's cancelled, it's "nine turn eight" -- it's going to have to jump several pages, connect several customers, and even make artificial calls. Isn't that supposed to make you lazy to cancel
Article 14 makes it clear that the time of the deduction, the amount of the deduction, the manner in which it will be cancelled must be preceded by a significant reminder to you and that it must be cancelled at any time. It's not a no-touch, no-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it- if the platform doesn't work, wait for punishment。
Fake promotion - the discount you see may be a big hole
Have you ever seen anything like this? Before the 618s, you wanted to buy a refrigerator, check the price six months in advance and join the shopping cart. Wait till the big day - the price is down! The discount! You're excited about the list, and then it turns out that it's not bought at all, it's carried up on a temporary basis。
This is the pattern of “up and down” “fiction prices”。
Article 10 of the new regulation provides that when an operator promotes a price, the promotion rules, the duration of the activity, and the scope of application must be clearly stated at a prominent place on the page; the discount or reduction must indicate the true baseline price. Those who pay off their money with points, coupons, vouchers must also tell you clearly what to do. There's no such thing as the original price of 999, the current price of 99 -- who set the original price? You say as much as you want? No。
In addition, dynamic pricing — such as out-of-pocket distribution fees, internet peak increases — has to be made public, and consumers need to know how this price is calculated. There was no reason why the distribution had increased. You only know the price, and you do not know why. Now the platform must make clear to you the factors that affect prices。
What's in it for us? Regulatory change from fire-fighting to normalization
To be honest, the price of the regulatory platform used to be tumultuous, and in many cases it was “infallible”. It's hot today. Check it out; tomorrow's automatic renewal fee is cursed and punished. It's going to be okay。
But not this time. According to an expert named hong yong, the core value of the new rules is "three clear":
One is to know what can and can't
The second is to make it clear that the business is in charge and that the platform cannot interfere blindly
The third is to clarify the right of our consumers to know and choose。
The three departments also held a special meeting on 8 april to call some of the platform enterprises and to point out their prices in person and request immediate overhaul. The superintendence of markets has also spoken, keeping an eye on “inner volume” competition and promoting a market order of good prices and good competition。
Give you a number and you'll know how big this is. The economic market for our platform was approximately 25. 2 trillion yuan in 2024 and is expected to reach 37. 3 trillion yuan in 2029. It involves tens of millions of businesses and more than 900 million consumers. A plate of this size, the price is as bad as if we all ended up losing。
To put it simply, the introduction of new regulations marked a shift in the economic price regulation of the platform from “fire-fighting governance” to “normalized management”. In other words, this will not be a wind in the future, but a long-term implementation. It is a good thing for a platform to be honest, and it is a good time for a platform to make money by abduction。
Vii. A few final words
"do you think this new rule works?"
I said, "sure it works. But the point is, you have to complain about problems.”
Remember, in the future, you may encounter price problems in the consumption process by calling directly “12315” or “12345”. The complaint must be accompanied by evidence — a shopping ticket, a payment cut-off, a chat record, everything that can be kept. These are your defense weapons。
The big data is ripe, the auto-renewal assassins, the low-priced inwards, the false promotions — the combinations we've been through for so many years, and now the country finally has a combined fist。
The rule today is not to kill the platform economy but to make it more stable and healthy. It's like new rule number four: encourage platforms to innovate technology and business models, improve the quality of their products and services for the benefit of our citizens, and make money legally。
One last comment:
Well, i'm the subject of a lot of trouble with big data, which is why i'm now trusting the major electrician platforms, and buying something much more compared, priced and cost a lot more time! It's not about the cost of $120, it's about the feeling that you're marked as a "weasel" by the platform, the kind of discomfort that is treated differently
