Three luxury goods platform companies have been sanctioned by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) for falsely advertising products as being on limited-time sale, when in fact they were being sold at discounted prices on a regular basis.
On April 20, the KFTC announced that it would issue corrective orders, impose a fine of 12 million won, and levy a penalty surcharge of 16 million won on Mustit, Trenbe, and Ballan for violations of the Electronic Commerce Act and the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising.
According to the KFTC, from January 2021 to July 2024, Mustit continuously sold products such as clothing, bags, and shoes at discounted prices, while promoting them using phrases like "one-day-only super special time sale" and "the sale is ending soon."
Trenbe and Mustit restricted consumers’ right to withdraw from purchase contracts for discounted items or "size miss" products, and misled consumers into believing that withdrawal was only possible within seven days even in cases involving seller fault, such as product defects or incorrect deliveries, thereby infringing on consumer rights.
In addition, Trenbe and Ballan failed to provide certain required information under the Electronic Commerce Act, such as manufacturer, country of origin, and importer details.
The KFTC determined that these business practices constituted false or exaggerated advertising, obstruction of contract withdrawal, and violations of mandatory information disclosure obligations.
The KFTC stated, "With this action, we expect to identify and correct limited-time discount advertisements and obstruction of contract withdrawal in the platform market for high-priced, well-known domestic and international products, thereby helping consumers make more informed purchasing decisions."
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