On February 13, the e-commerce platform of Tiktok(Douyin in Chinese) issued basic deposit adjustment regulations, of which the adjustment rate of alcohol increased by 7.5 times, from 20,000 to 150,000.

There was money in the Tiktok account and Tiktok deducted 150,000 yuan directly from our funds without any notice."

 Mr. Wang, a wine merchant in Shenzhen, said he owned a wine hotel in Douyin. He started livestreaming for business in February. Li was furious when Tiktok suddenly unilaterally increased the margin and deducted it directly from the fund without prior notice.

Another wine merchant in Xian said: "The funds in our Tiktok account are not enough to cover the increased deposit. The e-commerce team of Tiktok asked our store to make up 130,000 yuan as soon as possible. Otherwise, the funds from selling products on Tiktok will not be withdrawn."

As mentioned by the wine merchant, Tiktok requires stores to replenish deposits to 150,000 yuan before lifting withdrawal restrictions.

In fact, in January this year, in order to rectify the chaos of the alcohol market, Tiktok e-commerce forcibly revoked the business license of a single liquor store. "Stores are asked to remove alcohol products from their shelves as soon as possible," the notice said. If this is not achieved by the deadline, the platform will uniformly close the alcohol category in the store and remove the alcohol listing from January 25."

Industry experts believe that whether it is forced to close individual alcohol stores or raise the deposit to 150,000, it is a measure taken by the Tiktok platform to rectify the chaos of the alcohol industry, effectively raising the industry threshold.

"On the Tiktok platform, unscrupulous merchants often sell imported wine in bulk disguised as imported wine in bottles. Many consumers don't know and are easily deceived." He added: "The forced closure of individual hotels and the increase in deposit is a positive step for Tiktok. It's good for the industry in the long run."