Due to the implementation of China’s new E-commerce Law and negative public perception in Australia, the international student Daigou ushered in cold winter.
When local people talk about Chinese overseas personal shoppers-known as Daigou- “crazed” and “baby formula” are probably the first keywords that occurred to them.
It is believed there are about 400,000 Daigou in Australia, sending a range of products including vitamins, cosmetics and baby formula to their customers in China. The majority of these Daigou are the international students looking to make a few extra money.
Wendy Tan, a master student at the University of Melbourne and also a part-time Daigou, is facing the most significant threat in her career so far for many reasons.
The “thief” hidden in her WeChat Contacts
One day in March 2019, Wendy was browsing the WeChat Moments after posting her daily life. Inadvertently, she found that someone used her portrait as a profile photo and posted the exact same content through WeChat, just as what she had done.
Wendy clicked on the person’s homepage and unbelievably discovered that the Moments posted there were all stolen from her.
‘Who are you?’ Wendy typed quickly, her hands trembled because of anger and fear.
‘Why are you copying my WeChat Moments?’
‘Why are you pretending to be me?’
In response to her, there was only a bright red exclamation mark and a mechanical automatic reply: ‘The message is successfully sent but rejected by the receiver.’
Then she finally realized that she had already been blocked by that person.
After calming down from those fierce emotions, Wendy recalled the report about “false Daigou” she had read on the Chinese social media. It is said that some people claim to be overseas students, using this identity to sell fakes and conduct fraud.
Wendy believes that her information has been stolen by such people and used as evidence to make their fake international student Daigou identity convincing.
“I can’t imagine how long this person has been hidden in my WeChat Contacts,” Wendy said. “I don’t know whether it was a WeChat bug or that person made a mistake. If it weren’t for that accident, I couldn’t even notice that someone was committing crimes with my identity.”
Wendy finally reported the “false Daigou” and made a statement through the WeChat Moments to her customers. Things had come to an end. However, this incident left her with a lingering memory.
“As long as I think of it,” Wendy said. “My heart is still fluttering with fear.”
Wandering on the edge of e-commerce law
According to the E-commerce Law of the People’s Republic of China, Daigou is considered to be the “e-commerce operator” since they provide goods and services through the Internet and other information networks.
This new E-commerce Law entered into force on January 1, 2019. Since then, e-commerce business operators shall make market entity registrations by law, unless they sell agricultural and sideline products or household handicraft products produced by themselves.
Making market entity registrations means that a business license is required, which seems impossible for most international students. So, on the second day after the law was implemented, Wendy and some other Daigou made all the efforts to manipulate their goods.
They used hand-painted pictures instead of real photos and made the description of products in an imaginative way.
This ORIGINS Treatment Lotion is described as a bowl of delicious homemade mushroom soup.
What’s more interesting is this Clinique moisturizing lotion.
It turns into a fresh handsome boy with a weight of 125ml and looking for a job with a salary of 198 yuan, which refers to the price if the product.
The impact of the new E-commerce Law on Daigou is far more than that.
In the past, Daigou usually had two ways to dodge taxes. The most common way Wendy used to do is to send the product to her customers via mail and write “personal use” or “substance” on the shipping label to avoid customs checks.
Another way is called “human-flesh Daigou”, which means people personally travel and bring back products. They declare nothing at China customs, so the tax is avoided in this way. Wendy usually did this when she returned to China during the school holidays.
Now things have changed, however. After the implementation of the new E-commerce Law, China Customs strengthened its review of overseas parcels. Therefore, Wendy has to declare and pay taxes before sending the products.
“Human-flesh Daigou” also became knotty. If people carry items that are not taxed, they will be sanctioned by law, and those who have serious circumstances may even be detained.
According to Souhu News, when an international student returned to Xi’an from Melbourne, she was found by the customs to carry 21 watches, 20 handbags and more than 100 health care products.
The total value of these products was estimated to be more than 70,000 Australian Dollar (AUD), and the tax evasion was about 20,000 AUD. The amount involved has reached the criminal filing standard, so the customs took criminal enforcement measures against the girl.
At Shanghai Pudong Airport, when Wendy returned to China last time, people were unpacking their luggage and waiting in line to receive customs inspection.
“Since then I have decided not to ‘Human-flesh Daigou’ any luxury goods back to China,” Wendy said. “I can’t take the risk.”
“Biased” coverage in the Australian media
With the rise of Daigou, the Australian media has frequently focused on them. The most common reports are about these “crazed shoppers” blocking everything on baby formula shelves.
Hui Zhao, a full-time Daigou, believes that she has suffered lots of verbal aggression because of these “biased” coverage.
“I can fully understand why the local people are not happy with us,” Miss Zhao said. “On the one hand, some Daigou do have bad behaviours. On the other hand, local people don’t know much about us, and the media is guiding public opinion.”
In such an environment of public opinion, international student Daigou like Wendy, would rather make less money and try to avoid conflicts as much as possible.
For two years in doing part-time Daigou, Wendy rarely went to the supermarket or pharmacy to buy baby formula for her clients.
She cooperates with a Shop called AOV Daigou Store and gets the full supply of baby formula from there.
Wendy explained that although the price in Daigou Shop is higher than that in supermarket or pharmacy, it is “much better than accepting abuse from other customers”.
Andy Cao, the owner of AOV Daigou Store and the founder of Aoliao Online Daigou Platform, also believes that the Australian media has “pay too much attention” to Daigou.
Cao said that when limited edition shoes or co-branded clothes are released, there are also many “crazed shoppers”.
“Same as baby formula. It is a legitimate shopping behaviour. The Australian media should not over-enlarge this matter.”
As a former international student Daigou, Cao believes that it is a good thing for them to earn their own living through this part-time job.
He explained that there are many aspects to be considered in this industry, such as suppliers, distribution channels, marketing, and how to keep up with the development trend of the industry.
“Ordinary people may think that Daigou looks easy, and may say it is ‘just buying things’, but it’s tough to develop it into a business.” Cao said.
“Moreover, due to the new E-commerce Law, Daigou, especially the international student Daigou, has become more and more difficult now.”
Although the international student Daigou is facing an unfavourable situation for various reasons, Wendy has decided to stick to it.
“Actually, I originally decided to become a Daigou mainly to satisfy my shopping desire. It is awesome to buy things with someone else’s money,” Wendy said. “Now it is the same, shopping still brings me a lot of happiness.”
However, Wendy also said that her future Daigou behaviour is more inclined to buy some necessities for her family and friends compared with the past.
Amber 