A cross-border e-commerce platform encountered an incident: a large number of Chinese sellers’ accounts were blocked, involving funds exceeding 60 million

Recently, a large number of cross-border sellers reported that their VOVA accounts were blocked without any warning . When the sellers contacted the investment managers and customer managers to understand the details, the other party claimed that they had been fired. For a time, rumors about VOVA's bankruptcy and running away were rampant. What on earth is going on?

Since September 23, the editor clicked "Sign in now" on the VOVA merchant platform, but found that it was no longer clickable...

A large number of VOVA sellers reported that their accounts were suddenly blocked

In the past two days, a large number of VOVA sellers reported that their accounts were suddenly blocked. When logging into the backend, the following information was displayed: many VOVA sellers’ stores have been banned, unshipped orders have been canceled, and historical orders that should have been settled have been settled normally. If there are any problems, you can appeal. The appeal path is: Problems and Feedback—Store Unban Application (Other).

VOVA platform said that in the latest product review, the algorithm was upgraded and the review standards were improved. The program automatically removed products and stores that violated the VOVA platform's policies. For the historical orders that should be settled in the banned stores, they will still be settled on time according to the current billing settlement rules. The deposit will also be returned normally to the products and stores that do not violate the VOVA platform's policies after the order settlement is completed .

According to feedback from many sellers, in this wave of large-scale VOVA store closures, the sellers involved are located in Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong, Shanghai, Henan, Inner Mongolia and other places. All major ERP groups and VOVA merchant groups are discussing rights protection issues.

According to the platform, products and stores that have not violated the VOVA platform policies are high-quality sellers on the platform and will not be affected in any way . The reason why these VOVA seller accounts were blocked is because they violated the platform policies. On platforms such as Amazon, it is natural to be punished for violations. Why do these VOVA sellers whose accounts have been blocked want to defend their rights?

Rumors are spreading: Did VOVA run away? Did it close down? Did the top management get arrested?

It is reported that these sellers’ accounts were blocked because they sold counterfeit goods, but many sellers said that they were also affected even though they sold common goods. One seller said that he never sold counterfeit goods, and that the products of several new stores he had just opened were banned before they could be put on the shelves. Another seller said that he had just paid a deposit of 1,500 US dollars, but his store was blocked before the products were even put on the shelves. Another seller said that not only his store that sold common goods was blocked, but also his store that sold domestic goods.

After the VOVA platform also experienced a large-scale store closure, the platform's investment managers collectively refused to respond to questions directly. Rumors of running away, bankruptcy, and high-level arrests spread, making VOVA sellers feel very uneasy:

1. The platform has not yet paid the money.

According to feedback from a large number of sellers, the platform has not paid the payment due on the 15th. One seller said that he checked the payment on the morning of September 22 and it showed that it was under review. At noon, he checked again and it showed that the payment was being made, but the money had not yet arrived. There are also sellers who want to change the minimum payment amount, but they can no longer change it. "This is an abnormal behavior, and it is hard not to think too much." Many sellers said.

It is reported that as of press time, no seller has received payment from the platform.

2. Rumor has it that VOVA’s top management was “invited for a talk”.

A seller stated that the person in charge of account management in our company said that a certain person in charge of VOVA was interviewed by the higher-ups.

Another seller said that he had called the local police station where VOVA is located, and VOVA executives were taken away for investigation.

Some sellers also said that according to reliable information : VOVA was not upgraded, but was arrested by Shanghai police around the Mid-Autumn Festival night for selling counterfeit goods ! The investigation is still collecting evidence...

Another seller said that the boss and senior executives had been detained, and that the platform had shut down sellers' stores on a large scale because it was reported by the European Union.

Some sellers even stated that the door of VOVA's main express warehouse in Dongguan was tightly closed and everything inside was emptied, so it was basically confirmed that they had run away.

It is reported that on September 22, some sellers went to VOVA 's Shanghai office to ask for an explanation. According to feedback from the sellers present, only the legal department was there at VOVA , and all the employees were laid off. When they asked about legal issues, the legal department did not reveal any information, but only said that they would give the sellers a reply as soon as possible.

Taomi said that the information he has learned so far is that VOVA was forced to change payment suppliers, so it takes time to process. They did not run away with the money , and domestic customers should have received the money .

