The European Commission has notified Chinese fast fashion e-commerce platform SHEIN of a number of practices on its platform that infringe EU consumer law.
The action follows a coordinated investigation at European level involving the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the Commission.
The CPC Network directed SHEIN to bring those practices in line with EU consumer laws. SHEIN remains under investigation and was requested to provide further information to the CPC Network.
The CPC Network’s action against SHEIN is led by the competent national authorities of Belgium, France, Ireland and The Netherlands, under the coordination of the Commission. The investigation covers a broad range of practices with which consumers are confronted when shopping on the SHEIN platform and that are in breach of EU law, including:
- Fake discounts: pretending to offer better deals by showing price reductions that are not based on the actual ‘prior prices’.
- Pressure selling: putting consumers under pressure to complete purchases using tactics like false purchase deadlines.
- Missing, incorrect and misleading information: displaying incomplete and incorrect information about consumers’ legal rights to return goods and receive refunds and failing to process returns and refunds in accordance with consumers’ relevant rights.
- Deceptive product labels: using product labels that suggest that the product offers something special when in fact the relevant feature is required by law.
- Misleading sustainability claims: Providing false or deceptive information about the sustainability benefits of its products.
- Hidden contact details: Consumers cannot easily contact SHEIN for questions or complaints.
In addition, the CPC Network requested information from SHEIN to assess its compliance with further obligations under EU consumer law, such as the obligation to ensure that product rankings, reviews, and ratings are not presented to consumers in a misleading manner. The Network is also investigating whether SHEIN informs consumers about how the obligations under the contract are shared between a third-party seller and SHEIN (where applicable) and that consumer rights do not apply to the contract in cases where the third-party seller is not a trader.
This enforcement action is complementary to the ongoing Digital Services Act (DSA) inquiry conducted by the EU Commission. Both actions aim at ensuring a safe and trustworthy online environment where the rights of consumers in Europe are fully protected.
SHEIN now has one month to reply to the CPC Network’s findings and propose commitments on how they will address the identified consumer law issues. Depending on SHEIN’s reply, the CPC Network may enter a dialogue with the company. If SHEIN fails to address the concerns raised by the CPC Network, national authorities would be able to impose fines based on SHEIN’s annual turnover in the EU Member States concerned.
Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network
