In recent years, the market size of China's blind box industry has experienced explosive growth. Whether it is trendy toy stores in shopping malls or online e-commerce platforms, blind boxes occupy a prominent position and have become one of the popular consumer categories today. However, the rapid development of blind box economy is also accompanied by some problems. Recently, the reporter reviewed a third-party consumer complaint platform and found that according to incomplete statistics, there were over 2100 complaints about blind boxes in 2024. The complaints mainly focused on impersonating other brands, passing off inferior products as good, and merchants not solving problems encountered. How are the problematic blind box products produced in the market? Why do many consumers encounter problems with blind boxes but find it difficult to protect their rights? Recently, reporters have launched an investigation into this matter. With the popularity of the movie "Ne Zha", it has become increasingly difficult to find blind boxes for its co branded characters. But reporters found that in addition to officially authorized stores, some merchants still claim to be able to purchase genuine blind boxes at home. Some merchants promise to ship on the same day, while others offer pre-sales but guarantee to ship within a week. The reporter selected two merchants with sales exceeding 10000 to place orders. The packaging of the "Nezha" series blind boxes they sell is not much different from that of a certain brand's genuine products, and the text introduction and picture display of the products are the same. The prices are 13.9 yuan and 69 yuan respectively. After receiving the blind box priced at 13.9 yuan per piece, the reporter opened the packaging box and immediately smelled an unpleasant odor. The packaging box was different from the blind boxes currently on sale in the market. Unlike the product image description, when the outer packaging is opened, there should be 6 independent small boxes inside. However, when the product is opened, the first thing that comes into view are 6 simple sealed transparent plastic bags. It can be clearly seen that the dolls inside have rough workmanship, with one doll's eyebrows even printed under the eyes. The blind box price of 69 yuan per piece is consistent with the price in offline stores. Comparing the same blind box purchased online by reporters, it was found that although this blind box looks more like a genuine product than the one purchased at a lower price before, there is still a considerable gap between it and the genuine product. For example, the blind box paper box will be thinner and lighter, with only the doll body and introduction card inside the box, while the blind box purchased in offline stores has a thicker outer packaging with a noticeable grainy feel, and comes with an instruction manual and moisture-proof bag. After comparing the dolls, the difference became even more apparent. The dolls in the online blind box had rough workmanship, delamination, and emitted a plastic smell; The surface of the dolls in the offline blind box is smooth and odorless, with no signs of splicing. A staff member from a certain offline store stated that the two blind boxes purchased by the reporter online are imitations. The official genuine packaging material is thick, neatly cut, and firmly pasted. The sealing area often has brand sealing stickers or one-time opening designs, and there are complete and clear brand logos and anti-counterfeiting labels that can be verified through official channels. It is recommended that consumers make purchases through offline stores or official channels to avoid being deceived. I purchased a blind box on a certain platform and found an electric shaver with a price tag of 399 yuan. However, after receiving the item, I searched the e-commerce platform and found that the price of the electric shaver was only 59.99 yuan. "Mr. Wang from Hebei told reporters that the shaver he drew was originally an upgraded version of a major brand, but after receiving it, he found that the merchant had put a regular version of the brand's shaver in the blind box. Mr. Li from Tianjin also encountered a similar problem. Not long ago, he purchased a handmade blind box through an e-commerce platform and found that the packaging of the blind box was simple, with no figurines inside, only a keychain. The outer packaging of the keychain only states that the material is "plastic", and there is no other product information. There are still many blind box products online that pass off inferior products as good. The reporter saw a large number of low-priced electronic product blind boxes labeled as "electronic digital 3C" on a certain e-commerce platform. The reporter randomly selected a store with sales of over 1000, among which there were multiple blind box styles to choose from, ranging from a few yuan to several hundred yuan. The most expensive blind box product, the "high-end pure electronic digital super large box", was priced at 466 yuan. Despite varying prices, merchants have explicitly stated that cheap blind boxes may also offer high-end digital products. The reporter purchased a blind box labeled as the "electronic digital three piece set" from the store. Upon arrival, they opened the blind box and found that it contained an elderly device, a wired earphone, and an old-fashioned charger. The total price was much lower than the price of the blind box they were