Alibaba's Taobao Marketplace To Implement New Policy

Alibaba's Taobao will ask the luxurious goods' sellers to upload proof of authentication for the luxury items from May 20 onwards.

For years now, Alibaba Group Holding Limited has been fighting against counterfeit goods on its several online marketplaces. It has received complaints from not only customers but the luxurious brand owners as well who think that the fake goods would damage the brand’s reputation all in all. Alibaba’s marketplaces are unique in a way that they offer almost every brand and item at comparatively cheaper rates. Luxurious brands such as Burberry etc. are concerned as their products are available at lower rates than usual.

Platforms such as Alibaba.com and Taobao Marketplace have previously been in the notorious market list of fake goods by the US Trade Group. However, recently Jack Ma and his company have joined hands together with a couple of organizations in an attempt to eliminate fakery from its business. According to Reuters, Taobao has further tightened its control on the sales of luxury items on its platform. The sellers on the marketplace who would be selling the luxury goods will have to show an authenticity proof to prove the originality of the product. This move is a part of fighting sales of fake items on Taobao.

Reuters said that the sellers will also have to upload proof of luxury items such as authorization from the brand itself or an invoice to prove that a particular item is original. This policy will be made effective from May 20. Failure to comply with this policy will result in removal of the good or product and the funds of those sellers will be frozen. Taobao has said to strictly look upon the product and proof before accepting it to be added to the listing.

Alibaba Group told sellers in a note, “To create a healthy shopping environment with a high level of integrity and to protect the legal interests of consumers and brand owners, Taobao is gearing up to regulate sales of luxury brands' products.”

This indeed is a great step from the online retailer as not only it was damaging the reputation of the company and all of its marketplaces but the reputation of the Chinese e-commerce market as well. Therefore the sellers on the platform will now have to act quickly in order to prevent themselves from shop closures and other penalties. Furthermore, the luxury goods will also be removed from listing if there is no proof uploaded at all. Taobao Marketplace has geared up to making its online marketplace a better place for shopping.