3. Many investment managers not only claimed that they had resigned, but also said they knew nothing when asked.

When a VOVA seller approached the investment manager to learn about the details of the store being closed, the manager did not directly answer the question, but only said that he had resigned. The following is a resignation statement from an investment manager that was circulated online:

The picture shows: I declare that I have resigned. The platform has issued an announcement on payment and subsequent processing. For other platform issues, please refer to the platform notification. Rumor has it that there are problems with the platform's consolidated transportation (consolidated transportation is currently operating normally). For other related issues, please refer to the platform announcement and official website!

Another seller asked the merchant manager when the money on the store would be transferred, but received the following reply:

How can I reveal this? After I resigned, I certainly won't know their internal information. You have to ask the manager who is still here. Don't contact me anymore. If you contact me again, I will block you. It's so annoying.

The investment managers seemed to have agreed on a common line of defense in advance, and collectively "did not respond directly to questions." One seller admitted that facing this attitude, he wanted to sue the investment manager, "Although the money in my account is not much, I feel cheated. They were still recruiting investors after leaving their jobs for such a long time, and then they said they left last month when something went wrong."

On September 24, a VOVA investment manager in the group said: "I have resigned now. I don't know the specific situation. I am also a victim of this problem. I will lose my job after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and up to now, our salary has not been paid!"

In addition, VOVA sellers reported that customer service “didn’t know anything” and some platform-related personnel even played a game of “hide and seek”.

The platform’s various attitudes have led to rumors.

A VOVA seller said that for such a large platform, with so many sellers banned, and with so many people and amounts involved, why hasn't a responsible person come out to clarify the truth and answer the sellers' doubts and concerns? With such an attitude, how can these sellers be convinced by your notice?

At the same time, this VOVA seller also expressed his 3 demands ↓↓↓

First of all, the payment for September 15th must be paid to the seller within these two days.

Secondly, VOVA said in the public notice that the historical order payments will be settled normally. How can we ensure this? Can VOVA take out funds and ask relevant departments to guarantee and supervise it?

Finally, since VOVA platform said that it was due to the seller's problem that the banned stores were closed, why are the refund review, historical orders, seller performance and other operation interfaces no longer displayed to the sellers?

Reporting to the police, posting ... sellers' panic spreads after their accounts are blocked

The VOVA platform has not yet issued the latest announcement, and sellers are panicking and taking many actions to minimize their losses.

It is reported that after a group of VOVA sellers came to the Shanghai company to ask for an explanation on September 23, another group of sellers came to the Shanghai company on September 24 to understand the specific circumstances of the incident .

Many sellers chose to call the police. One seller in Shanghai called the police and successfully got a receipt. Another seller in Fujian said that after calling the police, the police from the Quanzhou Public Security Bureau replied that the main body of VOVA was not here and could not file a case. "If we want to handle it, we can only wait for the city where the main body is located to classify this incident as a criminal case. At that time, we will send a letter to the respective public security bureaus to assist in handling it. If it is classified as a civil case (contract dispute), it will be handled by the court. We need to jointly sign and send representatives to the Shanghai court to sue."

In order to let more people know about the current situation, some sellers chose to post videos on a short video platform to expand the spread of the matter . The following is the general content of the seller's self-narration:

I am a cross-border e-commerce merchant on the VOVA platform. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, all of our stores were closed. All orders were forcibly cancelled. The platform only issued a notice, but no one has come forward to explain. The amount involved is as high as hundreds of millions. So far, the person in charge has not given a definite explanation . We earn our hard-earned money. Many of my colleagues have assets, and almost all of their family assets are placed on this platform. At present, this platform has removed many products and closed a large number of sellers ' stores, but no one has given an explanation. My colleagues and I are very anxious. It is not easy for us ordinary people to earn a little money. I hope that the relevant departments and people can help us.

Is the amount involved really over 100 million?

Are all sellers affected by the platform’s account suspension?

In a VOVA platform QQ rights protection group, the number of members exceeded 1,000 within less than a day of its establishment. As of press time, the group has more than 1,300 members, and more people are joining. Judging from this large number and the recent activity of VOVA sellers, there must be a lot of sellers who have been blocked. In fact, although the scope of this blockade is relatively large, many sellers' stores are still operating normally.

In terms of the amount involved, the editor saw someone in a VOVA rights protection group made a statistical table of the amount involved in the case, and the funds frozen by sellers from all over the country have exceeded 60 million.

In addition, a seller also issued a statistical chart. As of 7:00 p.m. on September 25, 2021, a total of 440 people participated in the statistics of the VOVA account suspension incident, and the total amount involved was US$9,118,151, equivalent to more than RMB 58 million.