selling. And the three items cannot be matched for use, the charger cannot charge the phone, and the phone cannot be matched with the headphones. The reporter subsequently contacted the merchant, who said, "Blind boxes are random, you can buy another one, there is a high chance of winning the phone." The reporter noticed that after consumers suspect that the merchant is passing off inferior products as good, many blind box merchants will use reasons such as "probability" and "luck" to shirk their responsibility and guide consumers to buy again. At this time, there are still many consumers who choose to believe that "buying again will not result in much loss". In addition to electronic product blind boxes, there is also a problem of selling inferior food blind boxes and clothing blind boxes on the market. Li Ying (pseudonym) from Tianjin told reporters that she has bought many food blind boxes, but they are mostly expired products or food brands she has never heard of. It is better to buy food with normal dates and common brands at the original price. The blind box for clothes has been bought once and I don't want to buy anymore. "The clothes are already dirty or even moldy, and it's obvious that they have been stored in the warehouse for a long time. How was the mass customization of a large number of problematic blind box products "born"? On a certain e-commerce platform, the reporter searched with the keyword "blind box wholesale" and found that there are many merchants selling customized blind boxes at different prices based on size and material, with the cheapest one costing less than one yuan. Some merchants claim that they can not only directly replicate blind boxes of big brand toys, but also make blind boxes based on the samples provided by customers. If you don't want customization, you can also directly purchase ready-made blind boxes. A merchant selling various figurines told reporters that if they want more, their products can be sold by weight, with only a few yuan per weight. They can also make blind boxes by purchasing cheap packaging boxes. The cost of a blind box may only be two or three yuan, but there are still many consumers who purchase it at a price of 10 yuan. There are also offline merchants selling imitation blind box dolls. Recently, in a comprehensive shopping mall in Beijing, reporters saw a large number of bulk blind boxes for sale, but some of them were unevenly colored and some parts were missing. Some shop owners have expressed that some imitations that appear to be fake and well crafted are very popular among blind box merchants. Taking a certain brand of doll as an example, 8 loose imitations can be sold for 25 yuan, and with the addition of the outer packaging, a blind box of the imitations can be sold for 25 yuan. Although it is slightly lower than the original selling price, the profit is considerable. If you don't have any obsession with genuine products, loose packaging is the most suitable substitute product, you can pick and choose. "When asked where these blind boxes are produced, the shop owner said that most of the products sold are made by personal studios. According to relevant clues, the reporter contacted a studio that can produce blind boxes. The staff of the studio stated that they can customize blind boxes from well-known brands, but they cannot reproduce them one-to-one. They need to make changes to the details to avoid copyright disputes. During the investigation, the reporter noticed that although there are many problems with blind box products, there are not many successful cases of consumer rights protection. On a certain e-commerce platform, a seller of blind boxes for clothes received extremely high praise for her store. She revealed to reporters the secret to her "success": "Like many other merchants, I use blind box sales as a tool to clear inventory, but I will make blind boxes have a chance of" value for money ", only increasing the selling price slightly on the basis of the purchase price, sometimes giving a discount, and resolutely not sending clothes with obvious quality problems." The seller said that even if some consumers are not satisfied after buying blind boxes, they will "swallow their pride" because of the rule of "no return, no exchange" for blind boxes. Some merchants will use this rule to make consumers have no way to complain. Mr. Yang from Hebei usually likes to buy various types of blind boxes and has encountered many blind box problems, but he has successfully defended himself multiple times. He said that blind boxes are only "blind" to consumers, and merchants who put products in blind boxes are not "blind". To protect his rights, he can only start with product promotion to prove that the blind box product is not up to par. Many businesses will quickly modify their pages after consumer complaints, and product page screenshots are the only evidence that can fix promotional content. It should also be noted that after receiving the blind box, a mobile phone should be used to record the entire unboxing process, and each step should not be omitted Mr. Yang said. During the interview process, many consumers reported to the reporter that after purchasing blind boxes, they found that they contained old products that had already been taken off the shelves or food that was approaching its expiration date. This behavior not only harms the interests of consumers, but also undermines the healthy development of the blind box market. (New Society)