Today, following a coordinated investigation at European level, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission notified the online marketplace and e-retailer SHEIN of a number of practices on its platform that infringe EU consumer law. 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 European Commission.
Key elements of the CPC Network's coordinated action
The investigation covers a broad range of practices with which consumers are confronted while shopping on SHEIN 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.