It is understood that in this account blocking incident, many sellers were less affected, with only a few thousand dollars being restricted, but many sellers also said that the amount implicated ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands; of course, there were also nearly 40 sellers whose restricted amounts exceeded 1 million, and one seller was implicated in an amount as high as 9.56 million.

Verification: Are the recent rumors about the VOVA platform true?

Regarding the rumors circulating online about the VOVA platform's closure and the arrest of senior executives, as well as issues such as payment collection that sellers are concerned about, on September 22, the editor tried to verify with VOVA , but as soon as he dialed the contact number on VOVA's official website, it directly showed that the call failed.

On September 23, the editor called Shanghai Grove Information Technology Co., Ltd. ( the operating entity of VOVA , which will be explained in detail below). After the other party answered the phone, the editor revealed his identity and asked whether VOVA had recently laid off employees and run away as rumored on the Internet. After asking the questions, the female staff member who answered the phone said: "I am not a VOVA staff member, you should go directly to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. " After that, she hung up the phone.

On September 24, the editor called Shanghai Grove Information Technology Co., Ltd. again. The staff member who answered the phone was a man. The male staff member said that he was a staff member of Eitalai, not Shanghai Grove Information Technology Co., Ltd. When the editor wanted to ask other questions, he said he didn't know and hung up the editor's phone. The official website of Qichacha shows that the phone numbers of Shanghai Grove Information Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Eitalai Information Technology Co., Ltd. are the same... Why are the companies different but the contact information the same? VOVA once again left the public confused.

In addition, the editor also tried to find VOVA 's investment manager to verify the recent rumors about the platform, but when he asked a seller for the investment manager's contact information, the seller said that the investment manager had blocked him ...

So far, there has been no official response to this matter, and phone calls to verify it have also been unsuccessful.

There is another piece of news. It is said online that VOVA did not go bankrupt, but was named by Chinese regulatory authorities and thousands of counterfeit brand stores were closed. The funds from the closed stores may be recovered through application at a later stage.

As of press time, the editor found that VOVA 's official website can still be opened normally, the product links on its website can still be opened, and can also be added to the shopping cart.

"There is no confirmed official news now. Only some sellers who claim to have been to the Shanghai headquarters have obtained some information, but the authenticity of this information cannot be verified. It may be true, or it may be deliberately released by VOVA." A VOVA seller said that the authenticity of all the information cannot be judged. At this time, everyone should remain rational and sober, not break the law, and protect their rights reasonably and legally according to procedures.

Can VOVA sellers get their money back? This is a question they all care about.

A lawyer advised the seller that he needed to file a lawsuit quickly and do a good job of property preservation before filing a lawsuit, freezing all the bank accounts of this platform. In this way, the seller's money might not be transferred away.

Is the mysterious cross-border platform VOVA popular?

There are many mysterious bigwigs in the cross-border circle, and many of them make a lot of money quietly. Compared with sellers, VOVA seems to be both mysterious and not mysterious. Many people say that it is a cross-border e-commerce platform under Pinduoduo, but this statement is denied by Pinduoduo ...

When it comes to VOVA 's background, many people say it is a mystery that is hard to figure out. VOVA stated on its official website: " VOVA is an international e-commerce company originally registered in Hong Kong (HK), where our office is located ."

However, from the recruitment information it released, it can be seen that the operating entity of VOVA is Shanghai Grove Information Technology Co., Ltd., and there is also a clear introduction on its official website, as shown in the figure below ↓

As a cross-border e-commerce platform, VOVA has also achieved considerable success. According to public information, VOVA is an emerging mobile cross-border e-commerce platform for the global market, providing a one-stop shopping experience in more than 20 languages ​​and more than 30 currencies for more than 200 countries around the world.

According to its official website, VOVA operates in the following categories: household and kitchen supplies, luggage, women's clothing, health, beauty, accessories, electronic products, maternal and child products, shoes, etc., and offers flash sales discounts for a limited time every day.

When searching for "Vova" on Google , you can find that VOVA has defined itself as the "Best Cheap Online Shopping Site", which means the cheapest online shopping site. VOVA focuses on low-price sales, and the products sold on its official website are diverse and inexpensive, ranging from tempered glass for mobile phones at $0.39 to drones at $24... This positioning has also led to Vova being called the "overseas version of Pinduoduo" by the outside world.

VOVA , which was launched in March 2018 , is also very powerful. According to foreign media reports, a set of data previously released by Sensor Tower showed that VOVA has been downloaded 22 million times worldwide . In addition, VOVA 's monthly downloads in June 2019 reached 2.2 million times, an increase of more than 20 times compared with 104,000 times in the same period last year.

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