Consumer Discretionary Author：EqualOcean News , Manyu Zhang Editor：Tao Ni Mar 22, 2022 11:16 AM (GMT+8)

Pinduoduo has sparked controversy in recent years over similar ‘getting goods for free’ activities, where users failed to close the deal no matter how many people helped to bring prices down

Pinduoduo

Chinese social e-commerce platform Pinduoduo denied on March 19 recent rumors that up to 60,000 people participated in an unsuccessful collective bargain for a smartphone in a live streaming session.

According to a recent media report, a game anchor with the avatar “Super Xiaojie” participated in Pinduoduo's recent campaign offering a free Vivo phone priced at CNY 2,099 (USD 332.6). 

Following the rules, he invited friends from multiple QQ chat groups to help haggle during the live streaming, so as to cut its price. QQ is an instant messaging software.

With the help of what he said were “tens of thousands of  viewers,” the bargaining progress reached 99.98%, but it was still unsuccessful by the end of the session.

On the night of March 17, the anchor said that he suddenly received a coupon in his Pinduoduo account, telling him that he could get a Vivo mobile phone for CNY0.01.

In response to public criticisms, Pinduoduo denied that the group-bargaining deal failed. It revealed information showing that the anchor picked up the coupon at 11:34pm and the phone was sent out at 9:27am the next day. It arrived at a package station at 8:31am on March 19 in Changsha, Hunan Province, where the game anchor was based. 

Meanwhile, Pinduoduo also refuted the claim that "tens of thousands of people” participated in the bargaining, saying not everyone who received the anchor’s invitation took part.

"Getting goods for free" has been a promotional gimmick of Pinduoduo, where users can invite others to help bargain for free goods or get them for paltry sums by sharing the link to the product page.

According to Pinduoduo, in the future, the platform will further improve the process and rules, optimize the guidelines, and enhance the user experience.

Founded in September 2015 and headquartered in Shanghai, Pinduoduo is a social e-commerce platform focusing on group shopping. By initiating bulk buying with friends, family members and even strangers, users can purchase goods at lower prices.

Pinduoduo closed 8.20% higher at USD42.6 apiece Monday, with a market cap of USD53.390 billion.