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The global epidemic continues to heat up, and many countries have entered a tense stage of epidemic prevention and control. The economic situation under the epidemic is not optimistic. The U.S. stock market has been circuit-breakered, plummeting by 300 billion, and the Asian and European stock markets have also been hit hard, all plummeting, and my brother-in-law lost 7 billion in one day...

Get rich first, then get overturned

Many sellers are indeed making a lot of money! According to sellers in the industry: a friend of his sells more than 7,000 masks a day; a seller in Bantian, Shenzhen, sells 10,000 masks a day; and there are even big sellers who are even more powerful, with daily shipments of more than 200,000 masks.

Of course, most of these sellers are the first to get on the bus, and those who try to squeeze into the mask bus may face a crash before they even get a firm seat.

What problems have sellers of masks encountered?

Returns, price limits, and strict platform inspections have put a damper on many sellers before they even start making a profit.

1. Returns

Masks dominate Amazon's best-selling list, but most product reviews are only 2.5 stars or even lower. Problems such as high prices, counterfeits, and poor quality have led to continuous negative reviews for products.

2. Strict price limits

U.S. senators contacted Amazon last week to report their recent discovery that the price of Purell hand sanitizer had increased from $10 to $400, and asked Amazon to make improvements.

Amazon sent warning emails to sellers and has deleted 530,000 products suspected of price fraud and violation of pricing fairness. Amazon also revealed to the media that it will cooperate with state regulators to investigate and prosecute third-party sellers who use the epidemic to engage in price fraud on Amazon.

A seller in the seller communication group said: Amazon's price limit is very strict. A pack of 50 disposable medical masks is only 35 US dollars, about 5 RMB each, which is not as expensive as the domestic prices. Moreover, if you place an order for medical masks now, the ex-factory price is 2.5 RMB/piece. If you add in various fees, you may even lose money.

In Amazon's backend policy, the parts about pricing fairness principles and price fraud are very vague. There is no mention of any clear judgment indicators at all. It only says that the historical selling prices will be compared with the selling prices of other products in the same period.

3. All platforms strictly investigate and prohibit mask advertisements

Amazon has strict price limits and strict censorship. Many sellers have moved to independent sites such as Facebook and Shopify. Recently, a large number of independent sites with the theme of flu masks have appeared, most of which focus on medical mask products, and some also have thermometers, protective clothing, etc.

However, both the e-commerce third-party seller market and the sales method through independent website landing pages have been severely blocked.

Google also announced that it would prohibit advertising that uses the coronavirus pandemic to create panic. It decided to temporarily ban all medical mask advertisements and began removing illegal products.

Lazada, Alibaba International Station, Shopee, and Shopify all stated that they will take temporary removal measures for related protection products that have been released but do not have legal qualifications, authorization letters, and other credentials, as well as products of unknown origin.

4. Prohibition on the sale of epidemic prevention supplies

Recently, the US government announced new measures to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce platforms. If the new regulations are officially passed, cross-border e-commerce platforms and sellers of counterfeit goods will bear joint responsibility.

Today, Amazon’s US site has closed its mask category review, and US Customs is also strictly checking the clearance of masks without FDA certification. It is said that the review windows in Japan and Europe were closed shortly afterwards.

eBay announced that it will stop selling masks and other scarce items related to the outbreak, and will begin removing existing listings for masks, hand sanitizer/hand gel, and disinfectant wipes. Currently, this decision only applies to the United States and Canada.

5. Stockpiling

Now that the production capacity of masks has increased, sellers who previously stockpiled goods are scrambling to ship them out. In the communication group, you can see sellers advertising every day: first-hand sources, dual certifications from the US FDA and the EU CE, large orders are welcome.

Some manufacturers even said that the mask samples are only one yuan and free shipping. I don’t know whether they are guaranteed about the quality of their products or are in a hurry to ship them.

Everyone is producing masks, so production capacity has naturally increased, market competitiveness has become greater, and with the strict inspections by various platforms, even manufacturers with complete qualifications have begun to worry about the ownership of the goods.

One seller said that he had sold more than 2,000 units by the end of February and eventually reduced the price to sell them.

Some sellers suggested going directly for wholesale of masks so that they can sell quickly and find wholesalers abroad that are qualified to sell medical supplies.

Those sellers who frantically stocked up masks in the early stage never expected that this hot product would be unsalable before it even started selling. And many sellers who have just started the mask business, have just invested money in production or the goods are still on the way, and their future is uncertain.

6. Closing the store

Recently, sellers in the communication group have been asking: Is there a template for writing a complaint about the high price of masks? How should this action plan be written?

These sellers were warned because they sold at high prices or their products were not qualified.

In fact, this is considered a relatively light punishment! It is understood that Amazon has deleted 530,000 "high-priced products" and closed more than 2,500 seller accounts.

Some people suggested that sellers who are still selling masks should withdraw the funds in their accounts in a timely manner.

In addition, a seller revealed that the payment of mask sellers on Shopify will be frozen . But the authenticity is still unknown.

Service providers may become the biggest winners

There are also sellers whose links have been closed because of excessive pricing, and they want to appeal through the service provider to restore the product for sale.

The service providers who previously conducted category audits have started to take on cases related to the closure of mask stores. Many sellers said: The service providers are making a lot of money!

There are also service providers who know when to quit: You can contact me for mask category review, but I really can’t handle store complaints.

Can you still sell masks?

To this day, there are still sellers asking if they can sell masks.

To summarize the sellers’ experience: as long as you have the source of goods, qualifications, sales license, and logistics channels, you can sell masks.

Regarding the suspected ban on mask exports mentioned earlier, Li Xingqian, Director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said: China has never issued a ban on the export of masks and their raw materials, and companies can conduct related trade in accordance with market principles.

In addition, the editor has collected some suggestions for mask sellers:

I hope everyone can get orders and become rich soon.