"Price Tag Is Wrong"... Chinese Electronics Store Loses 5.6 Billion Won in 20 Minutes

Price Tag Mistake at Chinese Electronics Store
Orders Flood in 20 Minutes, Increasing Losses

A Chinese home appliance manufacturer reportedly suffered losses amounting to tens of millions of yuan due to an employee's mistake in attaching the wrong price tags to washing machines.

On the 10th (local time), Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported an incident that occurred at a home appliance store in Anhui Province, southeastern China. The store handles the washing machine brand 'Little Swan' and recently issued an apology asking customers who purchased washing machines to cancel their orders.

On the 28th of last month, the store received over 40,000 orders online in about 20 minutes. The explosive increase in orders was due to the Little Swan washing machines. Some customers discovered that the store was selling washing machines at a very low price, and word quickly spread, leading tens of thousands of customers to place orders.

An apology video posted by a Chinese home appliance store that suffered tens of billions of won in losses within about 20 minutes due to uploading the wrong price list.
[Image source=SCMP capture, Chinese online community archive]

However, it was revealed that the washing machine price posted at the store was a mistake by an employee who confused the mall's discounted price. The washing machines, which should have been sold for 7,000 yuan (approximately 1.31 million KRW), were sold at nearly half price, 4,000 yuan (approximately 720,000 KRW). As a result, the store had no choice but to incur a loss of 3,000 yuan (approximately 560,000 KRW) per washing machine.

Not only washing machines but also some other home appliances were abnormally priced. Devices originally priced at 1,699 yuan (approximately 320,000 KRW) were sold for 299 yuan (approximately 56,000 KRW), and those priced at 2,499 yuan (approximately 470,000 KRW) were sold for 439 yuan (approximately 82,000 KRW). The price tags were first discovered by a user on a social networking service (SNS) who shared them on their account, causing the information to spread rapidly. Ultimately, the store's total loss was reported to reach a staggering 30 million yuan (approximately 5.6 billion KRW).

The store acknowledged that not only general consumers but also professional retailers may have placed large orders "to seek profit," stating, "We made a serious mistake. We are aware that this issue caused confusion among consumers and seriously disrupted the market."

They added, "We feel deep guilt and anger. Our store has only six employees, and due to the economic downturn, we have had no profits for years. Even losses of thousands of yuan are fatal to us," expressing their distress.

The store bowed and said, "We sincerely apologize to all customers affected by this incident and earnestly ask for your understanding of our difficulties and your agreement to cancel the orders."

The employee who attached the wrong price tags also recorded a video to deliver an apology. The employee said, "I deeply apologize for my mistake. By the time I realized the error (attaching the wrong price tags), 20 minutes had already passed. Even if I sell everything I have, I cannot cover the losses," pleading for understanding. According to the media, some customers canceled their orders after the apology was posted.