Europe Pressures Shein to Respect EU Consumer Protection Laws

The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission notified Shein of several practices on its platform that infringe on EU consumer law. The CPC Network directed Shein to bring those practices in line with EU consumer laws.

The company will remain under investigation and has been requested to provide further information to the CPC Network. The CPC Network's action is led by the competent national authorities of Belgium, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands, under the coordination of the European Commission.

The investigation covers a broad range of practices with which consumers are confronted while shopping on Shein and that are in breach of EU law. These are fake discounts, pressure selling, missing, incorrect and misleading information, deceptive product labels, misleading sustainability claims, and hidden contact details.

In addition, the CPC Network requested information from Shein to assess its compliance with further obligations under EU consumer law, such as the obligation to ensure that product rankings, reviews, and ratings are not misleadingly presented to consumers. The Network is also investigating whether Shein informs consumers about how the obligations under the contract are shared between a third-party seller and Shein, and whether consumer rights do not apply to the contract in cases where the third-party seller is not a trader.

Shein now has one month to reply to the CPC Network's findings and propose commitments on how they will address the identified consumer law issues. Depending on the reply, the CPC Network may enter a dialogue with the company. If Shein fails to address the concerns raised by the CPC Network, national authorities can take enforcement measures to ensure compliance. This includes the possibility to impose fines based on Shein's annual turnover in the EU Member States concerned.