TikTok's New Amazon Copycat Is Full Of Cheap Chinese Goods

(Bloomberg) — TikTok’s Shop Marketplace, the video app’s biggest bet for new revenue growth, has gone live for some users in the US. So far, it is a showcase for cheap goods from China.

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According to an early version reviewed by Bloomberg, the social media app’s Shop option, prominently displayed between the For You and Following feeds where users watch videos, presents a never-ending scroll of “recommended” random products. is, appears from the $2.99 Nike sweatshirt. A $6.99 figurine copy of a “Naughty Dwarf” sitting on a toilet. Several listings, including a budget planner and a waist-trainer vest, say these have been shipped from China, where ByteDance Ltd., the parent company of TikTok, is based. This could again raise US regulatory concerns if it puts user data in the hands of Chinese vendors.

Bloomberg has reported that TikTok shop Amazon.com Inc. is aiming to sell $20 billion worth of goods this year. compete with. According to people familiar with the matter, the effort has been discussed internally as a “community commerce” effort, meaning it aims to take advantage of the app’s ability to bring people together through their specific interests. Have to pick up But the early version of the experience showed no evidence of the ultra-personalized algorithms that TikTok is known for in its video feed, which has been key to its success in grabbing users’ attention.

Instead, the Shop suffers from the same free-for-all market problems that Amazon has faced. The product categories and sub-categories are filled with overwhelming options: a $16 four-foot computer desk in the Home & Kitchen section and a 37-cent-mini-car trash can next to an $8.43 three-piece polyester satin sheet set character is shown. Misspelled brand names and unreliable prices on many listings are red flags for potential counterfeit sales.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The market highlights prices – which are remarkably low and listed in large font. Coupons and free shipping offers are highlighted in red and green, respectively. TikTok creates a sense of urgency by listing next to a product how many times it has been sold, and a countdown timer with hours, minutes, and seconds left for the sale.

No brands are listed before clicking on a product. Most product names seem to correspond more to search engines and algorithms than to human buyers. For example, a listing mentioned “Women’s 3 Piece High Waist Workout Shorts Butt Lifting Tummy Control Ruched Butt Smile Yoga Short Pants”.

The most prominent section is for “Today’s Deals”. On the feed viewed by Bloomberg, the top promoted product was a snail mucin-based face serum that has recently gone viral on the app: a COSRX-brand Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. The seller, listed as FIFTHLINYONG-4, advertised the serum as down from $39 to $7.99, but neither number matched the $25 price offered by the brand COSRX on its website. The TikTok seller also states that the product is made in China, whereas the packaging of COSRX products states that they are made in Korea.

“Dear, yes, it’s real,” the seller said in a message on TikTok. “The new store is offering discounts during events.” The seller did not answer the question why the product says that it is made in China. CORSX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Snail mucin is also the only skin care item listed by FIFTHLINYONG-4. Other items in that store include a drone whose price has been reduced from $999 to $88, a catalog featuring photos from Stanley’s internet-favorite tumbler without listing the brand name in the title or description, and an LED with photos Tooth-whitening kit included. It does not match the brand name in the list. Read more: TikTok thread emerges with $20 billion shopping pilot on Amazon

In June, a person familiar with the company’s US shop strategy said the company was focusing on US sellers. It appears that strategy has changed. A quick search reveals several Chinese brands on TikTok shop that have been blocked by Amazon on its platform for fake customer reviews. Guangdong SACA Precision Manufacturing was delisted from the e-commerce giant in June 2021. Products from its brands Taotronics and VAVA are currently available on TikTok. So is hot-selling headset brand Mpow, whose parent company Shenzhen Qianhai Patozone Network & Technology Co. was also delisted from Amazon.

In its terms that a user can click through before checkout, TikTok says, “We make no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied, that any Content on the TikTok Shop is accurate, complete or up-to-date Is. We have no visibility or control over the content available on or through those sites or resources and you acknowledge and agree that we have no liability for any such content.

When a user checkouts from the Shops tab, purchases can be made from multiple vendors at the same time in a single checkout. Bloomberg has reported that TikTok is processing payments through its app, which means the company will also collect additional information about users, including card details, billing address and shipping address.

This could eventually lead to additional regulatory scrutiny for the company. TikTok has been under pressure from federal, state and local governments for its data privacy practices. Chinese ownership of the app has raised national security concerns, whether Americans could be tracked or influenced on the app. The company has said that it is working to separate sensitive data from its US users so that only employees in the US can access it.

Read more: About TikTok’s fight to avoid a US ban

Lawmakers have been particularly sensitive about whether apps collect users’ location data. Ahead of Shop’s launch, the company said it had updated its app so it no longer collects precise or approximate GPS data, only approximate location information.

But it appears that Shop is opening up some user data to its sellers. In TikTok’s buyer policy, the company states that “Sellers are independent controllers of the data they collect about you through the TikTok Shop, and TikTok is not responsible for compliance with applicable law.”