France imposes record fine on Shein

The French Ministry of Economy has fined the Chinese webshop Shein forty million euros for “deceptive trading practices.” This ruling is separate from a larger case with the European Commission.

Misleading discounts

Research by the French DGCCRF, a government agency for consumer protection and fraud prevention, revealed that Shein calculated discounts in a misleading way. In some cases, it used as a reference a price that had just recently been increased; in others, it did not take into account previously reduced prices. This would be the largest fine ever for such an offence in France.