A Belarusian buyer scammed on China’s Xianyu marketplace after paying RMB 2,266 for a RAM module only to receive a metal plate explores legal protection.
Tags:Source: OT-Team(G), 宁波民生e点通
A Belarusian consumer says he paid more than RMB 2,200 for a second-hand RAM module on China’s Xianyu marketplace, only to receive a piece of metal in the package. After repeated appeals to the platform were rejected, he is now seeking help with cross-border consumer protection in China.
MIKITA, who has never visited China, told Ningbo Minsheng e Dian Tong that he placed an order on Xianyu on August 1 for a second-hand 16GB G.SKILL RAM module from an individual seller identified as Liu. The order cost RMB 2,200, and the total payment, including fees, came to RMB 2,266.
When the parcel finally arrived in Belarus, MIKITA opened it to find no RAM module inside—only an ordinary metal plate.
According to MIKITA, the seller shipped the package through JD Logistics. The waybill listed the declared weight as 1 kilogram, while the logistics system recorded an actual weight of 0.27 kilograms. The contents were simply described as “daily necessities,” with no mention of a RAM module.
MIKITA later checked with G.SKILL and was told that a genuine RAM module of the same model weighs just over 60 grams, while the product with its packaging weighs only about 169 grams.
Believing he had been deceived, MIKITA immediately requested a refund through Xianyu and contacted the seller. The seller refused to refund the money and subsequently blocked him, cutting off further communication.
With no other option, MIKITA submitted screenshots of the order, logistics records and other evidence to Xianyu five times. He said all five appeals were rejected, with reasons including “insufficient evidence” and the transfer of “risk upon normal receipt of the goods.”
Xianyu did provide MIKITA with the seller’s registered business address, which was listed as a clothing company in Yinzhou District, Ningbo. Several days later, the system automatically confirmed receipt of the order, and the full RMB 2,200 payment was released to the seller.
MIKITA also reviewed the seller’s Xianyu profile and found 14 dispute records associated with the account, with a relatively poor seller rating. The review section included complaints from buyers in Australia, Nigeria, Mongolia and the Netherlands, describing experiences that he said were strikingly similar: buyers ordered electronic products, received cheap substitutes, and were subsequently blocked after seeking refunds.
Because the seller’s Xianyu registration was linked to Ningbo, MIKITA searched online and eventually contacted the Ningbo Minsheng e Dian Tong platform, hoping to draw attention to the case.
He also reported the transaction to Alipay in China. On September 1, his report was accepted for review. According to an Alipay notification, the seller’s account was flagged as posing a fraud-related risk and may even have been compromised. Alipay advised him to report the matter to police.
MIKITA believes the seller’s repeated dispute records and the risk warning issued by Alipay were signals that Xianyu could have taken into account. He argues that despite repeatedly submitting evidence, the platform still released the payment to the seller. He is calling for regulatory authorities to investigate, urge the seller to return the money and provide feedback on the investigation.
Reporters followed the leads provided by MIKITA and found that the seller’s Xianyu account had since been deleted or banned. Xianyu customer service confirmed that the platform was aware of the Belarusian consumer’s complaint but said it could not disclose specific details.
MIKITA also filed a complaint with Black Cat Complaints, a Chinese consumer complaint platform. Reporters found that the platform’s response stated that Xianyu was “closely monitoring the account and continuing to track its activities” and had taken action against the seller.
What Legal Protection Is Available to Foreign Consumers?
The case also raises a broader question for foreigners buying goods from Chinese e-commerce platforms: What happens when a cross-border transaction goes wrong, and can foreign consumers seek protection under Chinese law?
A lawyer in Beijing said the common belief that foreign citizens are not protected by China’s consumer protection laws when shopping online is a misconception.
The lawyer explained that the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China does not limit its protection to Chinese citizens. Foreign consumers who purchase goods for daily consumption are also entitled to statutory consumer rights. Since the transaction in this case took place on a Chinese platform and the seller operated in China, Chinese law would apply to the dispute.
From the lawyer’s perspective, shipping a cheap metal plate while presenting it as an expensive RAM module could constitute civil fraud if the seller intentionally sought to obtain the buyer’s payment through deception.
However, the lawyer noted that the amount involved in this individual case does not reach the local RMB 6,000 threshold for opening a criminal fraud case. If losses suffered by multiple victims in different countries and regions are considered together, however, the total amount could potentially meet the threshold for criminal proceedings.
The lawyer also said that if a court determines, based on the seller’s multiple disputes and buyers from different countries, that the seller was effectively operating a business for profit rather than simply reselling personal used goods, the consumer could potentially seek punitive compensation of three times the purchase price.
Even if the court determines that the seller was merely an individual seller and punitive compensation does not apply, the buyer could still sue to cancel the sales contract and seek repayment of the purchase price and other actual losses.
Can the E-Commerce Platform Be Held Responsible?
The lawyer said the consumer could also consider naming the Xianyu operator as a defendant. However, because the platform had disclosed the seller’s identity information, it would be difficult in judicial practice to hold the platform jointly and fully liable for the losses.
The lawyer said including the platform in the lawsuit could nevertheless provide additional leverage during negotiations.
For foreign consumers shopping cross-border on Chinese platforms, pursuing a dispute can be more difficult because they are outside China and may face language barriers and other practical obstacles.
The lawyer recommended pursuing several channels at the same time.
First, consumers can file an appeal through the shopping platform and request that it preserve or provide relevant logistics and transaction data. They can also authorize friends or relatives in China to call the 12315 consumer hotline and file an administrative complaint with the market regulation authority where the seller or platform is located.
Foreign consumers can also consider bringing a lawsuit over an online sales contract at a court in the seller’s place of household registration, or trying to file the case online through an internet court, potentially avoiding the need to appear in court in person each time.
If multiple buyers have allegedly suffered losses from the same seller, both Chinese and overseas consumers can also organize their evidence and report the matter jointly to police. Consolidating the alleged losses could help provide a clearer picture of the scale of the case and support the handling of potential criminal leads.
As of the latest report, MIKITA has submitted details of his experience and his reports to relevant complaint-handling platforms and is waiting for a response from regulatory authorities. He is also preparing for potential civil litigation.
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