Shoppers warned about sale scams

The city's consumer rights advocate warned shoppers to be wary of tricks that online stores might employ Monday during the annual Singles' Day sales on the shopping websites taobao.com and tmall.com.

The Shanghai Consumer Council issued the warning ahead of what has become one of the busiest online shopping days of the year in China, the equivalent of "Cyber Monday" in the US. Taobao.com and tmall.com sold more than 19.1 billion yuan ($3.14 billion) in goods on November 11, 2012, up about 72 percent from the previous year's sales, according to Alibaba Group, which owns the two websites.

In its warning to consumers, the consumer council said that some online stores on the sites might raise their prices in advance of the sale so they can claim to be offering larger discounts Monday.

Consumers should also be on the lookout for stores that replace products with poorer quality items, according to a press release from the Shanghai Consumer Council. The counsel stressed that consumers need to pay more attention to the quality of the products, as opposed to the size of the discounts.

The consumer council also warned shoppers that some stores might sell more goods than they have in stock and then tell buyers that they can't fill their orders unless they pay more money. The stores usually offer excuses such as computer problems or employee negligence.

The council said that it isn't easy for stores to accidently oversell a product because their inventory is computerized.

Consumers should also expect delivery delays for the items they buy Monday as most courier services will be running at near capacity. After last year's sale, some customers complained that it took a week or longer for their purchases to be delivered. The council advised consumers to shop elsewhere if they need something immediately.

The city's commerce authority advised consumers to call its 12315 hotline if they run into any online shopping scams. The Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce said it will send officials to monitor advertisements and will punish stores that try to trick consumers.